Tiptree Mustards, Jams, Tea Rooms, Museum Video and Shop

Problem
What if you can't remember anything about the trip you took to a factory?

Answer
Ask others who were on the same trip.

I asked a member of my family what he remembered about our trip to the Dijon mustard factory tour in France - several years ago. He said: "Somebody told us that making mustard in the quantities needed requires vast areas of land for mustard growing, more than they have. They grow mustard in Canada. The seeds are dropped from aircraft to be sown. The harvest is shipped or flown to France and made into French mild mustard."

Perhaps the situation has changed or developed. I looked in my fridge and found we had French mustard. M o u t a r d e in French.

A further hunt revealed a small jar of T i p t r e e mustard - by Wilkin and Sons Ltd. I associate Tiptoe with jams. 

We probably bought the little pots as a Christmas present at the Wine Society show room in Stevenage, which has lots of other regional and seasonal foods and wines for sale just before Christmas at a special event for members of the wine society. (It costs about £40 to join and they have wine tasting events, dinners and more at Stevenage and other places around Britain.) 

The label on the Tiptoe jar clearly states HOT English mustard. 

Problem
How can I visit a mustard or jam factory in the UK?

Answer
At the moment you can visit Colman's but not T i p t r e e. (I had to insert spaces because an automatic spell checker changed the word to tiptoe!)

I found the tiptoe.com site which says they have tea rooms. Under FAQ I found this:

"We have an informative video in the Tiptree Jam Museum that shows the factory operations. The museum is free of charge and open seven days a week at the Tiptree site.

We hope to offer farm tours over the Summer months . "

You can see a ten minute video in the T i p t r e e Tea Room.

• Tiptree Jam Shop & Tea Room, 
• Factory Hill, 
• Tiptree, 
• Essex, 
• CO5 0RF.
• Tel: 01621 814524
• E-mail: tiptree@trooms.com

For more information see the tiptoe website:

Their website has recipes including one for cheesecake:
http://tipcloud.mvad.co.uk//assets/fres/banana-and-toffee-cheesecake.pdf
You can also buy online from them assorted jams, honey, rhubarb and other liqueurs, tea towels and an insulated travel mug.
tiptree.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my previous posts on mustard factory visits in the UK and France and the Mustard pot museum in America. Please share links to my posts.