BRW Society is a UAE based tea brand that has just introduced its newest selection of delicious, unique loose leaf tea blends, plastic-free tea bags and stylish teaware that not only adds that extra element of comfort to a snuggly winter’s night in, but also makes the perfect gift or stocking filler for friends and family too.
We chat with BRW Society’s Founder, Laura Manning, who has perfected the craft of making an exemplary cup of tea through her unique methods of blending. She uses quality tea leaves and ingredients with no artificial flavourings, all sourced sustainably in packaging that is kind to the environment. BRW Society’s innovative teabags are made from corn starch and the clear pouch keeping them nice and fresh is made wood pulp, so it contains absolutely no plastic and is better for the planet and everyone living in it.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your love for tea
My name is Laura and I am the founder of BRW Society, a locally based tea brand on a mission to get the UAE drinking better quality tea.
I moved to Dubai in 2018 with my husband and three children and I immediately felt that great quality tea was hard to come by, there was little choice in the premium quality, whole leaf tea category. For a long time I asked my Mum to send over tea parcels, containing all my favourite British brands. Then I had a lightbulb moment – someone needed to fill this gap! The rest is history.
I am completely fascinated by tea, there are so many different varieties, there is something for everyone and every occasion. Tea brings people together and enriches lives. It is such a special beverage and there is nothing else quite like it. It’s no wonder it is the second most consumed beverage in the world, only second to water.
In the UAE I love seeing how the tea community is transforming into an incredibly dynamic one with speciality tea increasing in popularity and the low quality, dusty old black teabags being ditched for a higher quality beverage.
What does the name mean?
BRW Society is pronounced ‘Brew Society’. I chose BRW Society because I wanted a name that was cool and didn’t conform. BRW Society is not like any other tea brand – we’re colourful, we’re bold and we’re fun. We are inclusive and we want to inspire everyone to have fun with tea.
Another contributing factor was probably the fact I was listening to the Weeknd a lot around that time. I was brain storming names whilst listening to his music and I thought he’s pretty cool and if he can drop an ‘e’ then so can BRW Society!
With people now almost treating coffee like wine, how do you learn to do that with tea?
Tea and wine have many similarities and many people are already engaging with fine tea like they do with fine wine. The vocabulary used for coffee, spirits, and wine, for examples tannins, fruit undertones and terroir – these are just as applicable to tea.
For those who want to learn more about fine tea and how to train their palate and deepen their appreciation of flavour complexity, I recommend they experience as many new flavours as they possible can. Keep sipping and be adventurous. Smell when tasting and practice describing the flavours you pick up. The more you do this the better you will get.
We post blogs and recipes on our website www.brwsociety.com to share our knowledge and ideas which is a good place to start.
How do you come up with ideas about the various blends/flavours?
We are always on the hunt for new blend ideas, and we take inspiration from so many places. For example, my childhood memories of going to the summer fair and munching on candy floss was the inspiration behind our Candyfloss blend which is deliciously sweet (but less calorific!).
Following trends in food & beverage, fitness and fashion is key. Following trends helped us develop so many blends. For example, Organic Superroot contains turmeric which is hugely popular. Butterfly pea tea is another trend ingredient, and we used this ingredient to develop our Flamingo blend – we added little flamingos because flamingos were all the rage in fashion at the time.
How is the tea made 100% plant based?
Our ingredients are plant based and we have extended this to include our packaging, to ensure the whole product is 100% plant based.
We use plant-based material for the tea bag instead of synthetic plastics or bleached paper. They are biodegradable and can be completely broken down by microorganisms in the soil or compost. Plant-based material generally breaks down faster than their non-biodegradable counterparts, and so will not hang around in the environment forever.
We chose FSC Certified Material for our boxes which is 100% recycled paper from responsibly managed forests. This means that no trees were felled when making your teabag box, and no animals were harmed in the process. We also use vegetable ink to make the boxes look snazzy!
And lastly, our clear pouch which hold the teabags in the box, looks and feels like plastic but it’s actually made from renewable wood pulp and highly durable natural fibers, both of which are 100% recyclable. The result is a strong and versatile plastic-like material that can be shaped and molded into any form and applied as film wrap for a variety of products.
We are passionate about creating products that are 100% plant based and better for the environment.
USP of BRW Society?
BRW Society’s unique selling points are: quality – we only serve up real tea, whole ingredients and no dusty bags; we have created unique blends – our tea blend creations are colourful and bold and can only be found at BRW Society; we are sustainable and planet friendly – we care about the planet and we want minimal impact from our business; lastly we are plastic free and ensure our packaging is eco-friendly.
Your tips on creating that perfect cuppa?
I have four top tips for brewing the perfect cup of tea:
1.Use fresh, filtered water – the quality of the water you use is important as the quality of the tea. Poor quality water can make good tea undrinkable. Tea tastes better with fresh water, do not reboil the kettle.
2.Get the water temperature right – boiling for black, rooibos, herbal and fruit, 80 degrees for white, green and oolong.
3.Get the right quantity of tea – this will vary depending on blend.
4.Big leaves need a little time to work their magic. You will get more flavour if you brew them for 3 minutes. But generally black, oolong, white and green tea requires 3 minutes and rooibos, herbal and fruit tea tastes best after 5 minutes.