A CORNISH tea grower is having great success in Europe with their new 'Brexit Brew' writes John Bett.

The limited edition batch of tea was created by the experts at Tregothnan Estate, and designed to celebrate British culture.

The company said there was "nothing more British than a cup of tea" and released the new product to mark the EU withdrawal.

But in a quirk of fate almost three quarters of the run have been sold to Europe - and it has proved particularly popular in Germany, France, and Italy.

Jonathan Jones, 49, managing director of trading at the estate in Cornwall, said: "It's been a big hit in Germany and Switzerland.

"We only did a limited run but it sold out almost immediately.

"Mostly it has been snapped up by remain voters living abroad, almost three quarters of it went to Europe.

"Most of it went to Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy."

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Jonathan was recently made an 'export champion' for the Department of International Trade and visited Downing Street where he was pictured with Boris Johnson promoting his tea.

On the tin of the Brexit Brew, the company states: "Tea just about defines what makes us British. Most of our decisions are made over a nice cup of tea.

"Now that tea can be grown in the UK at Tregothnan in Cornwall, we are celebrating all the things that make Britain great - starting with putting the kettle on for a homegrown cuppa.

"This tin contains a quintessentially British blend that will help you join queues, complain obsessively about the weather and apologise unnecessarily to everyone around you."

Jonathan continued: "The whole idea was created after being in Europe and talking to friends out there.

"They were sad to see us go and we realised that tea isn't political and we wanted to recognise Brexit was this momentous thing.

"However, tea can make it better - just put the kettle on, make a cup of tea, and talk about it."

Tregothnan is believed to be the first place to grow ornamental Camellias outdoors in Britain over 200 years ago and is now the only place growing tea in England.

It currently produces both loose leaf and tea sachets to sell and serve, with four black teas and ten herbal infusions.

Tea was first developed commercially at the site in Cornwall from Camellia sinensis, the 'Chinese tea plant', in 2001.

The first 'English tea' was then sold in November 2005 to Fortnum & Mason of Piccadilly.

Jonathan added: "Our tea will never be political, we worked out last year that if we had to live off tea grown in Britain we would have enough to last for about four days.

"The whole thing was supposed to be tongue in cheek and people seem to have got the humour. We're not making light of the very serious situation.

"People can't get angry at a cup of tea, you can't shout at a cup of tea.

"This is not a celebration of Brexit, it's about having fun and talking about the issue.

"Tea defines us, there's nothing more British."