Scottish Tea Party

While in Edinburgh in September, my wife bought and brought home two tea canisters, one for each of our daughters from this famous Scottish landmark. She bought a tin (125 g.) of Heather and a tin of Highland Tea. These each cost 4.95 pounds sterling, about $8 each.
The Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company history dates back to 1812, when sailing ships brought delicacies from the New World directly into Leith, the main port of Edinburgh. Then, they sourced our tea and coffee from only the best plantations around the world. And nothing’s changed. To ensure we maintain our exacting quality standards, they insist on the same today, too.

Their roots grew from an Edinburgh grocery shop trading in spices and delicacies.

Their first shop was established in 1812 in Canongate, then the centre of Edinburgh. Further premises were soon added at Princes Street and George Street, as well as a wholesale warehouse in Drummond Street.

In those early days, the importing of tea was our main area of expansion, and we were the first Scottish merchants to organize tea shipments to arrive in Britain outside the port of London – landing in Leith by the clipper ‘Isabella’ in 1835.

The quality of the products available was affirmed in 1837 with a Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria to supply tea and coffee to the royal households in Scotland.

The family business continued to expand and develop its knowledge and expertise, with a particular competitive advantage over teas from China. An informal system of information gathering among the China tea merchants was established. This enabled the firm to purchase a wide variety of teas and book their passage to Leith on the clippers, secure in the acquired knowledge that we would be cornering the British market by guaranteeing arrival before the competition.


Although the shops remained as successful retail operations until the 1960s, the wholesale and export departments moved to a site on Couper Street in Leith in 1921. The greater space allowed for modern, up to date packing and blending machinery to be brought into use, and allowed the export business to expand rapidly, encouraged by the opening up of world trading opportunities after the Second World War.

From initial small beginnings in Eastern Europe before the Second World War, export trade expanded into Western Europe, the Middle and Far East, and North and South America after 1945.

The firm became part of Premier Brands in November 1986 and operations remained at the Couper Street premises until its management buyout in 1991 when the coffee arm of the business was reincarnated as Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Ltd.

Today the Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Company is a thriving factory with a passion for blending tea and roasting coffee.

They now operate from our facility in Edinburgh’s seaside town, Portobello. From a company steeped in tradition, Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Company remains a family business and as such we have maintained the essential artisan craft of tea blending and coffee roasting, whilst bringing production techniques up to the 21st Century.

Today in Homesense, the Home Store of Winner's, the Canadian arm of T.J.Maxx, they had the same two tins of tea. The price was $4.95 each!

Every now and then I wonder, how does all this happen?