How did Lipton make their tea even tastier?

Who doesn’t love a good cuppa? Anyone would think you couldn’t improve on the classics – but Lipton is always looking for new ways to delight the tastebuds.

On the search for even more flavour, the brand relaunched Lipton Yellow Label with an all-new blend that really raises the bar for the world’s favourite hot tea. The tea-loving team at Lipton created a unique patented process that presses the tea leaves to realise a natural ‘essence’ which is full of fresh tea flavour. Lipton adds it back to the leaves before drying and packaging. Hey presto, even more tasty.

When producing tea, pressing the leaves at different times can have a surprising impact on how they taste. For example, in the UK, PG tips extracts the essence towards the end of processing to give an intense flavour, but with less bitterness and acidity. Inspired by the new, bolder taste, they call it ‘The Strong One’.

The new tea essence process was developed by the talented Beverages team at Unilever R&D Colworth (before we became ekaterra). They were inspired by the ‘cold-pressing’ method used to create high quality olive oils. Now this new process is in full swing at Lipton Tea Gardens in Kericho, Kenya.

Yellow Label is probably the world’s most famous tea – and with this exciting blend they’re attracting even more tea lovers to enjoy an absolute classic. (Long-time sippers are very happy with the result, too.) We can’t wait to see what Lipton comes up with next.

At ekaterra, we’re working towards sustainable sourcing of all our tea and herbal brews.

Since 2015 all the leaves in Lipton tea bags have come from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ sources. In 2020, 98% of ekaterra’s teas (including loose tea) and 75% of herbals were sustainably sourced. We’re now on track to achieve our 2022 target of 100% sustainable teas for all our brands.