TWG Tea: An Upscale Sipping Experience

Text by Amy Brecount White • Photography Courtesy of TWG Tea

The kaleidoscope of colorful tea canisters first catches your eye as you stroll by the TWG tea shop in Singapore’s elegant Marina Bay Sands shopping complex. The shop’s formal atmosphere with clerks measuring your tea leaves on scales feels strangely familiar, perhaps because the largest canisters proudly proclaim 1837 TWG tea in the same yellow shade as Twinings’s classic Earl Grey tea, but the familiarity stops there.

Unlike the Twinings brand, which opened its first London tearoom in 1705, TWG’s history dates back only to 2007. The “1837” proclamation on their label is a savvy bit of marketing that actually refers to the date that Singapore’s Chamber of Commerce was created, when tea and spices began to be traded at this crossroads of international cultures and shipping. Thus, TWG blends familiarity with innovation, boasting more than 1,000 tea offerings with more blends coming out each year.

Two of TWG’s founders are the power couple Taha Bouqdib, originally from Morocco and then France, and Maranda Barnes, originally from Chicago and then France. Steeped in the Moroccan traditions of tea as a welcoming and social beverage, Taha grew up with the expectation to follow the career trajectory of his father, the head of security for the Moroccan king. His family lived near the Chinese embassy, though, which was the source of Taha’s first exposure to tea beyond the sweet Moroccan mint version. Immediately intrigued by tea and its possibilities, Taha followed his heart (and tongue and nose) to France, where he worked for an international tea company before cofounding his own.

Maranda’s background is similarly global. By age 17, she moved from the US to Paris and was working in fragrances when she met Taha. They wanted to create something innovative and help their tea-drinking clientele enjoy “the finer things in life,” says Maranda. They also had to find ways to squeeze into a market with lots of traditionally dominant brands.

With Taha as CEO and Maranda as the Chief Commercial Officer, they work to carve their own niche and branding, emphasizing wellness (TWG stands for The Wellness Group) and luxury. Maranda, also the CCO of V3 Gourmet, TWG’s umbrella company, a global luxury lifestyle group, “established the style guide and tone of voice” for their tea brand and focuses on as yet untapped business opportunities, such as the US market.

Her background in the fragrance industry was complementary, says Maranda, because “the process of creating and launching a new perfume in the market and conceiving a new tea are almost identical.” Blending their teas in Asia, TWG collaborates directly with source gardens and tea estates around the world to create “exclusive tea blends infused with fresh fruits, flowers, or spices,” says Maranda. They also have many limited-edition options and have recently launched a beautifully filmed, online “Origin Story” series for some of their more popular brands, such as “Darjeeling: Land of Thunder,” which features their local producers.

Above all, TWG seeks to appeal to their customers’ penchant for finer things by having a signature gilded teapot in their restaurants and by creating such offerings as an haute couture tea collection. Ranging from their 1837 Black Tea to French Earl Grey and Silver Moon Tea, this collection blends whole-leaf teas with fruits, flowers, spices, and even chocolate, caramel, and liquorice. Their marketing and elegant packaging hearkens back to Maranda’s prior perfume experiences and is “conceived to take the world of tea by surprise.”

To ensure quality and a like experience across their 70 worldwide tea salons and boutiques, they created a TWG Tea Institute that trains their staff and global partners in their tea traditions, branding, and methods. TWG tea is served, for example, on the highly rated Singapore Airlines. Thus far, their salons and restaurants have been primarily located in tea-producing counties, including China, Japan, and India. Their London locations opened in 2018.

“Our primary goal for TWG Tea in North America is to cultivate a stronger tea culture as well as to provide a reference point for consumers to learn more about tea cultures from around the world, properties of different varieties, and the many high-quality seasonal tea blends available,” says Maranda. This emphasis on a deeper tea culture now includes tea gastronomy, which pairs teas and food and also infuses their signature teas into culinary creations. Guests to the TWG restaurants may enjoy a green tea-infused vinaigrette on their salads, potatoes cooked in Purple Buds tea, or their delectable mushroom soup infused with Golden Pu-Erh tea for savory options. On the sweet side, guests can relish the TWG tea jelly with their scones or opt for the French Earl Grey sorbet or a Silver Moon Tea and strawberry macaron. Their innovative tea gastronomy also helps them stand out in this competitive industry.

While some may wonder if stressful issues arise when partnering with your spouse in an ever-expanding and competitive global business, Maranda dismisses those fears. “At the very start, Taha and I had the great privilege to work together in the very same office, and the constant interaction was a fabulous way to learn from each other,” she says. Their ability to divide and conquer any obstacles or challenges smoothed their paths. “We were very clear with one another about what each partner’s strengths are and respect each person’s sphere of influence within the business. This enabled us now to lead different departments in a manner that was easy and harmonious.” Several times a week, they also eat lunch together to share news and update each other. They do their best to keep the boundaries between work and their home life with their son intact.

After a high-energy day, Maranda often destresses in the evenings with a good book and a cup of white tea to calm her body. From the TWG collection, she recommends two of her favorites, White Miracle Tea and White Immortal Tea, which are available in TWG stores globally and online at twgtea.com.

“Tea is so much more than a simple beverage,” Maranda says. “Enjoying a cup of tea is an experience in and of itself, a moment of contemplation and quiet pleasure everyone can relate to.”

Amy Brecount White seeks vibrant tea experiences across the world and loves to connect with new tea people.