THE EVOLUTION OF THE TEA CADDY

To augment your developing expertise in tea, and delight your family and guests, our Twinings Tea Caddies are a really fabulous addition to the tea table, and have their own history too.

Historically, if you were wealthy enough to have tea, you would have a craftsman build you a tea caddy; Chippendale and Hepple White being the most famous makers. Their motivation was to show off their skill and craftsmanship to ensure commission for larger projects.

From 1662 – 1830s tea caddies were all the rage!

"Malaysian catti was a one and a quarter pound of tea. The English picked it up (inevitably mispronounced it!) and started using the word caddy to mean a container for tea."

- Origin of the word “Caddy”

UNDER LOCK & KEY

A Caddy was a treasured and valuable piece of furniture in its own right. Kept under lock and key, the lady of the house (not the servants) would keep charge of the keys to the caddy to keep its precious contents of loose tea leaves safe.

Caddies were, and still are, air tight to keep the teas’ precious flavours in.

TWININGS TEA CADDY FAVOURITES

As loose tea continues to regain its well deserved notoriety and desirability, Twinings have created these collections of caddies and teapots for both utility and style.

Happy team times!

KITCHEN ESSENTIALS

Today a tea caddy is an invaluable asset to the kitchen of any tea lover!

Have a browse of our unique collection – they make fabulous gifts and combine brilliantly with one of our beautiful teapots with built in strainers. Have a look at the Twinings collection of stylish teapots!