Undoubtedly, the best thing about producing the Real Podcast is that it offers the chance to meet and natter with absolute experts in a variety of subjects. In this new episode, we chat to Real’s tea partner, a chap called Will Battle who quite literally wrote the book on tea. You can check that out yourself – go and look for The World Tea Encyclopaedia in any good bookshop and you’ll find his name right there under the title.

Excitingly, Will thinks that 2020 is really tea’s time. The humble cuppa on which the UK seems to so heavily depend is having a bit of a moment. For us, it’s a vital ingredient in the production of our exquisite drinks, but it seems that the world is quite rapidly waking up to the possibilities that this wonderfully versatile plant offers us, whether that’s from a foodie perspective or a health perspective.

So it seemed the right time to catch up with Will and ping him with questions relating to everything tea. Over the next hour or so, we’ll look at the history of tea, some of the origin stories and legends, what different teas mean to different cultures, what it takes to grow a certain type of tea and why one small pot of tea was once worth more than Richard Nixon’s limousine, and what, in Will’s opinion, the tea world will look like in 2020.

We’d suggest you put on a brew and put your feet up, but it’s all a bit more fascinating than that…

Chatting tea with Will Battle

“Famously, tea travels business class”, says Will Battle, explaining in this episode just why he feel’s it’s “tea’s time”, and why people in the UK are suddenly starting to develop a respect for the humble tea plant. He discusses the traditions, reverence and gravitas that surround camellia sinensis.