Press and Reviews

We have been very fortunate to be featured in many newspapers and magazines including the Guardian, Observer Food Monthly, The Financial Times, Esquire, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday, BBC Radio 4, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Telegraph, Restaurant, Hotel and Caterer, Fresh Cup, Business Traveller and Cafe Culture. Here are some extracts of what has been said.

6th December 2011

Life Skills: How to Make a Perfect Cup of Tea

"Tea expert Edward Eisler, founder of speciality tea importer JING, says making the perfect cup of tea is not easy - here he gives his step-by-step guide on how to make a fool proof cuppa."

http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/883918-life-skills-how-to-make-a-perfect-cup-of-tea

Retail Times - 8th September 2011

"South London online tea retailer, JING Tea, has won Google’s Best of British Web competition, which recognises small UK businesses who are making the most of the internet...

After travelling around the globe and building relationships with the world’s finest tea farmers, JING Tea sources the world’s finest teas and supplies them to customers through its website..."

Andy Lynes, 25th January 2011.

"Before I leave, I ask Eisler the secret to brewing the perfect cuppa. 'Use a small teapot that's just big enough for what you're going to drink at that time,' he says. 'You don't want to leave it stewing. It's like cooking a steak; taking a piece off and leaving the rest in the pan while you finish the first piece. When you come back to it, it's going to be ruined. When the tea is ready, it's ready.'"

From Financial Times How to Spend It Magazine

The Gannet - November 2010

Desert Island Dishes - Bill Knott

'A hamper filled with proper festive delicacies is music to a foodie's ears.

Instead of Ye Olde Traditional English Breakfast Tea, I will have JING's invigorating Dragon Well green tea, wok dried in the hills around Hangzhou.'

From Sunday Times Style Magazine - August 2010

Food Matters - John Ungoed-Thomas

"It's time for tea to revamp its image and celebrate its charms. Enter Edward Eisler, the founder of JING Tea who is prepared to travel further than most in his quest for the perfect cup. His company already supplies some of the country's finest restaurants and hotels including Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck, The Lanesborough and Gordon Ramsay restaurants...

From Sunday Times Style Magazine - July 2010

'My Delicious Life'

'Anna Hansen, chef patron, the Modern Pantry; themodernpantry.co.uk - "The other day someone gave me an amazing Gateway tea set from JING Tea that came with about 15 different varieties of tea - there's one for every day and mood, from Assam black tea to Chinese white tea. I'm not usually too bothered about my tea but JING is something else - so delicious and clean, you can really tell they've used the best crops. I love it."

From Esquire Magazine - The Kit - February 2010

'Non-alcoholic drinks don't score many column inches here, but the JING tea cup has earned itself desk space in the office. The lid can be inverted into a receptacle for the infuser, leaving you with no mess and the perfect brew. Plus, the flavours of JING's loose-leafs are good enough to distract us from the caffeine fix we're missing.'

From The Mail on Sunday - January 2010 - Helen Loveless

'Cheers, Edward is selling tea to China

They know a thing or two about tea in China and Japan. So it is a tribute to Edward Eisler's expertise that he has succeeded in exporting it to both countries.

He decided five years ago to turn his passion for speciality teas such as jasmine into a business when he set up JING Tea, which sells to the public and top hotels.

Edward says: 'When I first launched the business there was a lack of high-end speciality teas available in this countyr to consumer, yet there was a growing demand for fine tea.

When I set up JING Tea I hoped to define the ultimate tea standard worldwide. Our teas are now served in London, Paris, Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney and we are definitely moving in the right direction.'

Last year Edward travelled more than 6,000 miles within China and Japan visiting producers. He works with them to improve the quality of the tea by ensuring that the production processes are as effective as possible.

The firm has also set up factories to 'maximise quality control' at each stage of processing the tea.

As well as supplying a wide range of teas, JING Tea has branched out into offering speciality teaware and also offers training courses to corporate customers.

From Observer Food Monthly Magazine - January 2010 - Caroline Boucher's 21 Best for 2010

'I'm still suspicious of those who say they love green tea, but watching these buds flower in a glass pot is fabulous, and the taste is much more fragrant than some.'

BBC Radio 4 Food Programme - 11th January 2010

Edward Eisler, Managing Director of JING Tea was invited onto the Food Programme to talk about the growth of the speciality tea market. You can listen to the full programme with Sheila Dillon here.

From The Daily Telegraph Stella Magazine

January 2010

'For a quick and easy health fix work a few cups of JING yellow tea into your daily routine. The rare Pre-Rain Jun Shan Silver Needle Yellow Tea (to give it its full name) is slow-cooked over gentle heat to 'yellow' the leaves and has exceptionally high levels of antioxidants.'

From Cool Hunting blog

7th July 2009

As the most popular drink on earth (second only to water), tea has legions of purists. And nowhere is that more acute than in China, where the beverage originated more than a millennium ago. So it's no surprise that Jing Tea exhibits the all the hallmarks of a superior leaf. The tea's scent makes the most immediate impression, almost more distinctly than its flavor. Opening a gold foil bag of Jing tea is an olfactory explosion, each bag packing an overwhelming bouquet of scents that defy its voyage halfway around the world. The sweet aromas of their green and white teas are perfectly rendered in the prepared drink. And as we transition into full-on summer mode, we were happy to find that particularly the white teas, are just as delicious iced.

Though a British company, the tea comes from China, as well as India, Sri Lanka, Japan and Taiwan. Harvest are scrupulous witch each bag bearing the exact day of harvest. Does it taste any different knowing that my Organic Dragon Well Supreme (pictured) was hand-picked on 3 April 2009 in Zhejiang, China? Probably not, but it signifies a testament to quality that's reassuring to read.

The varieties we sampled were "pre-rain" teas, meaning they are the exceptionally tender first spring shoots. (It’s also known as Pre Qing Ming tea, after the eponymous April festival when Chinese families visit and tend to the graves of deceased family or friends as a sign of respect.)

Many respectable locations like Harrods, Gordon Ramsay restaurants, Tate Galleries, The Lanesborough, Brown's hotels and Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Lounges serve and sell JING Tea.

From The Evening Standard Magazine

Andy Barker, 13th June 2008

'The Fat Duck's experimental chef Heston Blumenthal relies on St John and Jing Tea'

From Coutts Woman Online

'Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsey, Coutts Bank and top hotels such as the Lanesborough became converts.

Coutts were particularly pleased. One of the grand dining rooms on the Strand has silk covered walls depicting scenes from China featuring tea pickers in the Wuyi mountains, famous for its tea. Jing Tea is providing them with two teas tea picked from the region, Bohea Lapsang and Big Red Robe. Edward says, "Tea has been picked here since 1794 and is being made in the same kind of way. The Lapsang which is completely different to any other, is being produced by the same family, 32 generations on."

Jing Tea offers a complete tea service to companies to fit their environment. That means creating the concept, writing the menus and generally elevating tea to its true status. Since the introduction of the website Jing Tea has been available on a retail basis. And now stores like Harrods stock JING's Chinese and Japanese teas.'

From Stella Magazine

8th June 2008

Vintage tea is virtually unheard-of outside China, but this puer tea from Yunnan province – which is thought to aid weight loss – tastes warm, rich and tangy. It is extremely rare and… just imagine: if it really is a slimming aid, you can justify that second slice of cake with it.

From The Times Magazine

31st July 2007

Food detective: Tea
Sheila Keating

After water, the world consumes more tea than any other drink, but in Britain we have either been seduced by the coffee house, or the rituals of leaves and warmed pots have become a distant memory while we plunk a bag of “builder’s” into a cup. All of which is anathema to Edward Eisler, who started his company JING Tea to rekindle our interest in individual flavors and help us be as discerning with tea as we are with wine and coffee. For Eisler, whose teas are on the menus of restaurants such as The Fat Duck, every aspect, from the terroir where the tea grows to the quality of the water and the pot in which you steep it, is crucial to enjoyment.
Are different teas suited to different times of day?

“I would begin the day with Oolong, which isn’t as high in caffeine as black tea, but very stimulating,” says Eisler. “I suggest trying Yellow Gold and advancing to Wuyi Big Red Robe, which is full, rich and nourishing – one for the connoisseur. In the afternoon, I drink green, yellow, jasmine or puerh. The green tea everyone loves is Dragon Well, slightly sweet and chestnutty, fresh and toasty at the same time. Yellow tea is similar to green, but slightly more mellow and complex – try Huo Mountain.” The latest tea sensation, however, is undoubtedly the mysterious Puerh tea, much touted for its ability to break down fats in food. “I recommend the 2003 Banzhang Raw Puerh, which is really fresh, but with the mellowness of some ageing,” says Eisler. For the end of the day he suggests white tea, such as Silver Needle, which is higher in antioxidants than other teas and the lowest in caffeine.

Martin Isark, 29th March 2006

Martin Isark rated Jing's Bohea Lapsang and Monkey Picked Tieguanyin highest of our 17 other teas. He wrote:

Jing Monkey Picked Tieguanyin
"Verdict: 9/10
This is a very rare tea. It is slightly nutty and tastes rather like apricots. it has hardly any tannin in it and tastes a little malty. Excellent. "

Jing Bohea Lapsang Souchong
"Verdict: 10/10
This is the best lapsang I have ever tasted, with a colour like golden straw. The flavour has a delicate smokiness which is mixed with hazelnuts. It is like an orchestra playing on the palate. Full marks."

21 February 2007

"Jing Tea in south London is Britain's main supplier of white tea. Its customers include Harrods, the Lanesborough Hotel and Coutts Bank."

Evening Standard, 22nd February 2007

"Tea merchant Edward Eisler flies out to see the crop being harvested every April...Mr Eisler is boss of London's main supplier of white silver needle tea, JING Tea, whose customers include Harrods, the Lanesborough, the Fat Duck, Virgin Upper Class and Coutts Bank."

THE FINANCIAL TIMES, 2nd DECEMBER 2006

IT'S TEA, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT
ANDREW JEFFORD

"It was an almost secret door in a wall that led to my own initiation into the splendours of China teas. Visually, they were a carnival - flattened green leaf, its colour as vivid as spring birch leaves; fine hair-like strands of dark tea tipped with orange; felty white tips; glistening, lacquered twists, like seaweed uncovered by the tide; silvered, downy balls; and chunks of brown tea brick, a sight familiar to those travelling the Silk Road a thousand years ago."

THE GUARDIAN, 2nd DECEMBER 2006

LINES ON THE LEAF
KEVIN GOULD

"The most famous green tea in China is Dragon Well, the best of which fetches $2,000 a kilo. Jing Tea's vastly more affordable version also requires cool-ish water. Its fresh, slightly toasty, sweet chestnut character refreshes the palate at lunchtime, after which my traditional Chinese medicine practitioner suggests Pu-erh. This light black tea is reputed to aid fat metabolism and lower cholesterol. It is oxidised by the addition of fermenting leaves from the previous day's batch."

FRESH CUP MAGAZINE, JANUARY 2007

"Jing Tea is a name I heard often when seeking out the best places for tea in today's London and most of the places I've listed here serve or sell Jing Tea, some exclusively. To understand how a single entrepreneur could achieve such an impact, I introduced myself to Jing Tea founder Edward Eisler and obtained this interview for Fresh Cup."

MARKETING WEEKLY NOVEMBER 2006

"Jing tea, a white label supplier of Harrods, is launching its own luxury brand."

BUSINESS TRAVELLER, OCTOBER 2006

JENNIFER SHARP

"Edward Eisler is just 27 but has been passionate about tea since he was eight years old and is an unrepentant “anorak” with a mind-blowing knowledge about tea."

THE MIRROR, 13th FEBRUARY 2006

ANTON ANTONOWIZ

"Edward has devoted most of his life to tea. He began at the age of seven, pestering his mother to buy more interesting brands in the local supermarket. Today, at only 27, he ranks as one of the world's great tea-ologists.

He's passionate about our national brew. When others took a gap year to go surfing, Ed went on the tea trail to China. He traveled the nation, sipping, savouring, smelling, swallowing. His teas grace the boardroom table of Coutts, the Queen's bankers.

The Fat Duck, chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in Bray, Berks - voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine last year - boasts a variety of his infusions. So Ed has landed. Deservedly so.

DECANTER, DECEMBER 2005

FIONA BECKETT

"You might think that no self respecting Brit would need to be shown how to make a cup of tea. But China tea expert Edward Eisler may be the man to convert traditionalists to the virtues of repeated steeping rather one good brew.

Of course it helps to have the fabulously rare teas that Eisler and his Jing Tea company work with (which starts at £3.50 for 30g), but just as important is the technique and equipment you use. Eisler uses very small pots which he fills to the brim with leaves, then pours over hot water (mineral or filtered). After about 30 seconds he pours the tea into a container or 'server' to fill up the cups while he re-steeps the leaves with water. This process is repeated six or seven times. The temperature at which the tea is made is critical: hotter water - best for oolong or black teas - accentuates the roast flavours, cooler water (better for white and green teas) the aromatic quality."

THE GUARDIAN

NIKKI DUFFY, 19th NOVEMBER 2005

"I struggled to find a brew as good as the ones I drank in Singapore until a friend introduced me to Jing Tea's jasmine pearls...More than a reviving drink, this tea is so fragrant, it encourages a mid-afternoon ritual - pretty china cup, a moment of peace..."