When it comes to having a pleasant afternoon tea, the UK offers plenty of options, especially in culture rich London. However, the winner of this year’s Great Taste Awards truly stands out, both in the quality of their tea and their well designed brand.

The simply named Tea is conveniently located next to St. Paul’s Cathedral, but it doesn’t have a hint of tradition in its business or its brand. The website claims, “We love tea, but we don’t like chintz.” This seems to define the ultra-modern establishment. If you are looking for a traditional cuppa, it can be found in homes all over London; if you are looking for a wide range of exotic options as well as herbal teas with health benefits, Tea is worth an afternoon.

The theme of the establishment is ultra modern, which is further communicated by the food logo design. The one word name is written in friendly, rounded lower case letters in a basic black. However, the right half of the cross on the ‘t’ is a small green leaf. This not only presents the main offering of Tea, it adds a natural touch to the logo design as well. The tagline to the right invites prospective customers to ‘make yourself at home’ in the same natural shade of green.

From this logo design, we can see that simplicity and a lack of fuss are a key part of this brand. However, don’t take this as a lack of dedication to quality. All eight of the teas that Tea submitted for this year’s Great Taste Awards won an award, and five received high honours. The tea room also offers snacks and light meals to go with the beverage of your choice. With an excellent product, selling Tea to the British has not been difficult. However, a great product in a simple, sophisticated atmosphere is not the only thing that this brand has to offer.

One notable thing about Tea is their knowledgeable and friendly staff. The people hired are given extensive training on the teas they will be serving. This means that people who are new to gourmet teas can try them with guidance. The atmosphere is not so much that of a traditional tea room, but that of a wine tasting. Whether you want black tea, oolong, white tea, or one of the celebrated ‘super tea’ blends that are created in house to provide maximum health benefits, you are sure to find them here along with a helpful employee to help you make your choice.

While the Tea brand and logo design are certainly not the reason for the awards and the acclaim, they certainly were responsible for the large and building amount of positive buzz that brought customers through the doors in the first place. The brand will bring them into the business, but the high quality and great service will keep them coming back. This winning combination is sure to keep people all over the UK talking about Tea for years to come.