Tetley for Soya
I was most intrigued during the week to be offered the above product samples for review on the site. It didn’t seem likely that a major company was producing something so accommodating to vegans and non-dairy drinkers. I googled to make sure it was true… and it was: Tetley for Soya
I don’t usually drink black tea now – I’ve had two cups this year. Once when out with a friend in a cafe and then again when visiting another friend after a long day out. I sampled this however and it is rather pleasant – it looked a bit pale after brewing and soya milk poured into it and I expected it to be mild tasting, even bland. But it has a strong flavour without being bitter. Basically I think it’s rather a better quality tea than standard Tetley. Davie is a more regular tea drinker and declared it “affa fine” (English transaltion: very good/nice) 
Currently available in selected Tesco stores, all of them in England, going by the Tetley website!
no delicate floral teacups here
While on the subject of tea and dairy alternatives we were sent another great product a couple of weeks ago: Good Hemp Dairy Free Alternative to Milk (from the makers of Good Oil that we use all the time), which I imagine would be nice in the above tea too. I tried it in Nocaf, Dan on cereal and we both really liked it, more nutty than soya milk. According to the booklet sent with it, it’s in Waitrose and health food shops from Monday.
Good Hemp Milk
I’m intrigued. I’ve never thought tea tasted funny with soya milk but perhaps I’m missing out on something! I wonder what is different although if it is pale perhaps it just has a lower tannin content… tannins precipitate out proteins and soya milk is lower in proteins so perhaps it has something to do with this…
…perhaps not though!
I never minded the taste either. They say it’s all from tea grown at high altitudes, not sure what difference that makes? In Scotland high altitudes slow down growth but possibly not in hot tea growing places…
Or perhaps the slower growth makes a more flavourful tea. I think high altitudes in the tropics equals more sunshine but I would also think the temperatures would fluctuate dramatically between day and night…perhaps time for Wikipedia??
maybe
it sounds nice, high altitudes, evoking images of tea plants growing on sunny mountains (probably grossly inaccurate!)
I have never had any problems with tea and soya milk and as we only ever buy fairtrade tea I’ll give this one a miss. Coffee and soya milk is another matter but as I hate coffee that doesn’t bother me, although my husband would love a good cup of coffee
Like Pamela, we only buy fair trade tea, but John’s the only one in the house who drinks ‘ordinary’ tea, anyway. The ‘kids’ and I drink herb tea and don’t put milk in it. However, I love NoCaf with Vanilla Rice Milk and sugar. Mmmm…
It’s good that they’ve felt the need to cater for people who put soya milk in their tea, though!
The Good Hemp milk sounds interesting. Wasn’t it oily tasting?
I think the fact that it’s not fair trade or organic could be a problem in marketing this product as many people who avoid dairy are also concerned about these issues. Tetley are members of the ethical tea partnership so moving in the right direction. The last tea I bought was both organic and fully fair trade though, like your family Penny, me and the kids only drink herb tea and nocaf (and hot chocolate!) as hot drinks.
no, the hemp milk is not at all oily, stronger tasting than soya
Ah, hot chocolate…. The offspring laugh at mine because I have to have it so strong that it tastes like melted chocolate bars… Mmmm…
Interesting that the hemp milk isn’t oily… However, it’d need to be VERY nice to wean me off my beloved Vanilla Rice Dream!
thank you for sharing
A bit late of post but I was intrigued. I too have never thought tea tasted funny, well it tasted funny when I first converted but thats obvious, If it costs a lot more I doubt I will buy it but I’m interested in trying it.
It is a rather intriguing product – and not something you would expect to come from a major multinational. I prefer green tea to black tea so it isn’t a product I’m likely to buy, but I’m still curious as to what the blend is and whether it’s a result of research or more of a marketing gimmick like pyramid teabags are. There was a tea blend specifically for Scottish water and it’s very hard to come by south of the border. Have you ever tried it? I was in Iran last year and tea shops selling loose tea are ubiquitous that will create blends according to a customer’s requirements.
if that’s Scottish Blend then yes, I have tried it long ago and wasn’t too keen. I don’t know what this Tetley blend is other than it all being grown at the high altitudes
Have you seen this shop in Edinburgh that sells loose tea leaves?
http://www.pekoetea.co.uk
no not seen it – will go look at link