It all started about 20 years ago when I realized my body was overly sensitive to what I put into it. That prompted several changes, including being more careful to eat clean food, free of many of the harmful chemicals modern agriculture uses. Thankfully organic options are a lot more plentiful today than they were 20 years ago! Another change I made was switching from coffee to tea, which typically has less caffeine per liquid ounce. Almost immediately, I started feeling better on all fronts.
When I initially made the switch to tea, like many other Americans, I started out with 'grocery store tea'. A random encounter with a woman at a store (don't you love those) introduced me to high-quality, loose leaf tea, opening up a whole new world that I eventually became quite passionate about. I noticed, however, that while my body was fine with some organic brands, others that also boasted the organic label would give me headaches or other undesirable effects. Out of necessity, my new ’tea world’ began to narrow as i discovered through trial and error which organic brands I could drink.
Eventually I came to discover some of the reasons why. Not only do different countries have different standards for what it means to be 'organic', but there are also varying levels of enforcement of these standards. That's just for those who are willing to follow the rules though. Sadly, there are far too many documented cases of corrupt tea companies bribing officials for the right to put 'organic' on their label. That is not to say all inorganic tea is bad. On the contrary, some of it is beyond amazing. My body did teach me the hard way though to do my research, beyond just reading the label.
Fast forward a number of years and we move to New Zealand, one of the cleanest and most beautiful countries in the world. While living there, I was invited to high tea at Zealong, an organic tea estate located just a few miles from the Shire (the green hilly meadows of the Hobbits – for all you Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans). After a lovely high tea, I quite literally bumped into the CEO of the business while I was browsing around the retail store, looking for tea to take home. She shared with me the history of Zealong and the processes they use to create what I now believe just might be the cleanest tea in the world.
In fact, not only do they have organic certifications from New Zealand, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China (making them literal experts in the varying organic standards around the world), they have also earned the internationally recognized HACCP ISO22000 certification for their strict food safety processes. It’s one thing to not use chemicals to grow the crop, but that says nothing about the food safety standards applied to processing and packaging the tea leaves.
I was also excited to learn about Zealong’s strong commitment to being a good member of their community by giving back. That includes their vision of being peacemakers. You can learn more about that here.
I left Zealong that day excited about my new find and armed with enough tea for an entire month. For the next 30 days, I only drank Zealong, exploring the different flavors that have won so many awards at prestigious international competitions held around the world. Eventually, I ran out and had to switch back to a super popular American brand that imports organic tea largely from Asian countries. Imagine my surprise when I then started experiencing some the same health issues that happen when I drink non-organic tea! After 30 days of drinking something that took purity to the next level, my body instantly recognized and responded to lesser quality.
The very next weekend, I jumped in the car and drove back down to Zealong (on the left side of the road) to stock back up. It has now become my #1 go-to tea.
Fast forward again. After living in New Zealand nearly 4 years, we moved back to the United States. We are so excited to bring a little piece of New Zealand back with us through our partnership with our friends at Zealong- as their official U.S. distributor.
I hope you enjoy what we believe is the cleanest and best tasting tea on earth!
Much love,
Carlye
