Heirloom Orchard: plum, cinnamon and ginger

Open the pouch before you boil anything. There is plum in there, then cinnamon, then a dry heat at the back of it that you will not place until the water hits it and the ginger arrives.

Some blends announce themselves in the cup. This one starts in the bag.

What is in Heirloom Orchard

Plum first, deep and gently sweet, which is what gives the cup its softness. Cinnamon and ginger come through the middle, building warmth in layers rather than all at once. Underneath, a black tea base holds the structure so the fruit never turns syrupy. The finish is warm, lightly spiced, and composed.

It is a blend about balance rather than volume. Nothing in it is trying to be the loudest thing in the cup.

What to look for in the pouch

Tip a spoonful onto a pale saucer and it stops being an anonymous brown scoop. You should be able to pick out the dark twist of long leaf black tea, pieces of dried fruit with skin still on them, broken cinnamon bark rather than dust, cut ginger, and the odd flash of orange petal through it.

That is what a blend looks like before anybody grinds it down to fit in a bag. It matters beyond looking well: bark and fruit skin release slowly, which is why the spice in this cup builds instead of arriving all at once on the first sip.

How to brew Heirloom Orchard

When to drink it

Three in the afternoon, when the light goes flat and you want something in your hands rather than another coffee. Or Sunday, with the paper, when the kitchen smells of it before anybody comes downstairs.

It has a black tea base, so it carries caffeine. Keep it for the daylight hours and move to something caffeine free after six.

What to drink it with

Anything baked and not too sweet. Toast, a plain scone, a slice of apple cake. The cinnamon in the cup does the work that a spiced pudding would, so the food can be simple.

What it is not

It is not a chai, and it will not stand up to being boiled with milk the way a masala blend does. The spice here sits behind the fruit rather than in front of it. If you want spice as the whole point, Ginger Bread Bakery is the one to take.

Four sizes, from £7 for 15g, which is fifteen cups, up to £30 for the 100g pantry size. If you already know you like spiced black tea, buy the larger one. This is a blend people finish.

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JoJo