Tea shops · Manchester, United Kingdom
Tea shops · Manchester, United KingdomBird & Blend Tea Co. Manchester
The tea blender's Northern Quarter shop: a wall of 100 loose leaf blends, iced teas at the counter and a fruit tea named after an Oasis song as the Manchester signature.
The wall is the same in every branch of this chain. The reason to walk to Church Street is the one pouch that carries the city's name on its tag.
Bird & Blend Tea Co. keeps its Manchester shop at 57 Church Street in the Northern Quarter, and the company's own page for it opens the way its other store pages do: it introduces the manager by name, Denver, who says he is probably in store if Fleetwood Mac is playing, and asks you to visit the other independents on the street on the same trip. It opens Monday to Friday from 10:30 to 18:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00. The staff are called tea mixologists; they walk you along the wall of 100 loose leaf blends and make an iced tea or a tea latte at the counter.
The company was set up by Krisi and Mike, who met studying politics at university, started packing tea in a bedroom and selling at markets, and took the Bird & Blend name in May 2018. The catalogue is blends rather than single-estate leaf, and the pricing is one grid. The classic end of the wall, Builder's Breakfast Brew, Assam Earl Grey, Earl Grey Creme, Sunny Sencha and the Peppy Mint peppermint, is £6.00 for a 50 g pouch, with 20 g tasters at £3.50 and 150 g and 300 g pouches for the blends you adopt. Coconut Milk Oolong is £10.50 for 50 g, and the Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha £22.00 for a 30 g tin.
What sets this branch apart is Champagne Supernova Tea, which the store page presents as its signature Manchester loose leaf: a caffeine-free fruit blend with a dash of spice, created for the Manchester team and named after the Oasis song, sold in a single 50 g pouch at £8.50. The product page says half of the profits from the blend go to Coffee4Craig, the charity chosen by the Manchester store. The shop also stocks the other store blends, Brummy Custard, Windsor RoyalTEA, Sussex Sea Swim and the West Country Pear Cider tea, and runs tea blending workshops and evening tea lock-ins. Online orders ship from the company's warehouse.
- prices
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- £ 6
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Where it is
Church Street, Northern Quarter
57 Church St, Manchester, M4 1PD
Hours: Mon–Fri 10:30–18:00 · Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun 11:00–17:00
What to buy here
English Breakfast
Builder's Breakfast Brew Tea
from £ 6 · 50 g pouch
The strong black blend at the classic end of the wall, in a 50 g pouch, a 20 g taster, a 150 g tin and tea bags. It is the shop's version of a proper brew, and the pouch to take if the rest of the wall looks like pudding.
See our page on this tea →Milk Oolong
Coconut Milk Oolong Tea
from £ 10.50 · 50 g pouch
A milk oolong blended with coconut, in a 50 g pouch and a 20 g taster. It is the one oolong on the wall and the blend that best shows what the mixologists do to a traditional leaf.
See our page on this tea →Matcha
Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha
from £ 22 · 30 g tin
The unflavoured ceremonial matcha in a 30 g tin, with a 100 g refill pouch for daily whisking. The shop's flavoured matchas are built on this one, so it is also the fair way to judge them, and the matcha lattes at the counter start here.
See our page on this tea →
The one worth the trip
Champagne Supernova Tea
£ 8.50 · 50 g pouch
Champagne Supernova, the fruit blend the store page introduces as its signature Manchester loose leaf: fruit, sparkle and a dash of spice, no caffeine, in a single 50 g pouch, with half the profits going to the store's chosen Manchester charity. Every other pouch on the wall is in every other branch; this is the one that only makes sense on Church Street, and the souvenir to carry home. Brew it with boiling water, five minutes, and it also works cold over ice.
All prices
Open a tea to see who else sells it.
| Tea | Type | Price | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder's Breakfast Brew Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Assam Earl Grey Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Earl Grey Creme Tea | Black tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Sunny Sencha | Green tea | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Peppy Mint Peppermint Tea | Herbal infusion | from £ 6 | 50 g pouch |
| Champagne Supernova Tea | Herbal infusion | £ 8.50 | 50 g pouch |
| Coconut Milk Oolong Tea | Oolong tea | from £ 10.50 | 50 g pouch |
| Pure Grade Ceremonial Matcha | Matcha | from £ 22 | 30 g tin |
Teas you can find here
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