Pub specialising in loose leaf tea set for Stoke Newington

Something quirky is brewing in Stokie, says Ben Norum
Six Bells Tea Cup cocktail at The Ivy Chelsea Garden: Something similar could be on the cards at The Stoke Newington Tea House (Picture: Paul Winch-Furness)
Paul Winch-Furness
Ben Norum6 August 2015

Tea isn’t usually the most popular brewed beverage consumed in a pub, but when Stoke Newington boozer The Daniel Defoe is relaunched its tea leaves could give the beer a run for its money.

The pub has recently been taken over by the Yummy Pub Co as part of a partnership with its owners Charles Wells and will be renamed The Stoke Newington Tea House when it reopens towards the end of the year.

It’s not just a name – it will specialise in tea, offering 100 different types of loose leaf blends as well a list of tea cocktails.

The idea was originally born out of another pub the company runs – the Somers Town Coffee House in Euston. Yummy Pub Co’s owner, Tim Foster, explained: “We were looking at opening another pub nearby in Marylebone around four years ago and thought it would be cool to theme that one around tea by way of contrast. The pub fell through but the idea stayed with us.”

Before tea time: The Daniel Defoe as it stands

The Stoke Newington Tea House is set to retain many of the features and much of the style of The Daniel Defoe and to remain a “proper pub” despite its name, says Foster. It will sell a range of cask ales alongside all the usual pub drink staples and a menu split between British mains and tapas-style sharing plates.

But the tea will certainly be a focal point, with a large world map showing where it is all sourced being planned for the walls. It’s likely to come from a range of different high-end suppliers, while some herbs and leaves for infusions will even be grown on-site in an ‘urban cultivator’ usually used by restaurants to grow micro herbs. An optimum brewing process is also being devised: “We have been learning about water purification and all sorts, we’re taking quite a scientific approach,” says Foster.

As the first pub of its kind in the capital, it remains to be seen how Londoners will take to drinking tea in a pub. Foster is confident: “Across the teas and the tea cocktails I think we will be able to engage most of our customers – people like to try something different and we’ve already noticed a huge increase in tea drinking across our other pubs since improving the quality of our offering.”

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