Saturday 1 November 2014

My Trip To Wilkinsons Of Norwich

(Photograph sourced from Google)

As readers may know there has been some disturbances in my private life. I have blogged rarely recently and as I was getting back into the swing of things, I was kindly taken on holiday by my mum. We had two weeks in Norfolk which were lovely (and at times eventful, too!).

During our stay we left the little place we were staying called Acle and headed towards Norwich. I had been to Norwich before but not in a long time. It's a busy and thriving place where you can buy pretty much anything at all! There is even a small Colmans of Norwich shop that sells lots of the famous mustard and other bits and pieces. In fact, as you can see below, I brought a couple of tins to use as tea caddies! (I actually ended up buying four tea caddies, all of which are now full!)



Upon doing some research found a tea shop called Wilkinson's of Norwich. It's located at the wonderfully named 5 Lobster Lane! So, with a bit of spare money in my pocket and a mother who is already exasperated at the amount of tea I've brought into the house, we headed off.

The shop is very easy to find, and is well within walking distance of the main shopping area. There is something very quaint about this shop. It looks lovely from the outside and is relatively small, but, it holds plenty of tea!

Wilkinson's of Norwich was established in 1972 so is a relative newcomer to the world of tea. But, when you enter the shop it feels as though it could of been established hundreds of years ago. There is a lovely, warm atmosphere within the shop and I was quite stunned when I saw all the pretty tins of tea lined up neatly on the shelves. In fact the lovely lady who served me (and sadly I forgot to ask her name) even said "you look like a child in a sweetshop". Indeed I was!

There is no tea that Wilkinson's don't have. (They also sell coffee, but, as a established loather of coffee I paid no attention to that!). They sell loose tea and teabags. I think I even spotted boxes of Yogi tea for sale, and that is only normally found in health food shops.

The staff are really friendly and I was lucky to go into the shop when it was empty. Looking around the plethora of scents and flavours is overwhelming and the first tea I spotted was black tea called Wild Cherry. Instantly that attracted me as I love cherries in any form (except those plastic cherry's found on bakewell tarts). I asked the lady if I could smell the tea and it smelt divine. That was my first purchase. After smelling several other teas I settled on a white tea and a second black tea, called Lady-in-Waiting which is a orange scented black tea, rather like Twinings Lady Grey.

During my visit I asked to smell other tea's. Some I liked, others I didn't, however, despite saying I felt guilty for asking the lady to remove tins of tea from high shelves and then deciding I didn't like it, I was reassured that it was fine to ask.

I was really pleased with my purchases, which will be reviewed on here in the coming weeks. Sadly, I forgot to take my infuser so couldn't try the tea till I was home, but rest assured ... they were all worth waiting for.

If you are in the Norwich area do pop into Wilkinsons of Norwich. It's a friendly shop, full of wonderful tea's that will take your breath away. The staff are so friendly and kind and have a extensive knowledge of tea and are happy to answer any questions. When I'm back in Norfolk I'll be visiting again for sure!



1 comment:

  1. You didn't miss much with the coffee - all over roasted. You did however miss Tea Junction, in The Castle Mall.

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