{"id":22766,"date":"2019-05-08T12:04:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T19:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=22766"},"modified":"2019-08-14T08:37:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T15:37:07","slug":"a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

[S]cottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan, also known as the self-styled \u201cMr. Tea,\u201d became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. The honor rocketed O\u2019Braan and his company, the Wee Tea Plantation, into the public eye, leading to media coverage by the likes of the BBC<\/a>, as well as Fresh Cup<\/em><\/a>, and a swanky release party at the Lowell Hotel in New York City attended by actor Alan Cummings and Scotland\u2019s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.<\/p>\n

It seemed unbelievable that the Northern Scotland operation was capable of producing tea of such a high quality in such extreme conditions, but O\u2019Braan boasted that his method of using polymer sleeves and aggressive stripping techniques encouraged concentrated flavor that reflected the unique terroir of the Scottish Highlands. At one point<\/a>, the product was selling for at least $300 per quarter pound.<\/p>\n

A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the Salon de Th\u00e9 awards ever existed, and it seems mathematically impossible that O\u2019Braan could have produced as much tea on his estate as he was selling.<\/p>\n

France-based tea expert Barbara Dufr\u00eane told The Scottish Mail<\/em><\/a>, \u201cI haven\u2019t been able to find any proof of this award and nobody has ever heard about it.. Apparently this is auto-proclaimed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the country\u2019s official food watchdog, Food Standards Scotland (FSS), is investigating claims<\/a> that some of Wee Tea Plantation\u2019s product was actually not grown in Scotland and never won such a prize.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Braan has since been unable to be contacted since the story broke, and a woman at the Perthshire estate who allegedly rented an outbuilding to O\u2019Braan claims that he moved months ago.<\/p>\n

Now, the tea community and journalists are left to examine how such claims could have gone unnoticed for so long, and what will now happen to the Scottish tea farmers who took up the trade after seeing the success of Wee Tea.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I understand it, [the revelation] has caused a lot of confusion,\u201d Jane Pettigrew, a 30-year tea industry veteran, author, and recipient of the British Empire Medal for services to tea, tells Fresh Cup<\/em>. \u201cAgain, and again, Tam O\u2019Braan\u2026lied to customers and the press about the teas that he was selling and where they were grown. So the genuine growers have become caught up in the confusion because the buyers, journalists didn\u2019t know enough to doubt or question what they were told.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This is a developing story. Fresh Cup<\/em> will give updates as we learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan, also known as the self-styled \u201cMr. Tea,\u201d became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1145,"featured_media":22771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fresh Cup Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FreshCupMagazine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-08T19:04:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-14T15:37:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WeeTEa_1015x575.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1015\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"575\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jordan Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FreshCupMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FreshCupMag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jordan Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/\",\"name\":\"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-08T19:04:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-14T15:37:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1d0e0f9b8b70b75a5966bed3633a55\"},\"description\":\"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coffee & Tea\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/category\/coffee-tea\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tea & Tisanes Knowledge\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/category\/coffee-tea\/tea-and-tisanes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fresh Cup Magazine\",\"description\":\"Coffee Industry Stories and Insights\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1d0e0f9b8b70b75a5966bed3633a55\",\"name\":\"Jordan Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b08e43e7b1e4ddcd0bb26ab8704822?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fp194.p3.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com%2Fitems%2FNQu4LeXQ%2Fd67247f7-9611-4038-b16a-7478cd067ca3.jpg%3Fv%3Dfdbe2c631762f9448134eee172d9efb5&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b08e43e7b1e4ddcd0bb26ab8704822?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fp194.p3.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com%2Fitems%2FNQu4LeXQ%2Fd67247f7-9611-4038-b16a-7478cd067ca3.jpg%3Fv%3Dfdbe2c631762f9448134eee172d9efb5&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jordan Johnson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/author\/jordan-johnson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine","description":"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine","og_description":"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.","og_url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/","og_site_name":"Fresh Cup Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FreshCupMagazine\/","article_published_time":"2019-05-08T19:04:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-14T15:37:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1015,"height":575,"url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WeeTEa_1015x575.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jordan Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FreshCupMag","twitter_site":"@FreshCupMag","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jordan Johnson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/","url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/","name":"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal - Fresh Cup Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-05-08T19:04:59+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-14T15:37:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1d0e0f9b8b70b75a5966bed3633a55"},"description":"Scottish farmer Tam O\u2019Braan became a fixture of the global tea community in 2015 after he claimed to have won gold at the prestigious Salon de Th\u00e9 awards for his Scotland-grown teas. A little (wee, if you will) problem: No one can seem to find any evidence that the awards ever existed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-wee-problem-scottish-tea-steeped-in-scandal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Coffee & Tea","item":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/category\/coffee-tea\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tea & Tisanes Knowledge","item":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/category\/coffee-tea\/tea-and-tisanes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"A Wee Problem: Scottish Tea Steeped in Scandal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/","name":"Fresh Cup Magazine","description":"Coffee Industry Stories and Insights","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/dc1d0e0f9b8b70b75a5966bed3633a55","name":"Jordan Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b08e43e7b1e4ddcd0bb26ab8704822?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fp194.p3.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com%2Fitems%2FNQu4LeXQ%2Fd67247f7-9611-4038-b16a-7478cd067ca3.jpg%3Fv%3Dfdbe2c631762f9448134eee172d9efb5&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/35b08e43e7b1e4ddcd0bb26ab8704822?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fp194.p3.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com%2Fitems%2FNQu4LeXQ%2Fd67247f7-9611-4038-b16a-7478cd067ca3.jpg%3Fv%3Dfdbe2c631762f9448134eee172d9efb5&r=g","caption":"Jordan Johnson"},"url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/author\/jordan-johnson\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/WeeTEa_1015x575.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf7LWY-5Vc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}