Silver Needle - reviewed by Teatunes

The lovely folks at Teatunes recently reviewed our Silver Needle tea.

Click here to read the full review, and discover what made them conclude it has an "effortless cool that captivates and intrigues"

Beatles day!

Happy Beatles day! We're celebrating the fab four in our own special way on twitter by coming up with various Beatles themed tea-puns! Join in the fun at #beatlestea for classics such as 'Loose-tea in the Sky with Diamonds' and 'Dig a (white) Peony'...... no cringing!

It's a good day...

We're having such a lovely day at ATTIC today, we thought we'd share the good vibes!

It seems that all the elements in our 'manifesto' point highlighted above are being met in delightful ways - It's one of our team's Birthday (Happy Birthday Will!) so we've been enjoying some delicious cake, people have been coming in with well-wishes and in generally good moods thanks to the sunshine, we're all going out for drinks after work and we've been enjoying plenty of tea in-store.

We were also treated (and it was a treat...) to an impromptu performance from one of the classical guitar tutors down the road, which made our day! So many thanks to Pat at the Spanish Guitar Centre - pop back in again soon!

We hope everyone else is having a good day too ♥

ATTIC at The Big Chill

~Enjoying some tea & chill~

When the lovely folks from The East Room  asked if we’d like to serve our tea in their ‘Green Room’ at The Big Chill festival earlier this month, we’d packed up the ATTIC-mobile, popped on our wellies and went driving up to Herefordshire before you could say “Basement Jaxx”…

~The ATTIC-mobile!~

Once we’d worked our way through the fields and past some bizzarely placed Chesterfield sofas we arrived in the VIP area to find our “tea tent”, which was a beautiful Mongolian Yurt, lavishly decorated with cushions, rugs, beanbags, beds and sofas which created an atmosphere that more than lived up to the festival’s namesake. 

~ inside our beautiful "tea tent"~

We took our ‘One Leaf, Many Lives’ range of teas to serve, consisting of our pick of the finest teas representing each category of White, Scented, Green, Oolong, Pu-erh and Black teas, allowing visitors to sample the full spectrum of flavours. Promoting the teas by their ‘sensations’, we were able to generate a lot of excitement about our teas. The way that tea makes you feel has always been an important factor to us, so it was great to see other people starting to view tea in this way!

~Our 'One Leaf, Many Lives' menu~

 Our Tea-makers also came into their own in the festival environment, providing delicious drinks easily and endlessly with no mess and very little waste – no teabags, and the leftover leaves create the perfect compost for plants!

We had a fantastic time at the festival, and was a wonderful opportunity for us to spread the tea-love with some great creative minds, who discovered how tea could accompany them in their moments of contemplation, fuel conversations and feed moments of genius.

We’ll be listening out for some tea-themed new-releases in the coming months!

~welcome into the wonderful world of tea - just remember, no shoes!~

New Look, New Shop

There's a new look taking over ATTIC headquarters! After feeling inspired by our manifesto and its giant metaphorical lightbulb, we have started to incorporate elements of the design into our overall branding and image, such as our new webshop.

We hope the new graphics are fun, friendly and welcoming - how we want your tea experience to be! 

We'll keep you updated on how things progress, and if you're in Bristol, keep an eye-out for our newly branded ATTIC-mobile, complete with tea-maker!

ATTIC Manifesto

At ATTIC, we've been having a good hard think about the things that matter to us; what we love, what we believe. 

After staring blankly at a Word document for an hour trying to create an official manifesto, we decided that several cups of tea (Dragonwell, Silver Needle and Tippy Yunnan to be exact...) and a good chat were in order to work out what was really making us tick. After discovering our individual missions to chase crop-circles, learn about Mayan history and accumulate the entire Bruce Springsteen back-catalogue (we did digress occasionally...) we managed to agree on several beliefs, loves and philosophies that united us in Tea!

The result of which is our ATTIC manifesto, where tea infuses with our daily lives and passions, to create our unique little worlds.

We hope you enjoy sharing our thoughts, and maybe even find something in common!

(Ps* If anyone knows where to find some bargain Bruce Springsteen Vinyl.....) 

Tea of the Week: Ti Guan Yin / Iron Goddess of Mercy

Ti Guan Yin, meaning ‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’, is one China’s most famous and special Oolong teas.

Legend has it that a poor farmer who maintained a dilapidated old temple to the bodhisattva of compassion, Quan Yin, saw her in a dream where she directed him where to look for his reward, which he was to share with the whole community. In the directed location, there stood a solitary tea sprout, which the farmer nurtured like a gift from heaven. Since then the whole region has prospered from the production of this tea.

Traditionally, Ti Guan Yin is served gongfu style (a fine art to tea serving, where the smallest details are carefully monitored to extract the best possible taste from the tea leaves), steeping the tea in a fist sized pot and drinking it from small ‘shot’ cups, often made from fine pottery. When served in this way, it becomes one of the strongest teas available, but still retains its incredible delicacy.

Oolong teas are semi-fermented, sitting between green and black teas in terms of strength and flavour. Because of this, they are amongst the most diverse and complex-tasting teas, ranging from refreshing and delicate emerald greens, to the strong and roasted flavours of near ebony leaves.

Sitting at the greener end of Oolongs, Ti Guan Yin is a fine example of the many levels of flavour this group of tea offers. Its tightly rolled leaves unfurl to a vast volume, allowing them to be re-used several times with little dilution of flavour. 

It's one of the teas we frequently fall back on when we need a 'pick me up' during the day, with its rich, strong and refreshing taste, we hope you'll see why it’s considered a gift from the heavens!