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Much as we love our coffee here at Food Wine Travel, we also love a good cup of tea – no particular brand or type, it all depends on our mood and whether it hits the spot at the time. Just like coffee, it’s all about the quality and the smoothness of the drink.
Lately we’ve been enjoying 96° teas, a range that reached our shores mid-year. Now available in Coles, 96 ̊ is a collection of black, green and herbal teas with four varieties available in Australia – Chamomile, Chinese Green, English Breakfast and Mint.
A blend of full-bodied and malty Assam teas with a citrusy Ceylon kick, English Breakfast is full-bodied, bright and invigorating. The Green Tea is grassy with a nutty sweetness, Mint is refreshing and cooling with a mellow sweetness, and Chamomile fragrant and soothing with a honeyed note and sweet-apple finish.
The brand’s name, 96°, is the perceived optimal brewing temperature for Assam, founder Adarsh Sethia’s favourite cup of tea. It soon became a byword for his passion for sourcing the best teas to make the perfect cup.
Adarsh’s family used to be in the tea business and he has always been fortunate to have access to good quality tea via old friends in the industry, but he could never find them closer to home in England. The lack of his Assam tea packages during Covid was ultimately the catalyst for the brand.
“My wife, Anjum Anand, and I are both big fans of Australia, having spent a lot of time here whilst building our last brand, The Spice Tailor. We enjoyed great coffee everywhere we went but really missed the good tea which we drink every morning,” he said. “We are proud and excited to bring 96 ̊ tea to Coles and hope we can get Australians as excited about tea as they are about coffee.”
While the product isn’t cheap – with a box of 20 tea bags selling for $10 – the couple’s love of tea shows in every sip. The tea is packed in large pyramid-shaped tea bags to allow the leaves to unfurl and release the full complexity of flavours. These are then sealed in individual air-tight envelopes to preserve the freshness of the tea (tea easily absorbs other smells). All the packaging is either compostable or fully recyclable, and the teas are sourced from certified plantations, ensuring they have fair labour policies.
