On a quiet Paris street in the upmarket 16th arrondissement there stands a beautiful stone building housing one of the most amazing chocolate shops you're ever likely to find. And in that chocolate shop, along a shelf there stand half a dozen large aroma glasses each placed over a handful of tea leaves, one for each type available. It's not a lot of choice but one of these teas was so enchanting that when we stumbled upon it it changed our whole world.
This serendipitous find would trigger inside us the desire to create our own tea company and produce teas as fine for Australia.
In 2014 Red Leaf Tea began above a small shop front in Melbourne's southern suburbs sourcing the finest single estate tea leaves from small growers in the mountains of India, China and Ceylon as well as carefully formulated blends of teas, herbs and botanicals prepared by hand and a small collection of teapots, cups, tins and infusers for true tea connoisseurs to brew, drink and store their favourite teas.
We like to say that our teas are the little affordable luxury no one should be without. Even before the first sip of a fresh brew has passed your lips the aroma of the cup can transport you. Whether its a floral green tea taking you to a country meadow surrounded by wild flowers or vanilla infused black tea making a dreary winters day a little nicer there is something for everyone.
From humble beginnings Red Leaf Tea has grown to offer almost 100 different varieties of teas, herbal blends and fruit infusions. Single origin teas range from the very finest gardens of Darjeeling to the robust estates along the Brahmaputra River of Assam or the ancient Oolong fields of China's Anxi province. Blended teas like Blue Velvet combine the recognisable flavour of Madagascan vanilla with a rich blend of Ceylon and Nigiri tea leaves.
Red Leaf Tea also offers up a range of equipment for the proper brewing, drinking and storing each of our teas.
It's been many years since we visited that little chocolate shop in Paris but we've never forgotten that first tea that started it all. For us discovering and sharing the exciting world of tea is a daily adventure.
- M
