Emma 
Borne from a love of tea and travelling, Bernadine Tay established Quinteassential in 2010. Based in Cheshire Quinteassential has grown from a simple Farmers’ market stall to win7 Great Taste Gold Awards since 2012 and is now available in many establishments in the North West of England, including the iconic 4 star Midland Hotel in Manchester. But Quinteassential isn’t just a plain old English Breakfast, as the range covers black, green, white, oolong, chai, rooibos and herbal varieties, with each blend created using ingredients from all over the world that will hopefully transport you around the globe too. If you just want a tea for a particular occasion then Quinteassential also have teas designed for birthday parties and dinner parties!
Always trying to keep healthy and balanced in life, Mrs Foodie tried their White Elixir tea. The ingredients are white tea, jasmine blossoms, blue mallow flowers, gingko leaves and spirulina. The tea is blended to entice the nose with jasmine, the eye with the blue mallow flowers and the head with the superfood spirulina included. Inside the box you will find: a pack of loose tea, tea bags and tea sticks for holding the filled bags in a cup or mug. I found that a little went a long way, with around 1 teaspoon per cup all that was required.
The teabag was easy to construct – making your own teabag might seem like a hassle in today’s convenience culture but for serious tea drinkers this should be a welcome ritual! With mass-produced teabags you can never be certain of the quality inside the perforated bag without ripping it open! Loose leaf tea is easier to inspect and usually of higher, fresher quality with more enticing aromas and that was certainly true of this tea.
After heating the water to around 85°c (no higher or you will scald yourself and the tea!) place the bag in your cup – Mrs Foodie has used a small clear cup so you can see the colour more clearly, obviously at home you’d use a bigger cup! Also, if you use a QR reader on your phone to scan the code on the box you’ll have some peaceful music to listen to, which lasts for just as long as the tea needs to steep – perfect!
Once ready, drink! This is a light white tea that is delicate on the nose as well as the stomach. It’s an ideal de-stresser, as well as one for drinking after exercise or taking to a spa.
The tea is available to purchase online in both 50g packets and 100g boxes.
