My son named this tea.
We were driving into town a while back, stopping in at the local supermarket and Peter was asking if he could name a tea for the new tea collection.
Not wanting to discourage his creativity, I gently probe him for some suggestions. First, he asks what "morning" might sound like in French, perhaps that could sound fancy. Unfortunately, my French is non-existent without google translate. He then suggests some Russian words.
Being a little more versed in the Russian language, I know Russian is many things, but fancy (or frankly, readable to the average Joe on the street) is not one of them.
As we pull into a car park at the entry of our brand new supermarket, the pride of Agnes Water, Peter says, "How about we name the tea after a LONG-STANDING WELL RESPECTED AGNES WATER / 1770 RESIDENT?". I look up and see these words etched into a plaque nailed to the wall marking the supermarket opening, 18th October 2014 with Betty Mergard's name at the top.
You see, Betty Mergard is quite an icon in our little town. She's also a good friend and someone I respect deeply. Her family started visiting the region over 30 years ago when there was nothing but a dirt track leading all the way from Bundaberg and a handful of houses. The trip that now takes around 1 hr 20 min by sealed bitumen then took a good part of the day.
Betty and her family were pioneers here, they invested heavily in the community, build the local Baptist church, and established the marina which is now quite an icon for the town with their distinctive pink LARC tours (a kind of strange-looking boat that drives through sand and water, it's really quite a fun trip). Indeed, there was even a decommissioned LARC named Lady Elizabeth in the ranks.
It really was quite an ingenious idea from my then 8-year-old son. We had the tea already created and the name matched perfectly. A dash of rose petals blended with Tielka's favourite breakfast blend black tea, some bergamot oil, cornflower petals, and sweet orange peel. It's our very own French Earl Grey and a new favourite in the Tielka Tea Collection.
Happy brewing!
Rebecca Domorev
P.S. shhh don't tell Jade Mist or Earl Royale. This one is my actual favourite.
