Imperial Blend - Loose Leaf

Imperial Blend is one of our most premium offerings – a deliciously complex tea that can soothe, stimulate or satisfy. It's a unique marriage of fine leaves from the world's greatest black tea regions, scented with exotic bergamot. Fans of Earl Grey looking to try a more subtly fragranced and rounded bergamot-enriched tea will love this blend. As will anyone who appreciates a truly regal cup of tea. Whatever your mood, our Imperial Blend is a brew that reigns supreme, any time of the day.

To create this special blend, our Tea Masters draw on their years of expertise to balance high quality whole leaf teas from around the world. The blend unites two of India's finest – Darjeeling and Assam – to create a wonderful pairing of vine-fruit sweetness and creamy, malty depths. To this, quality Kenyan leaves add their signature robustness and prime Sri Lankan Ceylon balances the blend with it brisk freshness. While this rounded blend is exquisite as it is, our Tea Masters found that by adding a little of our exclusive bergamot flavouring, the tea's majestic flavours really sing in harmony.

You'll find 454 grams (g), or rather 16 imperial ounces, of Imperial Blend in the box, foil-sealed so it reaches you as fresh as the day our Tea Masters blended it. Notice the different hues of each region's tea leaves – the olive green of Darjeeling, the khaki tones of Ceylon, the black of Kenya and the golden tips of Assam. The latter add delicious biscuity notes to the brew. Imperial Blend is perfect on its own, perhaps with a slice of lemon to enhance the tea's more citrusy fragrances. Or for a more indulgent cuppa, add a splash of milk to mellow the briskness and highlight the exotic notes of the bergamot. Rounded, layered and fragrant, our Imperial Blend makes a fine centrepiece for afternoon tea alongside your favourite sweet treats.

To match this tea's distinguished nature, we've illustrated our Imperial Blend with Alfred Vickers' 'Windsor Castle from the Thames'. A fittingly grand artwork, the oil painting juxtaposes the magnificence of Windsor's royal seat against the humble setting of Brocas meadow, with cattle and boatmen in the foreground.