Tea, cocktails, local Dorset businesses and a very lovely evening at Sandbanks.
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Tea and gin… now that’s a combination I can definitely get behind!
I was invited to celebrate Dorset Tea’s 10th birthday at The Haven Hotel in Sandbanks. The evening included a presentation about the story behind Dorset Tea, followed by tea-inspired cocktails created with Conker Spirit. I was also really excited to finally meet the lovely Ginette in person. After plenty of Instagram messages and emails, it was lovely to finally put a face to the name!
I took two friends along with me and, when we arrived, we were greeted with some punch and canapés while everyone arrived and got settled.
A Little Bit About Dorset Tea
Ginette gave us a short presentation about Dorset Tea, and I learnt quite a few things I didn’t know about the company.
Dorset Tea started in 2009 at Wimborne Food Market, so this evening was celebrating exactly 10 years of the brand. The founder, Keith Spicer, had been blending teas in the Bournemouth area since 1934, and Dorset Tea was created to celebrate his work and the natural beauty of Dorset.
And then there was the tea itself…
The Dorset Tea Sunshine Blend, which was originally known as the Golden Blend, has always been one of my favourites. I’m one of those people who likes a proper strong cup of tea — the kind where you could practically stand a spoon up in it! What I hadn’t realised was that the Sunshine Blend contains Kenyan, Rwandan and Assam teas, which is what gives it that lovely strong flavour. So basically, I’ve been drinking it for years without ever actually reading the box properly! Alongside the Sunshine Blend, Dorset Tea also has a whole range of herbal, green and fruit teas, with some varieties available in biodegradable pyramid teabags.
Plastic-Free Teabags
One of the biggest announcements of the evening was that, from November 2019, Dorset Tea planned for all of its teabags to be plastic-free. If you’ve never thought about what’s actually inside your teabag, you’re not alone. At the time, Ginette explained that around 2% of a traditional teabag could contain polypropylene, which was used to seal the bag and stop it splitting. It isn’t biodegradable, so moving away from it was a really positive step. It’s always nice discovering the story behind a product you already have sitting in your kitchen cupboard, especially when it’s a local Dorset company.
Tea Meets Gin
And then came my favourite part of the evening… Cocktails!
Conker Spirit created two very different tea-inspired cocktails for us to try. The first was made using Dorset Tea Fruit Punch and Conker Port Barrel Gin. The second combined Dorset Tea Sunshine Blend with Conker Gin and mint. My favourite was definitely the first one.
Unfortunately, being me, I completely forgot to write down the names of either cocktail! So if anyone reading this was there and remembers what they were called, please let me know because I would love to add the names to this post.
A Little Dorset Goodie Bag
Before heading home, we were each given a box of goodies, which was a lovely way to finish the evening. Inside were balloons, tea samples, a box of Dorset Tea Sunshine Blend, a miniature bottle of Conker Cold Brew and a Dorset Tea cocktail and iced tea recipe book. Basically, I went home with enough tea and gin inspiration to keep me going for a while!
It was a real privilege to be invited along and get the chance to learn a little more about a Dorset company that I’d already been enjoying at home.
What I love about Dorset Tea is that it feels like a proper local business with a real connection to the area — from its beginnings at Wimborne Food Market to the blends themselves.
And if you can combine a Dorset cuppa with a Dorset gin, even better!
It was a lovely evening celebrating 10 years of Dorset Tea, and I’m very glad I got to be part of it.
