After the recent announcement that T2 would be closing their stores and online presence in the US and UK I knew I had to place an order. I managed to scoop up my two favourite blends, and several that are new to me, before they sold out and I’m very grateful for that! As you can see in the second picture, I just had to make a cup of Singapore Breakfast ASAP – it had been far, far too long since my last. It’s always been very challenging to get ahold of any of T2’s teas from here in Canada and unfortunately it just got a whole lot harder; my heart breaks for all of their fans in the US and UK who are now facing the same reality.
I saw a lot of differing opinions from people in the tea community following the announcement of T2’s closure and not all of them are something I would call positive. Personally, if you are a lover of tea in any capacity, I think it’s naive to celebrate the closure of ANY tea company. For something enjoyed globally, our industry is small. T2 was (and still is) a pioneer of specialty tea across the globe. Whether the style of tea they sell was something that appealed to you or not, it’s ignorant to ignore that they introduced tea to many people who may have never touched a cup at all otherwise. All awareness is good. And, I cannot stress this enough, ALL tea and tea companies are good – even if it’s something you eventually move away from in favor of another company or style of tea, like a more traditional straight tea oriented route. When one of us succeeds, we all do.
I know I usually stick to more light-hearted tasting notes and reviews with pretty teaware, but I just wanted to share this perspective as the reality set in today that this is probably the last tea mail I will receive from T2 for quite some time.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnnVTMuOuJU/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U1Zr0mP-44
Flavors: Coconut, Coconut, Cream, Cream, Sticky Rice, Sticky Rice, Toasted Rice, Toasted Rice
I was ready to place an order today morning (on the way to work) to find out they don’t send anything to the EU, because Brexit! What a shame!