Twinings Tea Event at The Savoy

Over the years I have breakfasted on porridge, cereals, full English, whisky, toast, yesterday’s dinner leftovers, good croissants, terrible croissants, fruit and yoghurt,vitamin pills and on one memorable occasion in New Orleans Oyster Soup, Eggs Benedict and Bananas Foster washed down with champagne. But never before had I knowingly opted for ant eggs, crickets and meal worms…

The people at Twinings decided to hold an event celebrating 80 years of their English Breakfast Tea at the Savoy which resulted in me having my cuppa poured by Stephen Twining, the Brand Ambassador for Twinings  and 10th generation scion of the tannic dynasty which is probably as good as it gets in the tea world. Twinings English Breakfast Tea was created in 1933 specifically to match the most popular breakfast dishes of the time and breakfast was very much the theme of the morning.

There was a fascinating presentation by Stephen and 2011 MasterChef Winner Tim Anderson on breakfast trends through the decades with each era beautifully displayed  with appropriate food and tableware. The final table gazed 80 years into the future and it was here that the insect ingredients were laid out alongside other elements of a ‘future muesli’. This is not a phrase I ever thought I would use, but mixed in with good Greek yoghurt, hazelnuts, mulberries, sea buckthorn and dried grapes, the insect contingent certainly added a protein filled sense of crunch to the proceedings. I did try each one separately and to be honest they won’t be becoming a store cupboard staple chez Le Hedonist. A robust tea was then served that had blended specifically to accompany the muesli and Twining’s master blender talked us through that process.

After the assembled throng had feasted on the bug filled breakfast we were shepherded into the next room where a fantastic spread was laid out for us. Kedgeree, eggs benedict, assorted pastries and juices were happily demolished as more teas of the breakfast and fruit varieties were imbibed pushing away all memories of the creepy-crawlies. All in all I had a great time so thank you to the lovely people at Twinings.