Tenth Anniversary Tea: Special Edition Royal Assam Tea In Support of The Prince’s Countryside Fund

Written on September 23rd, 2020

Fancy a cuppa? To celebrate 10 years of supporting The Prince’s Countryside Fund, we’ve developed a special edition Royal Assam loose leaf tea blend, with 10% of the purchase price donated to The Prince’s Countryside Fund!

Ten Years of The Prince’s Countryside Fund

Founded in 2010 by the Prince of Wales, The Fund was set up to help ensure a sustainable future for Britain’s rural areas, and improve quality of life. It was a visit with 3^rd generation hill farmers Joe and Hazel Relph at Yew Tree Farm in Borrowdale, in the heart of the lakes, that helped inspire HRH The Prince of Wales to set up the fund. It’s a cause that’s close to our hearts because so many of our brilliant producers, stores and colleagues are based in rural communities. It’s vitally important for our business and the communities that we serve that farming is a viable, accessible occupation for the next generation of food producers.

Chairman Edwin Booth says,

Booths have proudly supported The Prince’s Countryside Fund from the very start of the fund 10 years ago. It seems very fitting that we commemorate our support with a special fundraising tea. Food and farming have been at the heart of Booths for well over 170 years and the array of farmers and growers form the very backbone of our business. Securing a brighter future for the countryside has never been more important.

There is a real need for education and insight into how products are grown, sown and produced so that we respect not only the food we eat, but place significantly greater value on the people who provide it for us

Find out more about how we’ve supported the fund over the years here.

Special Edition Royal Assam Tea

Our special edition Royal Assam Tea (227g £2) is a large leaf blend of teas from the Assam region of North East India, full bodied with a rich malty character. Pete Read, specialist tea blender at Booths for 26 years says,

We take tea very seriously; our blends are at the very bedrock of the Booths reputation for sourcing the finest quality food and drink.

We still buy some of our Assam blend from the original first tea gardens in India, established at Chabua in upper Assam in 1840, just 7 years before Booths started importing tea to Blackpool. The tea we blend in 2020 will share the same malty nose and full flavour as the original blends of EH Booth, that tradition and consistency of quality is the essence of Booths blends.

Assam tea is a robust and rich, full flavoured black tea, it has a punch to it, nutty with malt notes, it is a perfect all-rounder, particularly if you like a strong tea with a splash of milk. 

Preparation: Put a teaspoon of tea per person in the pot – plus one for the pot. Brew for 4 minutes and serve in a warm cup.

Storage: Always store in a cool dark airtight container.

A Little Bit of History

At Booths our very roots are placed in tea and coffee – our founder Edwin Henry Booth started as a tea trader and travelled often in search of excellent tea and coffee; developing the finely honed expert skill of tea tasting. His expertise has been passed on through generations of the family and we have always blended our tea in-house.

Our teas are carefully hand packaged in small batches as soon as they are blended, to ensure that they stay fresh down to the last cup. As a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership we can help to ensure the future of the varieties we love and help create a socially just and environmentally sustainable tea industry.