Keeping it REAL... without the alcohol

This January, with the Christmas decorations firmly put away and the festive celebrations a dim memory, many of us look to make some positive lifestyle changes, whether dusting off the gym kit or opting for a ‘dry January.’ In fact, more and more of us are seeking out mindful alternatives to our favourite tipples and even incorporating ‘zebra’ drinking (alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks) across an evening to avoid the dreaded hangover.

At The Great Wine Co., this month we take the opportunity to sing the praises of some of the no and low stars of our portfolio (drinks which contain no alcohol or less than 1.2% alcohol by volume) - whether analogs to fine sprits such as gin, wines which have been carefully de-alcoholised, or unique sparkling teas which have the quality and elegance to sit as a mindful alternative to the finest sparkling wines.

Keeping it REAL

In a purpose-built facility on the bucolic Waddeston Estate in Rural Buckinghamshire, REAL Drinks craft elegant and flavoursome sparkling tea from the finest teas from across the globe.

The REAL Drinks sparkling teas were born of a frustration with the lack of choice and food pairing opportunities for drinks without alcohol. The founders knew there must be a better way, and set about experimenting with fermentation, comparing the taste profiles from different loose-leaf teas and the impact of fermentation, conditioning and bottling with a focus on creating the best and most nuanced flavours.

Teas from specific regions in India and China are specially selected, reflecting the terroir of the hillsides on which they are grown (a concept which should be familiar to those who enjoy wine). Teas which make the cut are then steeped in Buckinghamshire's calcium-rich water, and fermented in Italian-made stainless-steel fermenters in a bespoke ‘fermentary’ – the first bespoke Tea fermentary in the UK, in fact – in the heart of Bucks.Only three key ingredients - tea, English beet sugar and live cultures (four if you include the water!) – go into the blend at REAL Drinks, and the resultant fermented sparkling teas are as varied in flavour as the teas from which they are made: Dry Dragon, from rare Longjing Dragon Well tea from Zhejiang, China, offers notes of citrus and grasses and an elegant mahogany chestnut finish; Royal Flush , from first flush Darjeeling tea from Assam, shows sweet red-berry notes (all a product of the fermentation process, with no flavouring added), and a creamy vanilla finish; and Peony Blush , from precious white peony tea from Fujian, China, carries overtones of stone-fruits, grape and citrus zest.

Natively non-alcoholic, REAL Sparkling teas are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless-steel fermenters, where natural yeast converts sugars in the unfermented tea, and acetobacter bacteria simultaneously transform any resultant alcohol from the fermentation to acids and other flavour compounds. The final sparkling teas contain less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (less than you would find in a ripe banana… or a loaf of bread!).

If this all sounds like complicated stuff, it is because it is. REAL co-founder, Adrian, has a PhD in metabolism and nutrition, specialising in polyphenols (the micronutrients found in tea). Adrian and co-founder David made their first batch of sparkling tea in David’s garage and less than seven years later, the business has a brand new custom-made fermentary on the Waddeston Estate, and a customer list that includes Michelin Starred restaurants the Fat Duck, Le Gavroche (until its closure) and world-class drinks retailers like The Great Wine Co.

Hundreds of “invoices” (samples of tea) are tasted to select the perfect blends for each bath, with an eye for consistency and superior flavour profiles. The REAL team works with long-established tea farmers across the globe who appreciate their exacting quality demands.

Teas are steeped in local water, in what looks like a massive tea-kettle, and this intense builders’ brew is then gravity fed into temperature stabilised fermenting vessels with natural English beet sugar and live cultures.

Fermentation with yeast creates the top notes in finished products – the light floral, berry notes, or citrus, for example, while the specific blend of teas used offers further flavours – the grassy herbal notes, or the deep hay, redolent of a summer in a meadow.The breakdown of the alcohol by acetobacter adds further depth and nuance to the flavour profile, creating the deep chestnut mahogany finish in the Dry Dragon, and developing the complex mouth-feel and length that gives the REAL drinks sparkling teas the texture, complexity, and elegance to sit alongside fine sparkling wines at specialist champagne and sparkling wine bars across the UK.

Fermentation takes between four and six weeks, and across the fermentary up to 200,000 litres of tea can be fermenting simultaneously.

The teas are carefully filtered, but no addition of fining or clarifying additives. The fermentation process gives a natural effervescence to the teas as they leave the tanks, and the finished teas receive an extra blast of bubbles before bottling.

The finished sparkling teas have 30g of sugar per litre of tea - equivalent to Dry Champagne – making the REAL sparkling teas an excellent and elegant non-alcoholic alternative to traditional sparkling wines, and a delicious guilt-free option for a January celebration!