Milk & Tea

You may have seen a couple of NZ articles recently that talk about conflicting health advice around food, beverages and supplements.
Who can we trust?

Jeremy Laurance compiles an A-Z of conflicting health advice. Under T is for Tea he writes:

“Good: Black tea reduces heart disease. It also reduces stress, boosts mental alertness and may boost the immune system and help prevent diabetes.
Bad: adding milk counteracts its effects, sugar makes it worse”

I remember that there was an article reported in the press here a while ago about the addition of milk to tea after a small study was carried out in Germany. My view is that this is misguided.

Amongst very positive news for tea and coffee drinkers during 2009 there was a recent review in the Journal of Nutrition and Food Science which sought to clarify and update some of the overall conclusions of health studies on black tea consumption, particularly in relation to the bioavailability of flavonoids (antioxidants) in black tea.

There were a couple of very interesting conclusions: “..the debate over the addition of milk to tea and the subsequent effect on the bioavailability of flavonoids finally seems to have been laid to rest. Many studies have found tea with milk has similar antioxidant potential to tea without milk.”

This is great news! One of the other key conclusions was around the optimal amount of tea to drink to get the most health benefits which was concluded to be 1-8 cups a day (or 5-6 mugs). This was thought to provide sufficient bioactive constituents to increase the likelihood of cardiovascular and potentially cancer and cognitive health benefits without exceeding a daily caffeine intake of 400mg per day and adversely affect hydration, sleep quality and blood pressure.

I drink up to 8 cups a day so no need to change there then!

Also as we’re on the subject and to support what I said earlier,

Researchers from the Netherlands have reported that drinking tea and/or coffee can reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes. 2 separate studies collected data from 40,000 men and women over 10 years and concluded that drinking more than 5 cups of tea per day reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 32% independent of factors such as age, smoking, family history etc, moreover the studies also concluded that drinking at least 3 cups of tea and/or coffee reduced the risk of type-2 diabetes by approximately 42%. Given the large study population, design and comprehensive data collection about diet and lifestyle this study adds considerable weight to already published studies that have linked tea consumption to reduced risk of chronic health conditions.

I firmly believe that drinking tea as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle is good for you…trust me!

I recently had the privilege of going to see my beautiful daughter Francesca in her class, Room 9, at Cockle Bay School in Auckland.

I had sent her in one day with a magazine article on tea to share with the class and she came home with a request from her classmates for the Bell Tea Guy to come in and talk to them about tea. Cockle Bay is a great school and Francesca is lucky in having a superb teacher in year 4, Kirsten Holmes (Miss Holmes to me!). Miss Holmes confessed that she was unable to answer the deluge of questions that she had been asked about tea and that I simply just had to come in and deal with them myself.

Another connection is that Bell's financial controller's daughter Georgia is in the same class. She made it very clear that her dad is the guy who gives me all the money for the travelling I do, and I guess she is right about that!

We had a fantastic time and I don't think I have been asked such searching questions by any group before. The kids were most interested in the travelling that I have done which was a good chance for me to reminisce about some of my experiences over the years. We had a go at slurping and spitting, so much a part of my life, and they got the hang of that very quickly, so my apologies to their parents if they were still practicing in the evening! It was also the only time I have ever asked a group how many of them wanted to become tea-tasters and more than half the room put their hands up! Miss Holmes is now leading a science project for the school and tea may well be part of that.

Keep up the good work Room 9 it was great to meet you all.

The Tailor of Tea

It was a privilege to be part of the Twinings sponsored Mother's Day Afternoon Tea for the benefit of the Nurture Foundation, and no better place to hold it than the revamped ballroom of the Heritage Hotel. For those who don't know, Nurture, through research, are committed to helping New Zealanders have families through the safe delivery of a healthy, full-term baby.

There were a couple of key auction prizes on offer and one was to win an afternoon home cooking/baking class at Allyson Gofton's house with the lady herself. I've known Allyson a little while and she is great, not only a total pro chef but lots of fun and very humble! She is also a committed ambassador for Nurture. We had a right laugh and I of course muscled my way in to make the tea to go with the food. All in a very good cause. The stars of the show though were the ladies who bid for and won the prize, plenty of stories and I was the only guy there!

The other charity prize from the afternoon was a commitment from me to create a bespoke tea blend for the winning bidder. It was very appropriate that Cindy Farquhar outbid all to secure the blend for her husband Geoff. Cindy is Professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the University of Auckland, and a trustee of Nurture. I went along to their lovely Auckland home to interview Geoff and find out more about him in order to create his own very personal and unique blend of tea. It’s just like the concept of a bespoke tailor and Geoff will join the ranks of previous recipients, Allyson Gofton herself, and the illustrious Earl Grey for whom the very first bespoke teas were created by Twinings in the early 1800s.

Watch this space and I'll let you know how this developed......

New season tea

There is nothing better in my job than to taste fresh new season's tea from the best tea crops in the world.

Some of the team (Leigh, Chris, Jessica and Amy) popped in to join me and taste the first shipment of the new season for our India Origin blend.
These are outstanding teas from Darjeeling and Assam and, as you can see, we are very happy with them.

My friend Ashok Gandotra has done an outstanding job for us in India to secure these teas against fierce competition from around the world.

Hong Kong Visit

13th August

I'm on a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong having been invited to the very first Hong Kong International Tea Fair as a guest of the Hong Kong Trade and Development Corporation.

This is running concurrently with The Food Fair and two other exhibitions at the amazing Hong Kong Convention + Exhibition centre. (see picture) There is a lot going on.



The crew from Australia (8 people) and New Zealand (me) are great and I would say we are the liveliest delegation here.

As you can see we found our way to the Fine Wines of Italy stand, with the charismatic Eduardo, 2nd from left, who also owns an organic tea company based in Piedmont, Italy.

Now for me to be tasting 100s of Asia's best teas over a two day period is my kind of heaven, there were 250 exhibitors from 10 countries. I have really enjoyed sampling over 10 top white teas from Fujian province.

I might not be a great personal fan of Pu-erh tea but some of the oldest and most valuable vintage Pu-erhs are about to go on sale. There is 10g of a 109 year-old Pu-erh tea up for US$1000, and a 300g slab of a 1950s Pu-erh going for US15,000, now I wonder if the team back home at Bell might like some.....

It is good to see so many Producers here from other parts of the world including our partners in Sri Lanka, Watawala Plantations, and my old friend Vinodh (see picture) from Vintage Teas in Sri Lanka, looks like we are going grey together my friend. Also caught up with Mike Wright from Twinings in the UK, who now owes me dinner on my next visit!

The Auckland Food Show

If you were wondering why the streets of Auckland seemed eerily quiet this weekend, I can tell you it is because most of the city congregated at the Food Show to sample the goods and (literally) rub shoulders with their fellow city-people.

I was at the Show to talk to punters about the two latest Bell blends on the market, India Origin and Zesty Green Tea Berry, and Twinings ever-popular blend (and the original) Earl Grey. With new products it is always great to have a sampling opportunity, and some face time with the public. For this there is no better place than the Auckland Food Show.

This year it was hard not to notice the rise in numbers and the influence of ethnic stands. This is a great reflection on not only the ever diversifying cultural makeup of Auckland, but also the growing influence of and demand for world foods on New Zealanders plates.

India Origin fit beautifully into this environment. We were lucky enough that Peta Mathias agreed to promote India Origin during her cooking demonstrations which focused on combining flavours and ingredients from Rajasthan in India (great show, Peta). Whilst watching Peta, I was reminded again of how blending tea really is like cooking – creating combinations of different teas can often result in something that is greater than the sum of its parts… despite what some of the other brands in the NZ market say!

We were able to draw in many a punter with the tempting aroma drifting from the freshly brewed Zesty Berry. It was great to meet people who are already Zesty Green Tea converts, and the reaction to the new flavour (and the pink colour) was overwhelmingly positive. Again, it was great to get people to sample our green tea as it is so unique and easy to drink in comparison with the majority of the market.

From the company perspective it was great to be across the aisle from Gravity coffee, one of the brands in the Bell Tea & Coffee stable. This year we were conveniently dressed in what we call “Gravity purple” t-shirts, so we dominated our corner of the hall.

Finally, during the show we promoted a competition to win an India Origin hamper filled with goodies. If you want to enter, please do. You just need to click on the elephant on the Bell Tea homepage. Or click on this link

Radio Live Tea Debate

Not sure if anyone caught the discussion about tea on Radio Live on Monday night?
They were chatting about the findings from the research team at Kings College in the UK, which refutes the myth that tea dehydrates. In fact, their findings prove that, not only does it count towards your daily fluid requirement, but drinking three to four cups of tea a day can provide positive health benefits.

At Bell, we have known the positive effects of tea for a long time, including that it contributes to overall levels of hydration, and have been working with the University of Auckland to ensure we have access to independent academic insight on all research findings, so it was terrific hearing it being discussed on the radio.

Hopefully, you’ll now all be inspired to rush to the kettle and your pack of Bell Tea!

Two more new teas from Bell!

Just realised that I haven’t mentioned two new teas that we’ve added to the Bell family over the past couple of weeks – there’s a lot to talk about at the moment!

So, Zesty Berry is the latest addition to our green tea range. As with India Origin, we’re secretly hoping we might have another world-first, since we think it might be the only green tea in the world that isn’t actually green, but pink (or ‘ruby’, as we like to call it).

As with the rest of the Zesty Green range, I source the tea for the new variant from the Zhejiang Province on the eastern Coast of China. If you’ve read earlier blogs, you’ll know that I’ve just returned from a trip there, where I re-connected with my friend and our supplier, Liu Zhiming of the Shanshan Tea Company, and visited the famous Dragonwell estate.

Anyway, if you’ve enjoyed the rest of our Green tea range, please try Zesty Berry. It’s blended with all natural ingredients – raspberry, blackcurrant and blackberry, and of course, you get all the antioxidant benefits of the green tea as well as the taste.



Secondly – and long overdue according to many of you – we’ve released our Kenya Bold blend in leaf tea form. It appears I’m not alone in my love for a stronger brew, and Kenya Bold has developed a real following. However, many of you have had to make do with the teabags (which are still great by the way), when really you’re committed leaf tea drinkers. Well, no longer! We’ve listened, and hopefully Kenya Bold Leaf will be on a shelf near you very shortly.

Bell's Latest Blend: India Origin

It is great to know having just returned from my travels that the first packs of our new India Origin Tea have hit the shelves in the South Island. Thought it worth introducing on my blog. In fact I took a couple of packs out with me to Vietnam and China to show my colleagues there and they thought it was great.

India Origin grew from a seed of an idea over a cup of tea in the old tasting rooms at 305 East Tamaki Road. We were reflecting on the success of Kenya Bold and the loyal following that has grown with it, and we thought where next on our journey to bring the world's greatest teas to New Zealand? Indian tea has long been a favourite of mine and I told a story about how one of my first jobs in the UK was to hand- blend finest Assam and Darjeeling teas for Buckingham Palace. Less than a year later we have brought India Origin to market. It has been a great team effort. All our blends within the Bell portfolio are unique to us and New Zealand, but India Origin is truly a first on a world scale. We have taken two of the world's greatest teas, Darjeeling and Assam and brought them together, which many people, including respected tasters I know, said couldn't and, possibly shouldn't, be done. We've done it anyway.

India Origin is a blend of India's two great teas; the elegant vitality of Darjeeling and the velvety smoothness of Assam. It is perfect late in the afternoon, shared with others and goes very well with food. Of all our great blends this is truly one to be savoured, and to take some time over!

My time in Vietnam

This was my first visit to Vietnam and one I have been really looking forward to. I landed in Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon by the locals) and the first thing that struck me was the sheer number of scooters on the road, incredible.

I was given some good advice about crossing the road on foot, set-off and maintain a good even pace and they will work round you, don’t whatever you do speed up or slow down or worse…stop!

The tea producing regions are a 4-5 hour drive north-east of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and in the north a 4-5 hour drive north-west of Hanoi the capital.

We are packed a lot into 7 days changing location every day, and all all this has been made possible by our main contact Duong, who we call the “fixer” and he has certainly opened many doors for us as well as being tremendous fun to travel with.

The Van Rees team in Hanoi, including Robin Lavoij who traveled from Toronto to accompany me to Vietnam and also to China. I was impressed with this team and return convinced that we have the right sourcing team for Vietnam.

It wasn’t all tea, we visited a coffee producer as well and cupped some much improved Vietnamese coffees. I will tell David Burton our coffee blend master about this!

I thought Vietnam was one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited, and everyone was so friendly and hospitable.

My interview with MiNDFOOD

As promised by Jessica in an earlier comment, below is a link to an interview I did with MiNDFOOD.

Have a read, and be sure to make any comments or ask any burning questions that you may have!

Matt Greenwood tea expert | Food & Drinks | MiNDFOOD

Notes from China, Tues 27th May 2009

Sitting at HangZhou station with Glen, our ops director, waiting to catch a train back to ShangHai, having a refreshing cup of oolong tea and reflecting on what has been a very special day indeed for both of us. In the morning we said farewell to Robin Lavoij from Van Rees Toronto, who arranged such a good trip to Vietnam for me and then joined us on the China leg too.

Our wonderful host here in HangZhou (one of the 6 ancient capitals of China), Liu Zhiming head of ShanShan Tea, took us to visit Dragonwell (LongJing in Mandarin) just outside of HangZhou City. If you are a tea taster or tea lover then Dragonwell tea would be right up there as the most famous tea in the world and somewhere I have always wanted to visit. Zhiming told us that Dragonwell is still regarded as the highest ranked tea in China.

Local people would come to the deep well here and pray for rain, which often seemed to work, and is obviously very good for the tea and other crops grown in the region.

Dragonwell is so named because if you stir the top of the water with a stick, which we did, then the ripples on the surface of the water resemble a dragon

On the way to visit the ancient site we stopped at a small tea field just at the side of the main road as 3 women were plucking the small and widely spaced tea bushes.

We took some photos and filmed a few shots and Zhiming talked to the women. They were plucking only the finest and softest leaves and buds from the tips of the bushes. Hundreds of white butterflies accompanied them!

They were a family who owned 8 rows of tea bushes and handmade Dragonwell green tea at their family home in the nearby village.

We were thrilled when we were invited back to see how they made one of the finest of the world’s green teas. They were quick to tell us that the very best Dragonwell tea is made between mid-March and the first week in April, but we would still see green tea from the “middle crop”.

They dried the tea we had seen them pluck on bamboo trays for a couple of hours, then rolled the leaves by hand and transferred the leaf to what appeared to be a large electric wok just inside the front door to their house. This is “pan-frying” at its most gentle and enough to lock in all of the sweet fresh flavours of the young tea leaves. Within a few hours we had drunk the tea we had seen plucked earlier in the day. I even ate the leaves it was so good. We all bought some of this very special tea to bring home to New Zealand with us feeling very privileged to have been invited to experience this.

Zhiming came up with the best quote if the day, “This really is Fair Trade” he said and we both thought he was spot on is, personally bought with cash straight from the growers house!

Image of Dragonwell Tea Gardens, China

Off to Vietnam

Off to Vietnam on Saturday evening. Had a real nightmare with my passport and visa - too many stamps and not enough spare pages left - but it’s all come good, and my bags are (nearly) packed. My first visit and really looking forward to it especially as they showed the Top Gear special from there in NZ a few weeks ago - brilliant programme, fantastic country.
I land in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and make my way to Da Lat and the tea estates of the south. I’ll be visiting growers in both North and South Vietnam and hoping to taste some great teas from the new season’s growth. Vietnamese tea has been getting better and better over the past few years, and they’re making some good speciality teas, most of which are exported to China.
After that I head for ShangHai and Zhejiang Province in China. My friend Liu Zhiming at the Shanshan Tea Company has promised me some fresh new seasons green teas to taste, and it’ll be good to catch up with him again. This is where we source our Zesty Green Tea from.
Glen Ryan, our Ops Director, is joining me for the China leg. It’s his first trip to tea plantations and what better place to start, China being the home of tea and where it all began 5000 years ago. We’re hoping to visit the West Lake area, home of world famous Dragonwell Tea. Story goes that many centuries ago the very finest leaves were picked for the emperor with golden scissors. I’m looking forward to travelling with Glen and to showing him around. Back on the 1st June.

Trip to Vietnam + China

Very much looking forward to visiting Vietnam for the first time (even more so since I saw the ‘Top Gear’ special a few weeks ago) and then on to China. I am visiting tea producers in the north and south of Vietnam, really looking to establish and strengthen relationships we have in this relatively new tea growing country. Vietnam is now the 2nd largest producer of coffee in the world so I am hoping to visit coffee growers too.

Its been quite a while since I visited China so I’m really excited to return. Looking forward to seeing my old friend Liu Zhiming again at ShanShan Tea, a great company who supply us with our Zesty Green teas.

Tea prices surge as poor weather hits crops

We’re battling with drought again, and tea prices have risen dramatically during the first quarter of this year due to low crops in Sri Lanka and Kenya (the world’s 3rd and 4th largest producers).
The outlook has been poor too for the new season in Assam, north-east India, the world’s largest tea producing region. Access to credit for some of the producers have meant that less fertiliser has been applied which has, in turn, reduced the crop… bit of a cycle here. The producers in these key areas need some rain to get production back on track. The key as always is the arrival of the “long rains” in Kenya, which are later than the number 26 bus I used to catch to school, but fingers-crossed.

Reason to be Cheerful

I’ve been the Bell Tea Guy for more than 5 years now, the last 2 working alongside David Burton, our Coffee Blend Master. We’ve have a lot of fun together but, it has to be said, we really need someone to keep us in order!

That’s all changed now as Amy Reason has come to join us in the tasting rooms. Amy is our new Assistant Tea and Coffee Taster and will be working with both of us, honing her tasting skills, developing her own direct relationships with our growers to source the best tea and coffee from around the world, and then helping us create the perfect blends back here at the ranch. No doubt keeping David and myself in order needs to be high on her agenda as well!

Amy’s very passionate about tea and coffee, and it was her determination to land the role that really impressed us. She’s already challenging us and throwing new ideas into the arena. It’s great to have her on our team – someone with a fresh perspective - and I’m really looking forward to working with her.

Crooks Road Opening and our new tasting rooms

We moved into our brand spanking new purpose-built facility at Crooks Road in December and it’s great to be here.

As well as bringing all of our Auckland based commercial functions under one-roof we are now able bring the tea and coffee parts of our business closer together.

It’s just so good to have a facility that we are all proud of and to be able to invite visitors to. We had a great turnout for the opening and ran tea and coffee tasting sessions for as many visitors who were interested in slurping and spitting with us.

The new tea and coffee tasting rooms are side-by-side and designed to flow together to give the feel of a bigger space. In reality they are separated by glass with positive air-flow pressure to ensure that the coffee aroma stays within the coffee room and doesn’t affect the tea-tasting which is more aroma sensitive.

Many industry friends and colleagues around the world said it couldn’t be done and we should separate the two completely, but we went ahead and did it anyway and it has paid off! (big nod to the architects and designers here for bringing alive our vision)

We have a good balance of natural light and “natural-light” illumination to ensure as even and consistent tasting conditions as possible.

Its also good to have more storage space for our library of tea and coffee samples.

The tasting rooms look out onto our new staff café which is a real hub of/for the business. This makes it easy for us to pull unsuspecting colleagues into our tasting rooms to try out our new tea and coffee blends!