Making Tea Cross Country – Crafting Exceptional Scottish Tea, from Leaf to Cup

Leaf from our members’ drying

For tea to be of the highest standard, it needs to be picked fresh, and the tea-making process must begin within a short time frame, ideally within 12 hours.

For us, this meant a 6.30 am start to pick and prep the leaves before the school run and working day started, and for one of us to take a fast car north to the Scottish Tea Factory in Perth with the precious cargo.

However, some of our members living in the Highlands and Islands faced logistical problems due to their reliance on transport services such as Calmac and Northlink, making them time-constrained by factors out of their control. But thankfully, all the leaf from our members' gardens arrived in good condition, and the complicated tea-making process began.

It took all afternoon and the next day to make. Beverly Wainwright, our tea-making consultant, watched the leaf-drying processes like a chef would watch a soufflé rise, waiting for the perfect moment.

Our first tea went on sale for Christmas 2021. We called this 'The Gathering', and it was a triumph for all of us: a delicate black tea, golden in hue and pure in flavour. Adding to the satisfaction that habitually comes with a mug of tea was the knowledge that it was all grown and made in our gardens in Scotland.

'The Gathering' was marketed via social media and sold out online within three days.

We developed our second tea very differently, involving wok roasting, which produced an original and deliciously flavoured black tea. We named this The Blackhouse. The 2023 batch has notes of cinder toffee and dark chocolate with dried fruit and chestnuts.

You can order the latest batch of 'The Blackhouse' at the incredible Inver restaurant, which has it on its menu for 2024.