Autumn at Babingtons is taking on a great variety of colours. In particular those of mono-sourced tea, researched with care and accuracy by our tea expert, and amongst the world’s best tea terroir. We are about to take you on an exciting journey aboard a steaming cup of tea in search of intriguing scents and flavours from distant lands. Are you prepared to embark upon our Grand Tea Tour with us?

Below are but a few of our Grand Tea Tour choices for you to savour at Babingtons. To discover the rest you need only come to visit us in our Tearooms.

China’s amazing tea varieties

We will start our journey in China, in the Yunnan province and get to know two extraordinary black teas, which the Chinese call red tea. Then we will tell you all about the marvellously delicate, well known and well loved Long Jing green tea and finally our healthy and flavoursome Puerh teas.

Black teas, known as red in China

Yunnan Diang Hong Golden Tips is grown at a remarkable 1.000 to 2.000 metres above sea level on plantations found in the mountainous reserve of Yunnan. It is an exceptional red tea, considered one of the best in the whole of the Ling Yun province. Diang Hong is filled with golden buds which have an especially fruity, citrusy flavour, followed by a slightly smokey aftertaste.

The second Chinese red tea we have selected is Yunnan Grand Jardin TGFOP. This wonderful tea is grown in the south west of China’s Yunnan province. This is one of Yunnan’s most revered teas, it has a distinctly sweet, scented flavour with hints of sandalwood and a suggestion of smokiness.

China’s most famous green tea

Dating back to the Tang Dynasty, Long Jing is China’s best known green tea. The small town of Long Jing is close to Lake Hangzhow Xi Hu in the province of Zhejiang and is where this tea known as “the dragon’s spring” is grown. Long Jing Zhe Jiang is picked before the spring rains and worked in the conventional manner using a wok. It’s colour is of a brilliant jade, it has a slightly toasted aroma and a wonderful chestnutty aftertaste.

A tea fit for any time of day, Long Jing is known as the “tea of serenity”. It is filled with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins and is recommended to help with reading and concentration.

The world of Puerh

Even though Puerh tea is one of the oldest and best known teas it is still enveloped in a complicated shroud of mystery.

Let’s begin unravelling this mystery by saying that Puerh is a fermented Chinese tea. It can either contain high levels of oxidation (SHOU: ripe or black Puerh) or low levels of oxidation (SHEN: raw or green Puerh). It is known as The Tea of Health and is grown in the Yunnan province. It’s great for lowering cholesterol, it has powerful antioxidant and detoxification properties, it is very good for the digestive system, it is a great fat burner and it has low levels of caffeine.

Because Puerh is such an awesome tea we have thought to offer you a variety of different types. At Babingtons you will find Puerh 1st Grade Shou, a smooth sweetish tea with an earthy taste and hints of balsamic wood. Our Puerh Linchang Mao Sheng tea is made from the leaves and buds of century old tea trees found growing organically in the wild forests of Yunnan. Our compressed tea, Puerh Mini Tuo Cha which we have in both Shou and Sheng version, is a veritable bundle of health. And finally for those of you who love spicy flavours we have our Babingtons Puerh Chai, a smooth, delicate blend based on Puerh tea, deliciously spicy and enriched with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

The wonders of Taiwan teas

Upon the discovery of this extraordinary island way back in the XVI century, the Portuguese aptly named it Formosa, meaning “the beautiful”. They were charmed by this richly biodiverse land, the uncontaminated forests and the mind boggling beauty of the scenery. . . and it is in the midst of this splendour that tea plantations flourish, making it an obligatory stop on our Grand Tea Tour. This is where Dong Ding grows, a splendid tea of a thousand nuances, with toasted fruity flavours, and where, in the mountains of Tung Ting, Jade Oolong also thrives, a delicious smooth tea with strong flavours of white orchids and a gentle peachy aftertaste. This tea contains powerful antioxidant, detoxing and invigorating properties and is, in fact, known as a “Health Tea”.

Japanese Health Teas

We have chosen a fine collection of precious Japanese teas, especially rich in polyphenols, antioxidants and vitamins and with the added benefit of having low caffeine content. These teas are ideal to take with savoury rice, fish and chicken dishes and those we have chosen for you all come from biological gardens.

Genmaitcha is a unique tea and is much appreciated throughout the world. Perhaps the fact that it is enriched with toasted puffed rice may add a touch of the unusual to this tea! At Babingtons we offer a variety of biological Genmaitcha, prepared with precious springtime Sencha tea grown in the shade of the Uji region of Japan, mixed with Matcha, the tea chosen by the Japanese for their famous Tea Ceremony. This amazing Genmaitcha has vegetal nuances with a marked flavour of the sea, leaving an aftertaste of sweet roasted hazelnuts.

Originating in the organic cultivation of Uji, our Sencha Uji Bio is a cultivar harvested at the beginning of spring. An extraordinary tea with flavours of the sea and a sweet and balanced umami, this particular variety is rich in vitamins B, C and K.

Our selection of Japanese teas includes a real treat: the Oolong Kamairicha, an extraordinary low-oxidized Oolong, (semi-oxidized tea) from Gokase, a small village hidden in the mountains of Miyazaki prefecture.

Prepared applying the ancient method of using wok pots and selecting only the freshest leaves of the springtime crop, this rare and wonderful tea is sweet, with very light notes of citrus and a delicious vegetal and seaweed aftertaste.

Ceylon’s citrus flavours

Sri Lanka is one of the world's leading tea producing countries. We have selected some truly exceptional leaves from these luxuriant and verdant lands. For example those of Ceylon Yalta Rekadahena, an extraordinary black tea grown in the southwestern mountainous region of Ruhana in Sri Lanka. Infused, this amazing tea gives us a strong and fruity taste, with nuances of citrus blossoms and notes of fresh fruit. Another specialty is our Ceylon Idulgashinna Green Bio, a wonderful and rare green tea, cultivated in the Uva district, with a distinctly sweet taste, notes of green grapes and an extraordinary citrus aftertaste.

The scents of India

We end the Babingtons Grand Tea Tour by returning to our roots with our selection of tea from India. The first tea we would like to offer is our Darjeeling Gopaldhadra Wonder Tea Gold from one of the highest growing tea plantations in the world. The delicate taste of spring and the wonderful floral bouquet make this Darjeeling unique and exceptional.

Tulsi Darjeeling is yet another gem from our selection of teas. A delicious black tea enriched with Tulsi, also known as Sacred Basil, used for its high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, purifying and anti-degenerative properties. With sweet and flowery springtime flavours and rich balsamic nuances, this splendid Darjeeling is considered to be the very essence tea for wellbeing.

Where does one go to travel on the Grand Tea Tour? We are waiting to welcome you at Babingtons Tearooms in Piazza di Spagna from 10.00 to 21.15.