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October 19, 2015
Kinnettles Gold. Fancy a brew?
Kinnettles Gold. Fancy a brew?

Whisky and Irn Bru may vie to be known as Scotland’s national drink but an Angus farmer is determined that we should also be known as a nation of tea growers.

After eight years of experimentation, trial and error, Susie Walker-Munro has just unveiled the first commercial batch of Kinettles Gold, a Scottish, single estate tea which is grown and hand-rolled on Kinettles Farm in Angus.

This year’s crop yielded 2kg of tea and the entire batch is being sold exclusively through Edinburgh-based tea merchant, PekoeTea.

The tea will retail at £2500 per kg. 1.5kg of Kinnettles Gold is being packaged in numbered limited-edition 20g tins priced at £50 each. The remaining 500g is being kept by Pekoe for sampling and referencing.

Priced at £15 per serving, a limited number of cups will be available at PekoeTea in Stockbridge.

The tea is available for pre-order online and in store. It will be distributed on Friday 20th November 2015.

Unique Scottish terroir

Two and a half grand for a kilo of tea may sound like crazy money but tea consultant Beverly-Claire Wainwright, who was brought in to help Kinettles process and create their tea, has a sober way of rationalising it.

‘On average, a teabag contains just over a gram of tea,’ she says, ‘People are perfectly happy to pay £2 for a cup of tea in a café. In effect, they are paying £2000 a kilo.’

Beverly developed unique and secret processing techniques that took into account the Scottish climate and the specific growing environment, the terroir, at Kinnettles. Her philosophy is to match processing methods to suit the terroir, rather than copying methods from other countries.

Susie Walker-Munro growing tea in Angus.
Susie Walker-Munro growing tea in Angus.

Obviously, Kinettles Gold is a niche product. Few of us will be switching our morning cup of builder’s for Kinettles. However, PekoeTea’s owner, Jon Cooper, knows there is a growing band of tea connoisseurs who will happily pay top dollar for the finest teas.

PekoeTea imports, blends and sells over a hundred different loose leaf teas from around the world. Unlike many other tea companies, PekoeTea imports many of their teas from source, and takes great pride in the provenance of every tea in their range.

Tea and food pairing

‘Interest in speciality teas is certainly on the rise,’ says Jon. ‘People are becoming more interested in the different types of tea: where they come from and how they are produced. They are beginning to ask questions about their tea. In about five years, I expect there to be the same level of interest in tea as there is now in coffee.

‘We also think that tea and food pairing is going to be more visible. Especially with Scotland’s drink driving laws, people want to be able to choose a sophisticated and complex non-alcoholic drink when they go out for a meal. Tea can provide that and companies such as Riedel, the specialist wine glass makers, have been looking at making glasses designed to bring out the best in tea. We have been experimenting with cold infused silver needle white tea served with cucumber and mint. It is a fascinating drink.’

As is Kinettles Gold.

The 5pm Dining blog sampled the tea in Stockbridge last week. It is a gorgeous, bright orangey golden colour which is very soft in the mouth. There is almost no tannins or woodiness but it has a slightly tart flavour which is a little like stewed apples.

Pekoe Tea’s Jon reckons that ‘notes of apples and slight cinnamon spice are present with a long-lasting, pleasant aftertaste. True to its name, the liquor is a rich golden colour, which has a syrupy mouth feel.’

Unique flavour

He comments: ‘I’ve never seen or tasted a tea like this before. From my point of view as a tea trader, this tea should fall into the category of a semi-oxidised tea or oolong. But from the colour of the liquor, taste and the new production methods it is very difficult to categorise this tea within any of the main tea types.’

‘We are very proud to be the exclusive stockists of Kinnettles Gold. Not only because it’s a Scottish tea, but because of its unique flavour and the passion that has gone into the processing. The tea fits perfectly with the Pekoe Tea ethos, and being able to buy tea directly from a tea estate in Scotland is something truly special.’

Jon and Esther Cooper in PekoeTea.
Jon and Esther Cooper in PekoeTea.

Currently Susie and Beverly are working together to expand tea growing in Scotland.

Along with eleven other fledgling tea growers in Angus, Fife and Perthshire, Susie is importing tea seed from Nepal. They intend to grow tea from these in walled gardens which provide a perfect micro-climate for tea-growing.

In January 2016, the tea seeds will be planted under Beverley’s guidance in the walled gardens, with Beverly’s guidance. The ultimate aim is for tea to be recognised as a viable Scottish crop.