A little bit of tea trivia for you today: did you know that ‘tea tips’ are the small, young, unopened leaves of the tea plant? They are considered, by connoisseurs, to be better quality than the larger, older leaves of the tea plant and when a tea has many tips, it’s known as “tippy”. Cute, no? The tips often have a higher concentration of flavour, vitamins and minerals and usually hail from India, Sri Lanka, Taiwanand China. They’re a tad pricier than other teas because they have to be harvested by hand. They’re not even all the same colour: in India, teas from Darjeeling have silver tips and those from Assam have golden tips.

The amount of golden tips will vary depending on where in Assam the tea is harvested and they lessen the astringent characteristic of the tea making it sweeter and smoother. Newby’s Rare Assam from the Gourmet Collection is an exceptionally tippy tea and has even won a few awards in recognition of its unique taste.