Apple Tea

Our Apple Tea uses a fine quality Keemun as its base, which is then flavoured with apple oil and apple pieces. It is a refreshing drink and is particularly good when drunk with salad or on a winter’s day to lift the drabness and bring back memories of summer!

Apple teas are particularly popular in Turkey and many people who have visited the country have enjoyed the sweet astringent drink that is often served to potential customers by shop-keepers and anyone who is hosting guests. The apple tree (Malus pumila) is a deciduous tree from the rose family. Its origin was Central Asia where its wild predecessor can still be found. Apples have been cultivated in Asia and Europe for literally thousands of years. In 2014, the world produced 84.6 million tonnes of apples with 48% of these being produced in China. It is these Chinese apples which are used in this sweet and flavoursome tea. The wild predecessor (Malus sieversii) was originally discovered growing wild in Central Asia and it is likely that cultivation began in China in Xinjiang, on the slopes of the Tian Shan mountains.

The apple is one of the few fruits that has had its genome completely sequenced. It has been discovered that Gold Delicious Apples have about 57,000 genes, which is 27,000 more than the human genome!

Apples are usually eaten raw but can juiced, pressed, distilled, baked, stewed, pureed and jellified. The apple used in our tea is dried apple. This is added to Keemun Tea at a ratio of approximately 90% tea to 10% apple pieces. The Keemun base tea gives a gentle smokiness and smoothness which compliments the sweetness of the apple beautifully.

Apple like tea, contains catechins and flavanols which are found in the skin and pulp of the apple. Research was carried out in September 2014 to investigate whether the nutrients within apples may inhibit the growth of certain types of cancer and the results were published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, which suggested that further investigation is definitely worthwhile.

Ingredients: Black tea, apple pieces, apple flavouring.