The Story of TWG Tea
TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, was established in Singapore and celebrates the year 1837 when the island became a trading post for teas, spices and fine epicurean products. A subsidiary of the V3 Group, TWG Tea stands for The Wellbeing Group and was founded in 2008 as a luxury concept that incorporates unique and original retail outlets, exquisite tea rooms and an international distribution network to professionals. A veritable tea institution, TWG Tea is passionate about sharing its expertise and has become a point of reference for tea lovers thirsty for knowledge.
TWG Tea tasters travel thousands of miles across the globe every year, sampling hundreds of teas in search of the most desirable harvests direct from source gardens. Offering over 1,000 single-estate, fine harvest teas and exclusive blends, as well as tea patisseries and other tea-infused delicacies, TWG Tea is internationally recognised as a true innovator with the creation of new varieties of tea every season in collaboration with the world’s most renowned estates.
The TWG Tea team takes pride in shaping the aesthetic image underpinning all the brand’s products, constantly updating the notion of TWG Tea while respecting the Asian and European traditions of elegance and beauty on which it is based, now spiced with a touch of sensuality and originality.
TWG Tea launched its first Tea Salon & Boutique in August 2008 at Republic Plaza in Singapore. This inaugural location is a nostalgic celebration of tea clippers. The timelessly chic and elegantly inventive wood-panelled tea boutique, spiced with brass weighing scales, Italian marble floors and hardwood tea counters, has carried customers away on a journey of sensations since it opened. A magnificent tea wall displays hundreds of single-estate and hand-blended teas in TWG Tea signature artisan tins. These same walls also surround a cosy 30-seat tea room furnished with warm polished-wood tables, cushioned wicker-back chairs, old photographs, fine bone china, crisp linens, hanging crystal lamps and vases of brightly-hued exotic blooms.
TWG Tea revolutionised the industry with its luxurious, trademark island Tea Salon & Boutique concept that launched at ION Orchard in Singapore in September 2009, incorporating a glamorous tea salon, a retail boutique and a takeaway patisserie counter. Sheltered within a remarkable, specially-crafted artisanal curved glass wall, the Tea Salon & Boutique is dominated by two iconic pillars, crowned by a priceless collection of antique Russian samovars. A treasure trove of objets d’art, including a rare turn-of-the-century brass patisserie counter, one-of-a-kind glittering floor lamps and unique and exquisitely ornate mirrors, the TWG Tea Salon & Boutique’s most impressive feature is an astonishing rotating tea wall, which when turned, reveals more of TWG Tea’s magnificent array of teas.
Having fashioned Singapore into the tea capital of the world – Singapore tea exports have more than doubled since TWG Tea was founded – the brand continues to foster a reputation for innovation, consistency, taste and interior design on a global scale. Lauded and imitated by the most established luxury brands, the TWG Tea empire has moved from strength to strength with rapid expansions encompassing over 50 Tea Salons & Boutiques in the fashion capitals of 15 countries around the world, from Tokyo to London, Dubai to Shanghai, Bangkok to Seoul. Responding to customers’ ever-increasing thirst for the finest quality teas, a choice of beautiful artisanal tea wares, elegant tea gastronomy and personalised service, TWG Tea is the undisputed global leader in the luxury tea industry.
Acclaimed and requested by loyal tea-drinking customers, TWG Teas are now retailed in celebrated gourmet épiceries and fine department stores around the world – such as Harrods Knightsbridge in London, Dean & DeLuca across the United States, Takashimaya in Singapore and Tokyo, Feinkost Kaefer in Munich, El Corte Ingles in Lisbon, David Jones across Australia, and GUM in Moscow – just to name a few. In addition to being served in the lounges and on-board first-class airlines such as Singapore Airlines and ANA Airlines, TWG Tea has opened scintillating Boutiques in the airport transit zones of Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney and Doha, bringing a luxurious addition to TWG Tea’s retail empire and offering the perfect opportunity for tea lovers and travellers to find the perfect gift for friends and loved ones, or ask trained tea connoisseurs how to select, prepare, serve and even pair teas with an infinite variety of cuisines.