Ringtons – So much more than Tea

‘I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake’ – Lewis Black

I can vividly remember the first cup of tea I ever had. I was trying to get something off the top shelf of a wall unit (hey it was the 90s) in my bedroom so stood on the bottom self to do so and only realised what a bad idea that was when I started falling backwards pulling the whole unit on top of me. Thankfully I was relatively unharmed apart from the shock, which my mum swiftly gave be a cup of hot sugary tea for. And i hated it.

I also remember the first cup of coffee I ever had. It was in 2007 in New York with Patricia and we were both intent of playing as real a game of Sex and the City as we could so we got some iced coffees to strut over to the Empire State Building with. And I hated it.

I was happy to let the tea thing go, it seems to come with some kind of faux nationalism, fixer of all problems that makes me cringe and as someone who didn’t even live in this country for the first part of my life, is something I struggle to jump on board with. Coffee however was something I was desperate to like, I wouldn’t consider myself a European, nay an adult, nay a human until I liked coffee. So thank heavens for Starbucks and their super milky lattes which contain no more than 2 coffee beans per cup, i gradually weaned myself onto the black stuff and i’m now pretty much a caffeine addict – the stronger the better.

I was having a particularly crappy Monday at work back in January when I arrived home to a lovely hamper full of goodies from North East Tea legends Ringtons. I’ll admit I opened the box gingerly, wondering if they were trying where other had failed in converting me over to team Tea. Thankfully, although they had sent some of their classic teabags and some herbal fruity tea, they’d also sent some of their Traditional Blend Filter coffee. And some yummy biscuits and toffees. They were ever so slowly bringing me round to their way of thinking.

Being the professional single couple on the go we usually reserve our coffee indulgence to weekends, opting for frozen instant stuff we take to work. So thank god when we did sample a cup from our cafetiere it was well worth the wait. When you predominantly drink instant coffee, treating yourself to a decent cup really makes all the difference. The traditional blend is smoky and full of flavour without feeling migraine inducing, and you don’t have to use a lot to get a full cafetiere, so a bag lasts a long time. Pair with some of the chocolate brazil nut biscuits  (which are heavy on the chocolate, heavy on the nuts and heavy on the crunch) and it’s a match made in heaven, not to mention pretty good Saturday morning spinning class fuel. Hubs was chief tester of the teabags and they got a resounding thumbs up!

I’m normally a fan of a biscuit unless it’s chocolate so it’s usually out of sheer desperation I’ll eat anything else but the Ginger Snaps and Creamy Shortbread were also top quality, so good in fact that I soon regretted taking them into work to share and the locusts on my team had them polished off by 11.15am. Gannets. What was nice though was it sparked lively debate about Ringtons as a company and the fond place it seems to sit in every north easterners heart. Everyone, it appears has a Ringtons van story (for those who aren’t familiar one of the things that set and still sets the company apart is that they hand deliver their wares by car or van – a quaint personal touch that is nice to see hasn’t been killed off by the digital age)

After indulging myself on all the goodies, even the loose leaf tea, which we discovered brews very nicely in a cafetiere if you don’t have a strainer, I was concerned I was now a Ringtons addict without sufficient funds to support my habit. So I was please try surprised when I checked out their website to find their prices are actually very competitive. Sure you can get some Asda smart price bourbons for 50p a pack, but they’re Asda smart price bourbons. Think Chips Ahoy or Tesco’s finest triple choc cookies and you’re in the right ballpark of quality. Special mention also goes to the Smooth & chewy butter toffee which served as excellent little fat bombs for Dave’s long runs.

Despite building their empire mainly on tea, they’ve expended well to accommodate the ever changing market and now offer an array on non tea related products including over 15 different types of coffee (beans, ground and instant) coffee syrups as well as hot chocolates, cakes, preserves and crockery. I’ve got a very close eye on their Triple Chocolate Cookies and their chocolate mallows with their rich blend roast coffee to wash it down with!

Price list:

Extra Fresh Tea bags (100) – £3.50
Traditional Blend Filter Coffee (227g) – £3.45
Ginger Snaps – £1.90
Creamy Shortbread Rounds – £1.90
Chocolate Brazil Nut Biscuits – £1.95
Smooth & Chewy butter toffees – £1.60

Th loose leaf tea was sample size but full bags are available on the Ringtons Website