Tiree is everyone’s cup of tea

There are few things in life more satisfying, refreshing and infused with legendary problem solving qualities than tea.

No other beverage is credited with such power to bring people together, treat shock, calm situations, restore balance and evoke emotions.

The Scots have been drinking tea for more than 400 years, ever since Mary of Modena, the second wife of King James the VII, poured the first cup at Edinburgh’s Holyrood Palace in 1680.

The Italian-born royal had acquired a taste for the beverage while living in the Netherlands and since then Scots have enjoyed an enduring love affair with the drink that is only surpassed by water in its global consumption.

Two of the most famous names associated with making tea so popular were Scots. James Taylor, who is widely regarded as the father of Ceylon tea, was born in Kincardineshire and Sir Thomas Lipton, who gave his name to a global brand, started life as a Glasgow grocer.

Indeed, even the blend commonly referred to as English Breakfast is believed to have been devised by an Edinburgh Tea Master to the delight of Queen Victoria who introduced it to London society.

“I do love a good cup of tea. I was brought up in a house where pots and pots of tea were drunk. It is a very island kind of thing,” said Rhoda Meek, founder of Tiree Tea, a blend of the best quality leaves infused with a range of special ingredients intended to evoke the tranquil charm of Scotland’s sunshine isle.

Tiree is a small windswept island west of Oban where the sound of waves lapping on white sandy beaches combined with a myriad of bird calls fills the air.

Just 10 miles long and five miles wide it is flanked by the relatively warm Gulf Stream and is renowned for its warm and balmy summer evenings, free from the dreaded Scottish midges.

Inhabited since at least the Iron Age the population peaked in the 1830s when there were some 4,500 people living on the island. However, by the second half of the 19th century many chose, or were forced, to leave for a better life in the New World. Between 1848 and 1852 a large number of islanders set sail for Canada. Today there are less than 700 permanent residents.

In addition to crofting the island’s other main economic drivers have been fishing and tourism - an industry devastated this year by travel restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 crisis.

However, the island now has a new champion as packets of the specially created Tiree Tea are finding their way across the UK and as far as the USA.

“Anyone who can’t get to Scotland can now have a cup of island magic sent directly to them so they can sit back, savour the taste of the Hebrides and let their imagination wander,” said Rhoda, the fifth generation to work the land since her great-great-grandfather built the family croft in 1891.

Launched in November last year the company already has four special brands inspired by the spirit of Tiree for consumers to choose from.

The Crofter breakfast tea, featuring the image of the family’s 73-year-old little grey Ferguson tractor on the packet, is a perfect blend of black teas which stir the senses with a pleasantly nostalgic hint of baler-twine and marauding livestock.

Similarly, Tilley tea is named after the community wind turbine and benefits from an infusion of mint and nettles. Both of these plants can be found all over the island. It’s a refreshing brew suggestive of the fresh breezes that blow across the treeless landscape.

“There’s wild mint and nettles everywhere I go. Mint spreads like wildfire and nettles have long since been used as a food source on the island. They might be a bit prickly but they are full of goodness,” said Rhoda.

Equally unique is the specially created sweet flavoured Machair tea which pays homage to the island’s abundance of flora.

Blended with green rooibos, lemon verbena, nettle, lemon thyme, mallow flowers, red cornflowers and sunflower petals it is reminiscent of the carpet of colourful wild blooms which inhabit the rich, fertile soil bordering the shoreline.

The fourth blend on the Tiree Tea menu, Gneiss Earl Grey, was inspired by the Skerrvvore lighthouse. Designed by the uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Kidnapped and Treasure Island, it sits on a reef 11 miles off shore casting its protective beam of light across the ocean.

“When I started the business I thought it would appeal to people who come to the island or locals who have family elsewhere that would appreciate the connection with home,” said Rhoda.

“But I’ve been surprised by the response. A lot of people have been buying packets and sending them as unique gifts all over the world. I’ve heard of quite a few being sent to the USA.”

Being island-based the environment, and especially plastic pollution, is something Rhoda is acutely aware of.

“We’re doing our very best to make sure that we respect the planet. Our tea bags are 100 per cent biodegradable and plastic free,” said Rhoda.

“Even the mail bags we use are biodegradable and are designed to be re-used.