Invention is the key for the betterment of any industry. It’s the same for tea even though it’s still remained as the most popular beverage after water. That was the case for Tracy and Rory Bell, founders of Saint John-based Millennia TEA. Three years ago, the Bells was suffering from a brain cancer scare in their family. When they came to know about the benefits of antioxidants the couple began researching teas, specifically the very best teas fighting against free radicals. As tea lovers, you all must have heard of least processed teas like Silver tips / Silver needle white tea which is very delicate in taste & produced with the apical terminal bud of the tea bush. By the mean time, Fresh leaf tea (which also includes immature tea leaves) from Millennia Tea is just washed and frozen after plucking from Kenyan tea gardens.

“Antioxidants are highest in the tea leaf right after they’re picked, and start to drop off with prolonged exposure to heat, light, and air,” says Tracy. “We went looking for fresh leaves and when we couldn’t find them we spent the better part of the next 18 months developing a way to keep leaves in their most natural and nutrient-rich form. That became our process — wash and freeze the leaves within hours of harvesting.”

Since there is no drying, Vitamin C & E present in tea leaves are not destroyed. Flavor and volatile compounds are also preserved.

The Bells now sell their innovative fresh leaf teas online and at retail outlets across Atlantic Canada, as well as in Quebec, Alberta, and Ontario etc.

Fresh off an ONB-led New Exporter Mission to Boston in November, Millennia TEA is now focused on scale up.

View more tea related articles and news: http://www.teawithnipun.com/

References

1.Original Post: https://onbcanada.ca/new-brunswick-innovation-millennia-tea/

2.Company Website: https://millenniatea.com/