United KingdomOverview
This is a gift tin, not an advent calendar. New English Teas, founded in 1985 by Anthony Brown, a great-grandson of Brooke Bond founder Arthur Brooke, fills a rectangular tin with 72 individually wrapped bags of three of its everyday blends: English Breakfast, a robust black tea, English Afternoon, a smoother blend, and Earl Grey, the fragrant one.
All are made with Ceylon tea grown in Sri Lanka, at two grams a bag, and all are suitable for vegetarians, vegans and people avoiding gluten. The tin is white with green and gold trim, 19.5 by 12.5 by 6 cm, and it carries nutcracker characters, dancers and pine branches. The brand presents it as a festive gift and a reusable keepsake.
The tea is simple and familiar, and the tin is most of the present. The UK shop lists it at £10. New English Teas does not currently ship to the United States or the EU and directs buyers there to Amazon.
Taste & variety
Three blends and no surprises. English Breakfast is the robust one, built to take milk. English Afternoon is the smoother of the three. Earl Grey is the fragrant one. All are made with Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka, two grams to a bag, and all are caffeinated black tea, vegan and gluten-free.
The narrowness is the charm of it: there is no weak link to rummage past on day nine, and nobody has to decide what to do with a bag of lemongrass. A tin like this does not ask to be tasted with attention, it asks to be used, and by the second week of December it will be.
Packaging & gift appeal
A white rectangular tin with green and gold trim, 19.5 by 12.5 by 6 cm, printed with nutcracker characters, dancers and pine branches. Inside are 72 bags in individual wrappers, 144 g of tea in all.
The brand pitches the tin as a keepsake to reuse once the tea is gone, and that is the right reading: it will hold buttons, stamps or, optimistically, more tea. The Nutcracker is a December fixture on stages, so the design reads as a nod to the season without a single bauble shouting.
A free gift message card is included on request, and orders ship without prices.
What is in the box
72 individually wrapped tea bags of English Breakfast, English Afternoon and Earl Grey, in a Nutcracker keepsake tin.
Key features
- 72 individually wrapped tea bags, 144 g of tea in all
- Three black blends made with Ceylon tea: English Breakfast, English Afternoon, Earl Grey
- White tin with green and gold trim, nutcracker and dancers on the front, made to keep
- Free gift message card, shipped without prices
Our verdict
The tin is the star, and it keeps its place in the cupboard long after the 72 bags of English Breakfast, English Afternoon and Earl Grey are gone. A cheerful, low-risk present for a house that drinks black tea all day.
What we like
- A reusable Christmas tin that looks right on a counter
- Seventy-two individually wrapped bags, enough for a whole household
- Three blends everybody knows, vegan and gluten-free
A few things to know
- Only three teas, all black and caffeinated
- Nothing herbal or caffeine-free
- The brand does not ship to the United States or the EU and points buyers to Amazon
