Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Black Tea Blend

I don’t think you can mention Sir Arthur Conan Doyle without conjuring up images of Sherlock Holmes, pipe in mouth, tartan plaid cape and deerstalker hat investigating the most confounding of crimes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world in 1887 in his novel A Study in Scarlet. While Doyle was trained as a physician, he turned to writing often during periods of turmoil in his medical career. Fortunately, Doyle was a prolific writer who has entertained millions with his novels and short stories. His characters Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and the nefarious James Moriarty have spawned other books, movies, television shows and plays. In all, Sherlock was featured in 56 short stories and 4 novels by Doyle.

As much as the world has adored Doyle’s ingenious detective, Doyle was, at times, not enthralled with his creation. He toyed with killing off Holmes so he could focus on other endeavors and in 1893 he did indeed kill off Holmes in the story “The Final Problem”.  But the world, his mother, and his publishers dissuaded him, and 10 years later he resurrected Holmes with an explanation of how Holmes had cheated death.

Doyle also wrote seven historical fiction novels and nine other novels, as well as many short stories.

Although tea isn’t primarily featured in any of Doyle’s writings there are references to tea in general and teatime.

Published in 1892, Doyle’s short story “De Profundis” introduces us to John Vansittart, a young partner in a firm that exports coffee from Ceylon in the years preceding the 1875 coffee rust fungus that wiped out Ceylon’s coffee production and turned them towards planting tea bushes. “Those were the royal days of coffee planting in Ceylon, before a single season and a rotting fungus drove a whole community through years of despair to one of the greatest commercial victories which pluck and ingenuity ever won. Not often is it that men have the heart when their one great industry is withered to rear up in a few years another as rich to take its place, and the teafields of Ceylon are as true a monument to courage as is the lion at Waterloo. “

In “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty”, a short story in the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, tea was referenced twice “The table was all laid, and, just as I was about to ring, Mrs. Hudson entered with the tea and coffee.” and “After leaving you at the station I went for a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to a pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an inn, … “

In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes “The Bascome Valley Mystery”, ““I have ordered a carriage,” said Lestrade as we sat over a cup of tea.”

In The Return of Sherlock Holmes collection, “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange”, “It was not until we had consumed some hot tea at the station, and taken our places in the Kentish train, that we were sufficiently thawed, he to speak and I to listen.”

While it’s not directly referenced in any Doyle novel which specific tea Sherlock preferred, we like to think that Doyle (as well as Sherlock) enjoyed the smoky, aromatic flavors of Lapsang Souchong tea which was favored in Doyle’s time, most notably by Winston Churchill. So, in making our Doyle tea blend we started with Lapsang Souchong tea then added some bourbon whiskey flavor, as a nod to Holmes’ penchant for imbibing, and rounded it off with black tea from Ceylon and a little wild cherry, alluding to Holmes’ cherrywood pipe. The blend has a smoky, fruity aroma and brews to a mahogany cup that has a cherry forward taste with a lingering smoky bourbon taste.

So put on the kettle, grab your cape and your deerstalker hat and find a comfortable place to enjoy a cup of Doyle’s tea while enjoying one of the many stories he wrote for our pleasure.

Ingredients: Black teas, lapsang souchong tea, hibiscus flowers, wild cherry flavor, orange blossoms, and bourbon whiskey flavor. 

Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.

4 Ounces of loose tea makes approximately 50 cups of tea.

Please note that the photo is shown for our 4oz tin. We are also offering this in a 4oz pkg size, which will come in one of our double lined bags labeled with the name of the tea.

Some examples of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works:

      Sherlock Holmes Novels & Story Collections

A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
The Valley of Fear (1915)
His Last Bow (1917)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
The Complete Sherlock Holmes (Illustrated) (1887–1927)

      George Challenger Novels

The Lost World (1912)
The Poison Belt (1913)
The Land of Mist (1926)

Check with your local bookstore for more titles or for recommendations for further reading.