‘This is one of the discoveries of our time, and a wonderfully disruptive drink to bring to a dinner party,’ says Fortnum & Mason’s Oscar Dodd, withdrawing a fat bottle of lightly alcoholic Copenhagen Sparkling Tea from a water-beaded ice bucket.
We are in F&M’s limed-oak tasting room. The feature windows overlook the busy Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon where ‘tearistas’ take picking brew times and temperatures very seriously.
Representing, says Dodd, a combination of ‘Scandi nous, proper leaves from across Asia’ and aromatic white wine, ‘which carries the tea’, it took Denmark-based wine importer Bo Sten Hansen and Nordic champion sommelier Jacob Kocemba eight years to refine their recipes.
Dodd, who jokes he was raised on his grandma’s preferred potion of ‘Campari, orange and angostura’, believes effervescent teas ‘tick the boxes of what a wine drinker wants’. I try hibiscus-tinted ‘Rød’ (red) — its cork released with ceremonial pop — which evokes the salmon pink hue of a Provence rosé. Fusing 10 flushes of white and black teas, it bears flavours of dark fruits and a tannic hint within its micro-bubbles. Perfect with berry-led puddings or spicy shrimp.
Meanwhile, Grøn (green) blends seven teas, including green, with lemongrass and ginger. Its perfume is surprisingly shy given the ingredients, with a crisp, mineral, vinous palate. The tea star of the show for me, it is also excellent with sushi. Blå (blue) is the most virtuous of the collection. An aperitif-style sharpener, it confidently comprises 13 teas including chamomile, jasmine and Darjeeling — but no alcohol.
As well as bringing something more to the afternoon tea ritual, Dodd believes sparkling teas afford drinkers social currency. ‘Anyone can boast they drank the best champagne over the weekend, but here’s something different: chic Danish sparkling tea…’ £16-18 (fortnumandmason.com)
