TABLE TALK #157
Every Christmas, the same moment arrives – the ceremonial opening of the Quality Street tin.
There’s something oddly regal about those tins. The weight of them. The promise inside. Wrappers catching the light like jewels. Chocolate, yes, but presented with enough pomp to earn a place on the coffee table.
And then, within seconds, the tin stops being “a selection” and starts being a personality referendum.
🍝 MAIN COURSE 🍝
Why? Because while it might look like a jumble of coloured foil, most of us know exactly which one we’re reaching for – and that choice might say more about us than we realise.
Take the Purple One. Long crowned the nation’s favourite. It’s rich, predictable, reassuring – a safe bet in a crowded tin. Green feels steadier and more grounded. Pink promises sweetness and optimism. Orange brings warmth and nostalgia. Even before we taste them, the wrappers are setting expectations, nudging emotion.
Colour psychology has long suggested that hues shape how we feel before we’ve even had time to think. The brain often decides what something tastes like before the mouth has had its say. The mind tastes first.
It’s why packaging matters. Why branding works. And why something as simple as coloured foil can feel strangely persuasive.
Photo Credit: Quality Street
That instinct runs deeper than advertising though. Across cultures, people consistently gravitate towards similar colours for similar emotional reasons. Blue, for example, is often cited as the world’s favourite – calm, trustworthy, sky-and-sea soothing. Green tends to follow, rooted in nature, balance and renewal.
These aren’t fixed rules, but they’re consistent enough to hint at something human: we’re drawn to what matches our mood, or the mood we're seeking.
Which might explain why colour feels particularly potent at Christmas.
This is the season that insists on brightness. The satsuma glow on the table. Wrapping paper chosen for shine over subtlety. Baubles that clash happily. After months of short days and muted palettes, December gives us permission to turn the volume up. Colour becomes reassurance – a visual reminder of warmth, abundance and cheer, even when it’s already dark at 4pm and everyone’s slightly frayed around the edges.
Photo Credit: Quality Street
🍮 SWEET ENDINGS 🍮
Seen through that lens, the Quality Street tin starts to make a bit more sense.
It’s not just chocolate. It’s colour, memory and choice, all bundled together. An annual ritual where it’s practically a rite of passage to feel disproportionately impassioned about something that really doesn’t matter at all...
Like how deeply questionable your uncle’s loyalty to the Coconut Éclair is.
🍷 WHAT'S NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE? 🍷
We’ve been thrilled this last couple of weeks to see Wednesday’s Domaine popping up across a handful of publications we really admire - including The Guardian, Good Housekeeping, and Club Oenologique.
That last one felt especially meaningful. It’s rare for a serious wine title to truly get the no- and low-alcohol space, and rarer still to be included alongside such thoughtful, well-made company.
A big thank you to the brilliant team at LMA PR, who do such a good job of championing our wines and putting them in all the right hands and pages.
Luke x
