The Bakewell tart comparison is the hook here — cherry and almond, wrapped in a black tea base. Tea & Coffee blends China black tea with almond and cherry flavouring, and the result reads like dessert in a cup: full-bodied, creamy, with cherry sweetness up front and a nutty almond finish that lingers after you swallow. The aroma carries before you even pour, and it stays noticeable through the steep and after. In the cup it pours coppery with orange highlights, light rather than dark.
This tea sits within the broader flavoured-tea tradition, a category that stretches back thousands of years to early spiced blends like chai, and that gave rise to Earl Grey around two centuries ago. Earl Grey's own origin is murky — the popular story about a diplomatic trip to China and a rescued child is generally regarded as invented, since the Prime Minister it's named after never actually visited China. That lineage of flavoured teas is what eventually led to combinations like this one, alongside things like gingerbread green tea or caramel milk oolong.
It's a loose leaf black tea from China, and it contains a nut allergen (almond), worth noting if that matters to you. Tasting notes lean fruity and dessert-like: cherry, lemon, bergamot, honey, caramel, and almond alongside the black tea base. Tea & Coffee packs it fresh to order at a factory in Pluckley, Kent.
To brew it, use freshly boiled water and steep for three to five minutes. It stands on its own served black, but takes well to milk, sugar, lemon, or honey if you want to soften or sweeten it further — there's no single right way to drink it.
