A break from the norm (Whittards)

Member Name: katyboo123

Product:	Whittards
Date:	26/10/09 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious flavours

Disadvantages: Not a store close to me, will have to order online in future

Whittard of Chelsea is a Tea, Coffee and Hot Chocolate vendor who has a long and interesting history dating back to 1886 when Walter Whittard started up the company. Their heritage can be found in detail on their website, along with their mission, information about their Tea and Coffee Guru 'Giles Hilton' who is the company's product director and purchases all of their tea and coffee products, and an outline of their responsibilities, including their Fair to Farmers policy.

I knew nothing about this company and I was shopping in Manchester at the weekend. I stumbled across Whittards because I am always going on to my partner about the fact I want a special cup so she took me in to buy me a hand painted mug we saw in the sale in the window, reduced from £6 to £2.50 (lovely mug by the way!)

Anyway they had some tea samples to try in little polystyrene cups from a dispenser, so I filled one up of Cranberry and Raspberry. The first thing I noticed it was freezing cold! It tasted simply like juice, like strong fruit juice, delicious. I passed the taster to my partner who is usually really reluctant to try new things, and she also thought it was absolutely delightful. So we decided to buy some. Now they have an offer on at the moment where you can buy 3 teas or hot chocolates for the price of 2. So this works out at either £10 or £12 depending on how much the most expensive products you buy are. We bought Cranberry and Raspberry Tea, Pink Lemonade Tea and Mint Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Chips the 3 tubs cost £10. They are 400gm tubs and each one (depending on how strong / weak you like your tea) contains about 20-25 servings. So it works out about 13p per serving. So I think for a luxury drink it is very competitively priced.

As well as Mint Hot Chocolate they also did 70% Cocoa Powder, Aztec Chilli, Caramel, Coconut, Dreamtime, Fair Trade, Ginger, Skinny, Luxury and White Hot Chocolates. They sell Instant Tea (which is what we bought - can be served hot or cold) in a variety of fruity flavours, Green Tea, regular tea, Caffeine free tea, various coffees plus tea and coffee equipment like tea sets, coffee grinders, milk frothers, etc.

As well as high street stores across the UK, they are also stocked in House of Fraser and Debenhams, and their products are served in B & Q Cafes. On their website they stock the full range and they also have gift sets, perfect for Christmas. Delivery is £4.50 and takes 5-7 days. Having looked them up to produce this review, I have found they also have a service which lets you blend your own tea, plus you can name it after yourself, quite a uniqe gift for a tea lover.

Summary: Great value hot and cold drink selections - Gorgeous unusual unique teas, coffees and hot chocolates