Love Liberty (England 360)
We are just updating our list of our fabulous stockists. They all share our ethos of serving and/or retailing sensational tea to match their other product offerings. Last year, we were so excited (jumping up in the air, kind-of excited) to receive an order from Kate’s favourite shopping indulgence, Liberty of London. And so, in the Summer we launched a bespoke range of Lahloo Tea at Liberty in the award-winning tea rooms.
Almost 4 years ago Kate sat in the tea room at Liberty dreaming of launching Lahloo. Now, in response to their customers, Liberty are retailing a range of gourmet teas and boutique tea infusers for the first time. Liberty tea sommelier, Freya Gabie, said: “Lahloo tea tastes absolutely fantastic. We really appreciate Kate’s connections with tea growers, her eclectic choice and the tea’s superb quality”.
The range includes Taiwanese Amber oolong tea as well as Mr Aoki’s green tea, and our unusual chatjans – South Korean hand-made, palm-size tea cups complete with their own infuser so you can explore different infusions of the same tea leaves.
We’ll be at Liberty regularly this year to help out with their wonderful tea-inspired events. Watch this space…
PS. If you’ve never been to Liberty, it’s a must-visit emporium of all things very special. Next time you go to London, Paris, New York or Dublin and you want to hunt out other unique and indulgent places to visit, my favourite book to pick up is The Goddess Guide by Gisele Scanlon. It’s packed full of inspirational and exquisite people, places and things – Kate loves it.
r i v e r s t a t i o n is one of the most stylish places to spend time in Bristol – and we love it! The former riverside police station is unrecognisable. The chic and modern structure rises over two levels with huge planar glass windows showcasing the striking harbour views. There’s something really special about being by the water whatever the occasion. In fact, since moving to Bristol, we’ve loved our Sunday brunches, Summer alfresco g&t’s and nibbles and friends’ birthday parties at riverstation.
We were over the moon when riverstation chef/partner, Peter got in touch. Peter has one thing in common with our other fabulous stockists, he shares our ethos for serving a really fabulous cup of tea.You see, the importance Peter puts on the sourcing of his fresh, seasonal and local ingredients is what makes riverstation food really, really good.
Why not visit riverstation for a lazy weekend brunch – sip a cup of Lahloo Breakfast whilst munching on poached eggs on toast with crispy bacon and reading the papers? Or meet a friend for a spot of afternoon tea and irresistible (I can vouch for that one, and so can these vintage loving ladies) cakes and patisserie and catch up on all the gossip? Or maybe just enjoy a cup of digestive green or herbal tea, Guricha or Sobacha, after your gorgeous supper?
All this is making me very hungry! Enjoy your tea time at riverstation, whatever the occassion!
Lovely food emporium
We will be tea tasting on Saturday 6th February at the lovely Bristol deli, Arch House Deli.
The deli has been a long time fan of Lahloo tea, in fact they’ve been stocking them from the outset. Anyone entering the Deli recently can’t miss the beautiful dedicated stand of Lahloo Tea. They have recently extended the range of tea and now also stock the fantastic Forlife Stump teapots (the name really doesn’t do them justice) that they use in the café.
Drop in on Saturday 6th and try some of the range – delicious black tea, rare oolong tea, uplifting rose and jasmine tea, rare Korean green tea, special Chinese white tea and digestive infusions – and find out more about Lahloo fantastic teas.
See you there!
“The world is a collection of small, beautiful things that are so detailed, they seem like miniature worlds, yet so ordinary they’re often left unnoticed. I designed Sorapot to emphasize one of my favorite- the unfurling of tea leaves.” – Joey Roth, designer
How true! I came across this beautiful teapot whilst searching for a unique glass teapot to serve Lahloo tea in. Well, you can’t get any more unique, or stunning, than Sorapot.
Sorapot is a pleasure, both visually and functionally. The tea making process is suspended in the glass tube. Rather than confining tea leaves in a small mesh basket, Sorapot lets your leaves have full run of the interior as they unfurl, change the hot water into tea and releasing their flavour. Sorapot, sora meaning sky in Japanese, perfectly articulates the beauty of the everyday ritual of tea in a thoroughly modern way.
I love it! I think I may just have to buy myself one of these stunning teapots. I bet Mr Aoki’s green tea would look amazing in Sorapot.
Bristol's Victorian Lido - spa, bar, restaurant
Bristol’s Victorian lido – dating back to 1849, underwent a complete refurbishment in 2008 to reveal a beautiful year-round, solar-heated outdoor swimming pool, restaurant, poolside bar and an indulgent spa and Victorian tea room – all serving Lahloo tea. A real gem hidden away; it feels like you’ve escaped the hectic pace of city life and taken a mini holiday!
The restaurant in the old viewing gallery is stunning with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors and the food is fantastic – honest and rustic – and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Downstairs, there is a relaxed poolside bar perfect for breakfast, morning coffee with friends, Sunday brunch, afternoon tea and supper.
Relax and unwind
The spa is the perfect place to relax and unwind and to escape the day to day rigours of everyday life. The spa tretments are divine (I am lucky enough to vouch for that); a wonderful holistic experience that goes beyond the massage or facial but that also incorporates some precious ‘my time’ in the spa tea room. Our bespoke tea blends perfectly compliment the wonderful treatments by relaxing the body and soul.
I know, I know, you’re busy! But, I also know just how important it is to stay hydrated throughout the day. This year, my challenge to you is to ditch dehydrating coffee or carbonated drinks and to hydrate by drinking Lahloo green teas. Studies show that anti-oxidants in green tea boast myriad benefits including anti-ageing, lowering cholesterol, strengthening the immune system and supporting the digestive system. Sipped in China and Japan for centuries, green tea is an elixir for life.
Utterly revitalising, uplifting and tasty; green tea is quick, simple and easy to enjoy, at home and at work, and just 1 teaspoon of green tea leaves will keep you hydrated and refreshed all day. At just 4 pence per cup* you’ll save yourself pennies too!
So, how do you make green tea? Follow these steps and you’ll soon be enjoying a rare moment’s peace while you prepare and sip your green tea:
♥ use 1 teaspoon of our green tea per person
♥ make your green tea in a mug (good quality leaves will sink to the bottom), a small teapot, in a tea infuser cup or in a pot with a large infuser (a Forlife teapot like this for example)
♥ never use boiling water, you’ll burn the delicate leaves and get a bitter, unpleasant cup of green tea.
♥ simply infuse using water off the boil (the optimal temperature for our green teas is 70-75 degrees) so the leaves unfurl to release their unique aromas and tastes. This slow unfurling creates the perfect cup of tea.
♥ only infuse the tea for 1 – 1.5 minutes
♥ always refill your teapot/tea cup with hot water and enjoy the multiple infusions our fabulous green teas give you.
♥ to make a delicious, sweet and refreshing iced tea, simply infuse our green tea leaves in cold water for at least 8 hours.
Now you can see how easy it is, I hope you’ll be inspired to take a leaf out of our book and introduce 5 cups of green tea into your everyday life.
Perhaps the USA isn’t best known for its consumption of tea, but we have caught up with one American woman who has truly embraced the tea world in all its loose leaf glory. Her name is Meagan Lopez, or as others have grown to know her, The Lady Who Lunches. As the snow is finally beginning to melt, we ask her what has drawn her to welcome with open arms a typically English tradition such as tea drinking into her sphere, and why she is of the opinion that tea is bigger than ever in the states.
We begin the interview sipping a newly infused Snow Jewel silver needle white tea in the Arch House Deli in Clifton Village, and we get to chatting…
The Lady who Lunches!
When were you first introduced to tea?
Although coffee was the predominant drink of my adolescence, when I moved to California for University I found that coffee just wasn’t cutting it any more. Not only did it give me the worst breath known to man, it also left me with throbbing headaches and stomach pains. I needed something to keep me awake to study but without the bad effects. Plus, Californians are very healthy people in general, and I was quickly brought up to date with the benefits of drinking herbal teas, green teas and white teas. I started introducing it into my lifestyle pretty much immediately.
What is it about tea that has kept you a fan after all this time?
Honestly, there’s nothing better. As a woman, there are more benefits to drinking tea than we have time for me to explain. I find that I feel more energized after drinking tea. If I want to diet, green tea serves as a great appetite suppressant. If something I’ve eaten isn’t processed well, peppermint tea is the most amazing digestive. It’s soothing, healing and brings me back to life after a big night out. Plus, black tea has just enough caffeine to give you that lift.
The thing I’ve been the most impressed with since finding Lahloo are how natural and vibrant the ingredients you use are. I mean, to be able to look at the tea mixture and pick out the actual leaves, the chamomile flowers, the cinnamon sticks in the Chai tea. It amazes me. This may sound completely ignorant, but I don’t think I really realized that tea came from actual leaves until I was introduced to you guys. Ridiculous, right?
Thanks Meagan. Watch this space, we’ll be delving into more tea journeys…
Hello all,
New School built
Well the festivities are well and truely over, its time to get fit and healthy in the new year.
At Lahloo we thought lets do something useful for somebody else at the same time. What you may ask will they do. We are running a half marathon in March for charity, the aim is to give back to the people of Malawi through a community-based project sponsored by Temwa. 
So on Sunday 7th March (yes, we have been training in the snow the past week) the Lahloo Team – Kate, Neil and Meagan – will be donning our lycra and our trainers and taking to the streets of Bath to run the BathHalf 2010. If you’re nearby you can always come and wave us on!
If you would like to donate a few pounds, please go to: http://www.justgiving.com/Lahlootea
Temwa’s objective is to help build a sustainable future for the people of Malawi through community-based projects. Temwa is working with the people of Malawi (see above), enabling them to become self sufficient and giving them hope for their families’ futures. What a brilliant and passionate charity!
If you can spare a little please do!
Well, it is finally here… Christmas day has arrived! It’s a gorgeous sunny morning and the snow and ice is glistening. 
We have just woken up, the carols are blasting out of the radio, the kettle is boiled and the deliciously light Darjeeling is brewing. After a yummy breakfast we’ll sit down and open the pressies while munching on a cheeky mince-pie or two and sipping a glass of mulled wine. Lets hope we all get some cracking goodies and the only odd present under the tree is the usual from auntie. It makes us giggle every year!
I don’t know about you, but our Christmas day then kicks into gear with some fresh air. A walk cross Ashton Court. It looks amazing at the moment with the snow and ice, hopefully the deer will be out in force too. Then back to Clifton Village for a pint in our local. There is something quite unique about catching up with neighbours and friends on Christmas day over a be
er. Then home for the big event!! This year we are having roast beef with all the trimmings – no turkey in this household.
But after a few glasses of fizz and a little bit of food, it will have to be Sobacha. Tip of the day, take a little time out from the mass of food and alcohol to enjoy something else, something more refreshing. Sobacha is a sweet and nutty buckwheat tea that is utterly refreshing. Full of anti-oxidants, Sobacha is the perfect complement to the overindulgence of Christmas Day. Feel on top form all day.
Have a fabulous day, I know we will.
Merry Christmas from the Lahloo team
