This year, Tea Tonic and Australian Native Products are sharing their silver anniversaries. Join us as we chat with Lisa Hilbert, the incredible woman behind Tea Tonic, and Australia's only female manufacturer of Australian-made teabags. Get ready to fall in love with tea all over again and discover its amazing health benefits. We hope you enjoy this blog post and that you will find a renewed love for organic tea and its many health benefits after reading it. We certainly have!
The story and inspiration behind Tea Tonic
After graduating as a naturopath and Western Herbal medicine practitioner, Lisa started her own clinic and set up a stall at the markets. As people began to understand the benefits of these tea formulations and the profound impact they had on people's health and wellbeing, Lisa gradually introduced more and more teas to the market. In fact, she has continued to add two per year for the past 25 years!
How Lisa’s personal journey and background as a naturopath influenced the formation and philosophy of Tea Tonic
As in naturopathic principles, it’s all about the synergy and the synergistic effects. For Lisa, it’s never about one element, it’s about how one element can amplify another.
Why choose Australian Native Products as a supplier for your tea ingredients?
Tea Tonic's mission is to keep things as holistic and local as possible; holistic in the sense that every element that goes into the tea, including the unbleached tea paper, is considered. Buying local stems from making a conscious choice from a world and environmental perspective. It was an easy decision to buy from Australian Native Products, based in Mareeba QLD, being certified organic and Australian grown.
What is so special about Australian Botanicals?
Since ancient times, the indigenous people of our land have known the healing properties of native flora and, as such, have been using it to treat a variety of ailments, including drinking tea. There is something incredibly special about the plant species native to Australia and the rich, fertile soils produce an incredible medley and array of aromas and flavors. There is simply nothing like them.
Lemon Myrtle is a significant ingredient in the range. What makes this Australian native so special and how does it contribute to the taste and health benefits of your products?
The other tea in which Lemon Myrtle is a star player is the Throat Soother Tea. The formula has been designed to deliberately kill germs and disinfect the mouth and throat area. It is combined with marshmallow, which is a demulcent, to coat and seal mucous membrains, as well as seabuckthorn, which is loaded with vitamin C and very soothing. Overall, Lemon Myrtle has been strategically used for both taste and as an antimicrobial element, something perfect for gargling with. Other than this, Lisa just loves the taste of Lemon Myrtle; in fact, it is a staple in her pantry.
Lisa is a vegan and tells us that one of her go-to dishes is to get a tin of chickpeas, pour into a dish and sprinkle some Lemon Myrtle leaves on the top; voilà, it's the perfect meal. Food as medicine doesn't get any better than this.
The process involved in creating a new tea blend - How the mix of ingredients and flavors is decided upon
Then, of course, there is the herbal remedy side of things where traditional formulations come into play. After this comes deciding if the taste of this particular healing combination will be appealing and, if not, how it can be adjusted without losing the desired effect. So, there are as many facets to the process of making a tea blend as there are different ingredients. At the heart of every Tea Tonic creation is Lisa's background as a herbal medicine practitioner.
How important is Australian Certified Organic for Tea Tonic and its customers?
Quality is at the heart of everything Tea Tonic does, and whatever they buy, they only buy the best from the best. Lisa prioritises the highest quality ingredients with the fullest flavors; the higher quality, the better. One thing that sets Tea Tonic apart is that they only use certified organic ingredients in each blend.
What has been some customer feedback about Tea Tonic products?
It's all about finding your favourite; however, saying that, it's hard to decide on just one, so some customers continue to buy the sample box instead of just one flavor. As with everything in life, people love variety.
What motivates Lisa everyday to continue brewing these wonderful teas?
As mentioned above, customer feedback makes her smile. A happy customer and a positive comment gives her the zest (no pun intended) to continue creating teas and inspires her to go on no matter what sort of day it's been.
What are the future plans for "Tea Tonic"?
Happiness all over the planet. More distributors throughout Australia and a well-distributed international network. Currently, there is a focus on exporting, with many enquiries coming from overseas customers.
For those who haven't tried "Tea Tonic" yet, how can the experience of a Tea Tonic cup of tea be described?
Tonic Tea is never boring. It's always full-flavored and it's very different from anything else available on the market. It's all about creating the desired effect, and, moreover, a big burst of flavor. Let's just say there is nothing insipid about this tea and there is nothing half-hearted in the formulations.
How much Tea Tonic Tea do you need to drink to get the full therapeutic effect?
For a therapeutic dose, Lisa recommends 2-3 cups of whatever tea range that has the desired benefit. Loose-leaf tea is the best value; however, teabags are also very convenient. Both are great options, and you can also find a great range of tea accessories for those who want to infuse the tea themselves in a pot.
Last but not least, it’s also Tea Tonic’s 25th anniversary, so they are the same age as us! Let’s talk about what they are doing to celebrate this milestone
For Tea Tonic's 25th birthday celebration, Lisa created the super delicious "Celebration" tea. Designed to taste just like a cake, only without anything bad for you, it is super high in antioxidants and full of green tea and butterfly pea flowers. It's simply a super happy tea, and Lisa and her teenage daughters have been celebrating with it ever since she made it. In fact, it's so delicious that they fight over who gets the last cup in the pot!
Lisa would like to extend her birthday celebrations to our blog readers, with the offer of a special discount - The discount code is LEMONMYRTLE15 valid until 31/08/2023 – this for this specific collection: https://teatonic.com.au/collections/gift
Stay in the know by contacting us.