I became aware of this one and only tea plantation in NZ just two months ago, located north of Hamilton. It is not only 100% pure New Zealand tea but it is world’s purest and the world's only fully ISO22000 HACCP certified (the world's highest safety standard) tea company. Yes, I kid you not. Being only 1.5 hour drive from my place, funny I learnt of this plantation through a Taiwanese TV show. Life sometimes is a joke! Hahaha. I am surprised how a gem like this has been so well concealed from the public here or have I been extremely ignorant?
Most friends know I am a coffee drinker, but I do drink tea from time to time. As curious as a child, I googled this place and much to my delight, the plantation provides tea experience tours. You can choose between a tour with a home-baked tea flavoured macaron to take home, or a more indulgent experience that includes a high tea session! Did I say high tea? Ah yes, my kind of thing! So I rang, I booked and we went.
While waiting for our tour guide to meet us......
The tea plantation
Grace sharing her tea knowledge
Our lovely tour guide Grace, from Papua New Guinea took us down the journey of Zealong’s history and gave us a good insight into how tea is processed at Zealong, from hand picking to packaging. They swear by their quality.
Our tour was then concluded with a tea ceremony, tasting 3 of their 4 tea variants, and followed by a classic high tea indulgence at their Camellia Tea House overlooking the breathtaking view of the plantation.
Tea aside, the estate as founded by a Taiwanese boasts beautiful Chinese themed garden to pamper their guests with.
AJ having a crack a the big teapot
The dragon rider
So their so called purest tea tastes any good? To be perfectly frank, I don’t have much tea knowledge under my belts, heck, I am not even fussy about my coffee let alone tea! LOL The only comment I have about their tea is fresh in flavour and bear lovely fragrance, very different from all that I have tasted before. Yes, I like it.
Just like what they say about their tea
“…as the world's only fully certified tea company, we can assure you the next cup of Zealong you drink is just that - pure tea and nothing else…”
I eventually took home with me 2 boxes of tea along with valuable knowledge about tea.
2 comments:
Dear Doreen,
Through a random search on the internet, we have discovered your recent blog entry writing about Zealong Tea Estate.
We just want to thank you for writing such an amazing story and we found the pictures you have taken most astonishing. One of our staff even commented "Wow fantastic photos. I never see our tea plantation from that angle."
Again, we thank you for your time spent with us.
Dyson@Zealong
You're most welcome Dyson. Thank you Zealong for giving me and family such a great experience and hospitality. We certainly will be back next time we are heading that way!
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