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