Sparkling tea is the drinks trade’s best answer yet to the champagne problem — what do you hand someone at a toast that is not fizzy grape juice? Fortnum’s version, made for them by the Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company, blends eight organic teas and lands somewhere between a dry Riesling and a very good iced tea: florals and citrus up front, proper tannic grip underneath.
It is the most expensive bottle in this category at around £18, and there is real caffeine in it (150mg a litre), which is worth knowing before you pour it at an evening do. But nothing else alcohol-free feels this much like an occasion.
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A 75cl bottle costs around £17 direct from Fortnum & Mason (listed on their site as “Fortnum’s Sparkling Tea, 0% ABV, 75cl”), and for now it’s mainly sold that way — through fortnumandmason.com or the Piccadilly store — rather than through supermarkets, which fits the occasion-bottle positioning.
Serve it the way you’d serve the Champagne it’s standing in for: chilled, in a flute or coupe, poured just before your guests arrive. Once opened, the carbonation drops off within a day or two like any sparkling drink, so it’s a bottle to finish rather than save. The 150mg/litre caffeine figure is worth repeating here — that’s in the region of a strong filter coffee, so it’s not the one to serve late at a dinner party if anyone’s sensitive to caffeine before bed.
If you’re building an alcohol-free drinks table for a toast-worthy occasion, it sits well alongside Elton John Zero Blanc de Blancs as a second option at the same price point and formality.
Compliance note: This article is published by The Clear Head, a UK lifestyle site for people who don’t drink, are drinking less, or are sober curious. We aim to provide honest, practical information without promoting any particular brand or approach to alcohol.
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