Bell Tea Guy

Weru Tea - Something Special

2010-11-25T19:01:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we as a company said goodbye to Tony Carter, a member of the Bell Tea & Coffee Company board, for this occasion we presented him with a very special tea.

We asked our key suppliers in Africa to find the best tea that Kenya has to offer at this point in time and we had subsequently had a few kilos flown over to us.

Weru Tea is currently the best of all the Kenyan Tea factories. It won best overall quality producer
in Kenya in 2009. It is located 220 KMs from Nairobi in Meru South District and is one of the closest factories to Mount Kenya.

Tea was first grown in this region in 1972, and Weru is the most modern tea factory in the area, serving
9500 smallholder tea growers. Weru is committed to the Ethical Tea Partnership.

The tea has diamond brightness, with a vibrant copper-gold colour when milk is added. It is one of
the most full-bodied teas in Kenya, fervent on the palate, with rich and creamy biscuit notes. It would
be the best tea I have tasted of this type in the last 20 years, and one of the top 20 of all time.

Auckland Barista Championships 2010

2010-04-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

As a fan of all hot beverages, it was pleasing for me as the Tea Guy see the coffee team take centre stage on the weekend. The annual Auckland Barista Championships were hosted by the Bell Tea & Coffee Co at our East Tamaki office, as part of the build up to the National Finals in April.

The championships are an exciting explosion of colour, noise, nerves and exceptionally talented baristas. It is impossible to ignore the passion that the coffee industry has for its craft, and the seriousness with which these championships are taken. And indeed they should be, with the winner being flown to the World Barista Championships in London to represent New Zealand.

The baristas are required, in fifteen minutes, to make four espressos, four cappuccinos and four of their signature drinks. All the while they gain points for talking about the blend they have chosen - from its origin to its taste profile - while being filmed and rigged up to a microphone so the crowd can hear them clearly! No surprise that shaking hands and voices went hand-in-hand with outstanding coffee.

A big congratulations goes to David Huang from Espresso Workshop who took out the competition.

Finally, you’ll notice from the photos that our Coffee Master David Burton, and our Assistant Tea and Coffee Taster Amy Reason were both judges on the day, as they were in the Christchurch and Wellington heats. Congratulations to Amy who was selected, for her first time, to be a judge alongside David at the National Finals in two weeks time. A very big achievement indeed!

What does the Tea Guy drink?

2010-02-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

Just realised that this is my first blog of 2010, I really must up my game! I have a back-log or should that be "back-blog" of ideas to share!

Still, being an ex-pom turned Kiwi one of the hardest things to get used to living in New Zealand is having Christmas and the New Year during summer. Christmas creeps up almost unawares, and then there is the "relaxing holiday" month of January juggling kids and, well kids, which seems to spit you out into February hurtling back into the hurly-burly of life.

During the last couple of months we have done quite a few tea tastings for external visitors and customers here at our tasting rooms at Bell Tea and I keep being asked what I drink, or what is my favourite cup of tea. One thing that strikes me these days is how tea consumers tend to drink different types of tea at different times of the day. Even within the growing Bell portfolio of teas I am conscious when developing the blends as to when certain teas might be drunk. For instance our most recent addition to our black tea range, Bell Indian Origin is great as an afternoon tea, one to savour, to really overcome all that your palate might have experienced through during the day.

It made me think though as to what do I actually drink during the day, so here is my rough routine. I always start the day with a cup of Bell Kenya Bold, without fail. I usually make this in a tea-pot whether it is leaf tea or teabags and very strong - that is how I like it. There is nothing like this to really get you going in the mornings. Now Stephen Twining would disagree with me as he sips his cup of Twinings English Breakfast and I wouldn't knock the strength and refined flavour for one moment, but for raw power and the ability to set me up for the day, Kenya Bold it is.

I usually have a coffee mid-morning aroung 11am after we have finished the morning's tea tasting, this is to try and appreciate the great coffees we have in our range, but also to improve my slightly dodgy barista skills! I usually have a double shot of fresh Gravity coffee with a small amount of milk. Now I'm sure there is a proper Italian word for this but I call it a "double-shot half flat white"

At lunchtime I usually have a green tea, and we have a lot of great ones to choose from, i love Twinings Green Tea with Orange + Mandarin, and also Twiste Kiwi from our "Live Tea" range, often though I might sip one from my library of samples. I tasted a great Oolong the other day which I have hidden away so no-one else can find it.

In the afternoon I will usually have a pot of India Orign tea there is nothing better than the Assam and Darjeeling flavours to revive me. Also, as these teas are seasonal and only available in a small window of production every year, I love seeing hoe the blend mellows and matures until the new season's teas arrive.

Finally, I alway finish my day with a cup of Twinings Peppermint, I find this very cleansing, good for my digestion and a great way of settling me for the evening.

So there is a rough journey through my tea drinking as opposed to tea tasting day.

Milk & Tea

2009-12-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-10T22:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-08T20:07:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Off to Vietnam

2009-05-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-01-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

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!

Trip to America

2008-05-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

I may be the tea guy, but I am very aware that a tea drinker is usually partial to a few cups of coffee in any given day. Because of this and our relationship with Burton Hollis, I recently had the pleasure of travelling to America with renowned coffee roaster, David Burton, to attend the SCAA (Speciality Coffee Association of America) conference in Minneapolis (image below).

This is a conference on a huge scale – stands from plantations, producers, roasters and retailers from across the world. It was a complete culture shock for a tea guy like myself. I know that the coffee industry is bigger than the tea one (give it time, people, give it time) but I was not prepared for the diversity of the stands, the growers and the ethnicities that were on display. We take it for granted when we sip our latte that “NZ roasted” covers it all, but a mere coffee bean undergoes a lot before it reaches our shores.

It was an information overload but given the amount of travel time I have given it some thought and these are the observations that I would like to share with you…

Ethical Coffee
The coffee industry has given a lot of thought and energy into the ethics of production. We see Fair Trade a lot here but overseas it is developing into something much bigger and we are seeing new movements like the Rainforest Alliance (www.rainforest-alliance.org ) and Coffee Kids (www.coffeekids.org ) gathering momentum and making a real difference.

Baristas
We went to the US National Barista Championships and felt incredibly patriotic when we learnt that one of the lead technical judges was Chris White from New Zealand. The standards of Baristas in the States is rising quickly and we saw some very theatrical performances – it was like watching a celebrity chef the way they engaged the audience.

Best Cup of Coffee
We drank a lot of coffee (as you would imagine). It is always interesting drinking coffee with David Burton. I agree with him when he says that street coffee in America is very bad. They favour a dark roast and then mix it with way too many creamers and flavours for it to be enjoyed. The best cup was a Colombian coffee, reputed to be the best coffee in the world and now I understand why it is referred to as ‘black gold’. David commented that a trip to America always reminds him that we are doing a good job in New Zealand.

Tea
A tea man cannot survive any trip without a good cup of tea along the way and I made sure to fit in a visit to Harris Tea (www.harristea.com ) in Anaheim. They are the largest private label supplier of tea in the States producing both speciality and mainstream tea and I felt right at home.

Proud to be a Kiwi
I always love traveling and letting people know that I am from New Zealand (yes I am aware that I am a POM, but I still call New Zealand home). What was interesting was how many people related to New Zealand on a more passionate level and for one reason in particular. Not the All Blacks, not the politics, but Flight of the Concords. Those boys have worked some magic with the Americans and we felt the love!

It is good to be home. It is good to be back tasting and blending tea, but I am delighted to have gained more insight into the coffee industry which has given me a new found appreciation for that cup of black gold I have every now and then!

Sri Lanka

2008-05-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

Great news – I just booked my next flight to Sri Lanka! I’ll be heading off soon, with the CEO of the Bell Tea Company, Mark Hamilton. This will be his first trip to Sri Lanka and I can’t wait to show him around all the different estates, and introduce him to our friends and tea partners. Sri Lanka is one of our most important tea producers, and we have a really strong relationship with many of the great tea estates over there. So I’m really excited that Mark will be coming.

I’ll be sure to bring back photos for the blog!

Papua New Guinea Landslide

2008-04-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

There was a major landslide in Papua New Guinea during April which wiped out the road from the agricultural highlands to the main port. We have 3 containers stuck on the wrong side, which were already running late due to production issues. The road could take up to 2 months to replace, and I am expecting delays of at least 6-8 weeks in future shipments. However we are working hard on finding replacements for these teas.

Food Show in Christchurch

2008-04-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve just returned from a very successful Food Show in Christchurch. I always love the opportunity to talk to consumers, take them through a tasting, and hear their feedback about the humble cup of tea. I am always so delighted to know that after the show, more people are aware of the golden “Great Tea Takes Three” rule so that people out there are having the best tea experience possible!

Being there, making thousands of cups of tea, is such valuable experience for me as a tea blender, and the feedback I get at these sorts of events is what helps me when I design new blends of tea. We got some great comments about our new green tea, Bell Zesty Green. I really felt like people understood what we are trying to do with this drink, with the natural, fresh and mellow flavours. Last year when we were there, we introduced people to Bell Kenya Bold, and it was extremely rewarding to see many of these people again, telling me that Kenya Bold is now their favourite tea blend!

Also I love going to the South Island, everyone is always so welcoming. And its nice to have a few days out of the office!

I’m looking forward to doing it all over again at the Wellington Food Show in May. But for now it’s back to the daily grind – actually for me it’s back to the daily blend!

Tea World

2008-04-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

Although Kenya is still a long way from resolution, it is good to see the political trouble has settled down a little bit. We are delighted that all our tea estates are able to produce again, and the product is no longer stuck in Kenya, unable to be exported. I was also relieved to know that my friends and colleagues over there are safe.

It is another example of how political forces can have a massive influence on the tea industry, all over the world.

Horse of the Year

2008-03-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Bell Tea has supported equestrian events since 1978 - that's a whopping 30 years! This year, like so many others, was a brilliant event. For something different, we weren’t just serving tea this year; we also took down our own baristas from Burton Hollis, and served Burtons Coffee.

The event has such a community atmosphere, with all the riders, supporters and spectators, all visiting the stand for a tea or coffee. Great camaraderie – and I was delighted to be a part of it.

The highlight for me was to watch John Whitaker compete. John is a living legend, who I used to watch show jumping when I was a kid in England. It was amazing to see him still going strong, and I was thrilled to get to meet him afterwards as well.

Overall it was a great day – wonderful weather and lots of tea (and coffee!). In fact I believe we served over 10,000 hot beverages over the week. You’d think I’d be sick of tea by then, but at the end of the day all I wanted to do was sit down, put my feet up and have a cup!

Stephen Twining’s Southern Adventure

2007-11-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

We took Stephen on a road trip - for his first ever trip to the South Island. We flew to Dunedin, where he hosted a dinner with Dish Magazine at Bell Pepper Blues where the chef, Michael Couglin, created a six-course dinner featuring Twinings tea as an ingredient in every course. There is a photo of Stephen, Michael and me below.

Stephen and I have been involved in many tea and food tasting evenings all over the world, from New York to London, however this was by far the best tea and food matching I have ever been part of. It was absolutely outstanding, and we all enjoyed a fantastic evening before heading straight onto Christchurch, where we held a series of tea tastings.

Stephen, once again, had a great time in New Zealand and I look forward to more antics during his next visit to our shores early next year!

Stephen Twining & Auckland Events

2007-11-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

A lot of people don’t know, but Bell is the NZ distributor for all Twining’s products in New Zealand, and recently we had a visit from a member of the original Twining’s tea family.

Stephen Twining, who is a 10th generation Twining, arrived in New Zealand for an action packed trip. The tour kicked off with a Long Day at the Office where Stephen and I spent 12 hours serving tea at the Office bar at the Westin Auckland, Lighter Quay. We had a great turnout and revealed a few new teas to the NZ palate (and a few tea cocktails as well!). Stephen then officially opened the Twining’s Garden of Chai to celebrate the launch of Chai tea at the Ellerslie International Flower Show, and we spent a few days making thousands of teas for visitors to the show.

The two of us are a great double act, and this trip was no different. We had an absolute blast talking and laughing with people all over New Zealand.

Rwanda Tea Estate

2007-10-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

As you may have guessed, I tend to taste a lot of teas! So when I find one that really impresses me – it is quite exciting. This month I was lucky enough to come across tea from a tea estate in Rwanda that I haven’t tasted for a long time.

The tea estate is based in the area of Pfunda and reminded me of some of the very finest teas from this region from 15 years ago, before the country was torn apart by civil war. It grows some of the brightest, liveliest teas in the world. Outstanding!

Image is of Pfunda. Those mountains are in fact volcanoes.

My Birthday!

2007-10-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well it had to happen - last week I turned 40! Although a few may have assumed I’d celebrate at home, with a cup of tea, I instead decided to have a party... And tea was not the most popular beverage choice on the evening.

A wonderful time was had by all. It was very special to me that Vish Govindasamy made the trip from Sri Lanka. Vish is the head of Watawala Plantations from where we source all our Bell Pure Ceylon Tea and he is a dear friend. Chris Wright, the director and producer of the “Taste of Tea” programme that was part-shot in Sri Lanka, also came with his lovely wife Heidi, so it felt like a Ceylon Tea reunion!

The image below is of of Vish and me in Sri Lanka.

Introducing Twinings Pure Rooibos

2007-09-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today we released a new Herbal Infusion to the market, Twinings Pure Rooibos. Rooibos is sometimes called Africa’s answer to green tea, because of its health benefits. Rooibos - pronounced ‘roy boss’ and translated to red bush - is delicious with or without milk but has extraordinary feel-good qualities.

I love a cup of Rooibos in the evening with just a little honey. Its smooth refreshing taste has a naturally sweet edge, which is very soothing – one sip and you can see why it is becoming so popular worldwide.

Look out for it in supermarkets, brew it for at least three minutes (because great tea takes three!) and try a cuppa!

Welcome from the Tea Guy

2007-09-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my diaries and stories of life in the World of Tea. I am the Master Tea Blender at the Bell Tea Company in New Zealand - somehow I ended up with the nickname Tea Guy and before I knew it the personalised plate for my car even turned up. Anyway I want to share with you some insights into the World of Tea and the kind of things I do as a Master Tea Blender. It is currently buying season in China – the home of tea. From what I hear, this season has produced a great crop due to ideal weather and soil conditions. This is a very exciting time for the tea industry, and I personally can’t wait to hear the review of the harvesting.

Here's to Tea
Matt.