Bewley's Original Blend 80 Tea Bags

Bewley's Original Blend in a Box of 80 tea bags.

To create their Original Blend Tea, Bewley's uses tea leaves from Africa, Kenya and Rwanda, as well as the Assam valley in India. Bewleys blend tea leaves from these countries and regions to create a specific taste. Bewley's Original Blend is 100% tea leaves.

Bewley's Original Blend Tea brews a rich brown color and has strong and richly satisfying taste. It comes only in tea bags. The only tea bags available are the traditional square shape. Plus, it is an award-winning tea. Bewley's Original Blend won a gold medal at the 2010 Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards.

As a black tea, it is best to add a dash of milk and sweetener (sugar, honey or whatever you choose). Although it says afternoon, the tea can be consumed any time of day. To make the best Bewley's Original Blend, steep the tea for 3 to 5 minutes.

Actually, Original Blend is part of Bewley's Traditional Blend series and is popular with tea drinkers in Ireland. Other Bewley's Teas, like Irish Breakfast, are produced mostly for export.

In tea making, cupping means to taste and evaluate tea leaves for such factors and aroma, body, briskness, color and more. This is required to discover the qualities of the tea so consistent blends can be produced. As a natural product, tea leaves from the same geographic region can taste vastly different. This step means the tea consistently taste the same and is of a good quality.

First, Bewley's visits tea growers across India's Assam region as well as Rwanda and Kenya in Africa to begin selecting the best tea leaves to use for Original Blend. Bewleys examines tea leaves for appearance, taste, color, strength and briskness.

Then, Bewleys Master Tea Blender gets samples different varieties of tea. These samples are then reviewed for leaf size and quality. A thorough cupping is then conducted. Bewleys even has a dedicated cupping room so outside distractions can be eliminated. The best teas are then chosen and Bewleys purchases these from tea growers. Upon arrival at the Bewleys facility in Dublin, Ireland, the Original Blend can be created.

Then, the best tea leaves are purchased and shipped back to Bewley's plant in Dublin, Ireland. After arrival in Ireland, the tea leaves are tasted again to ensure they taste the same as they did before purchase at the tea estate.

Now, comes the hard part. How do you blend tea from different regions to get the same taste in every cup of Bewley's Original Blend Tea? Adding to the complexity is that fact that each crop of tea can vary in taste. Weather may alter the taste of it may not be possible to obtain from the same tea estates every year. But, the tea leaves have to be blended to ensure the same taste every time a cup of Bewleys Original Blend is consumed.

Bewley's Master Blender has to adjust the type of tea leaves and the volume of tea leaves. Bewleys keep samples of previous blends to ensure the taste is consistent. This text first appeared on teadog.com for Bewley's Original Blend Tea.

Ingredients:
Tea leaves from Africa (Rwanda and Kenya) and India (Assam).

Brand History:
Bewley's Tea, Dublin Ireland

Bewley's was established in 1840 and is one of Ireland's leading brands. Today, Bewley's remains a leading household name and is Ireland's leading supplier of quality coffees and teas. Bewley's is best known for its cafes throughout Ireland.

Bewley's is a historic company. In 1835, Charles Bewley imported the first tea into Ireland from China with over 2000 chests of tea. It was the first time tea was shipped direct to Ireland. In 1833, the monopoly held by the East India trading company was broken. Tea merchants all over the world were free to do business. Charles Bewley was the first merchant who exercised that freedom. However, it was Charles brother Joshua that founded the company that was to become Bewley's.

Joshua set up as a tea merchant in 1840, and by 1850, his company, The China Tea Company, was boasting a large client base and brisk sales. In 1875, he moved the company and established a new trading identity there as Charles Bewley and Co. Tea Merchants.

Joshua's son, Ernest, joined his father and brother, Charles, in the firm and worked long hours to build up the shop's trade in tea, sugar, coffee and oriental decorative goods. When brother Charles emigrated in 1890, Ernest was left in charge of the firm. Over the next 40 years, Ernest oversaw development of a new dimension to the business, the Oriental Cafes.

Ernest was a stickler for punctuality and honesty and his pursuit of quality and style was reflected in all aspects of the business. He hired the best continental bakers, dressed the cafes in a richly distinctive oriental decor and kept the menu simple: tea, coffee, rolls, sticky buns and eggs, poached, boiled or scrambled.

In his quest for perfection, Ernest acquired a farm and started a Jersey cow herd that provided milk and cream of legendary quality for the cafes. He won prizes at the royal Dublin Show for cattle and butter, his smartly turned out horse drawn delivery vans and even his roses!

For business people and well-heeled shoppers, the Bewley's cafes became favorite meeting places and, in true cafe society style, they were the haunt at various times of artists and writers such as James Joyce and Patrick Kavanagh.

Ernest Bewley's decision in 1927 to embark on his most prestigious venture yet, a cafe in fashionable Grafton Street, was an affirmation of the family's commitment to a city that had come through a period of great political and social change. Fitted out in the distinctive Bewley's style, the new cafe had 6 magnificent stained glass windows commissioned from the artist Harry Clarke. Their rich kaleidoscope of colors still lends an exotic atmosphere to the ground-floor of the Grafton Street site.

Ernest's death in 1932 marked the end of an era for the firm. Despite failing health, he had managed to see the Grafton Street project to completion but was denied the satisfaction of knowing that in ten years' time the cafes would provide 40% of the company's profits.

Victor, Ernest's 20-year-old son, stepped into his father's legendary shoes. Despite being a naturally shy young man, he quickly gained the respect of the staff employed in the three cafes, two bakeries, and a small chocolate factory.

The shortages of the war years brought further changes in eating patterns and a scarcity of tea resulted in an increase in coffee consumption, a trend that had become a permanent one by the 1950's. Today, Bewley's continues to be a market leader in both tea and coffee. Maintaining strict control over sourcing and production, Bewley's is your passport to the world of fine teas.