Take to the Skies with Twinings and British Airways

04 February 2013

Find out more about our new partnership with British Airways

Take to the Skies with Twinings and British Airways

Bringing you the best cup of tea at 35,000 feet…

We've been hard at work with British Airways to bring you a new British Airways Signature Blend that took to the skies on 1st February.

Did you know…

BA research discovered that taste can be reduced by up to 30 per cent at 35,000 feet. With this in mind, the airline commissioned Twinings to come up with a teabag that would taste as good in the sky as it does on the ground.

Getting the perfect blend

British Airways ran a series of tastings on the ground and up in the air with a panel of 19 customers, cabin crew and experts including Twinings senior buyer Mike Wright.

A classic combination

This new blend combines Assam, Kenyan and high grown Ceylon tea: a classic combination giving body, strength, flavour and colour. A bias towards the Assam produces a well-rounded, full-bodied blend, while the Kenyan gives it strength and lift and the Ceylon adds flavour.

The sky's the limit

We spoke to our Senior Blender, Mike Wright to find out more about the particular blend. He told us that "water on board an aircraft boils at around 89 degrees centigrade, not the ideal 100 degrees for making black tea. The reduced air pressure and humidity affect the functioning of the tastebuds, making things taste different. In addition to this, it was important that the new blend worked well with and without milk. The new British Airways blend is perfectly balanced to create great-tasting tea at 35,000 feet."

Full of Flavour and Lightness

After extensive testing with BA customers, cabin crew and Twinings tasters, we have developed a special blend for BA and have tested teas in the air on various flights to narrow down customer preference.

Mike Wright, our Senior Blender told us how we worked with BA had to develop a blend that satisfies and performs for a global audience with perhaps a British "background" flavour. "After extensive in flight testing we found that a combination of Assam tea for body and roundness of cup, Kenyan for briskness, refreshment brightness of cup and High grown Ceylon for flavour and lightness. When combined, these flavours produced a fantastic cup! We also found that a particular type of tea manufacture known as "cut tear and curl" used in the Kenyan and Assam tea gave a fast and efficient extraction at altitude. I am confident that BA customers will have a great tasting cup of Twinings tea on their flight."

Taste the British Airways Signature Blend

This fantastic new blend is available for passengers to enjoy in all cabins on BA flights from Friday 1^st  February 2013. Passengers in First Class and Club World can also enjoy a wide range of Twinings teas on their journey.