Finding Positivi-Tea each and every day

Most of life's problems can indeed be solved over a cup of tea. But even if you don’t have any troubles (said no one ever), who doesn't love a good cup of tea just for the sake of it! Jo Bambach from Positivi-Tea at Wine Country's Handmade in the Hunter Markets couldn't agree more! So this month we chatted to Jo about all things tea (over a cuppa, of course!).

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How long have you been brewing your dreamy blends, and what inspired you to start the Positivi-Tea store?

Positivi-Tea became a reality after a naturopath recommended a herbal tea to me. It worked wonders - but it tasted dreadful. So, I started to create my own tasty blends. With the help of the covid lockdown, I had time to plan out the business and experiment with blends.

What types of tea can we expect to find at Positivi-Tea, and what is special about your blends?

Each blend is created not just for taste and health but with at least one flower. The fragrance provokes happy memories and feelings that make our teas a true cup full of positivity. Traditional tea drinkers will enjoy our English Breakfast or French Earl Grey. Herbal tea lovers can choose from calming or uplifting blends. Green tea devotees have a fragrant lemon myrtle blend. We even have Hibiscus tea - its vibrant red is perfect for entertaining and aptly named Joy.

What do you think makes the perfect cup of tea? What is your favourite blend?

It sounds cheesy, but tea always tastes better when someone makes it for you! Fresh filtered or rainwater in the jug (not reboiled) results in a fresh herbal tea and, as every true English Breakfast tea lover knows, the blacker the teapot, the more flavour (have a designated metal teapot for this tea and give it a light clean, never a full scrub).

As to my favourite blend - that's like asking a mother who her favourite child is! At the moment, my mornings start with Serenity (green tea/lemon myrtle). I enjoy a cup of my Calm Chamomile in the evenings and a cup of Courage (our liquorice root blend) to satisfy my sweet tooth.

We see that your blends include a very romantic floral blend. Apart from making the tea divinely pretty, what benefits can we expect by drinking it?

Remember how I mentioned the naturopath? He recommended passionflower for sleep. So to make it taste better, I added florals to create a bedtime blend where the relaxation starts the moment you open the lid, like fragrant flowers in a cottage garden.

What is your best advice for getting the most out of each and every cup of tea?

A cup of tea can bring you calm during the storms of your life, a time to create focus when turning plans into reality and the chance for special memories to be made over a shared pot of tea. So take your time and savour the moment.

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't blending tea (and attending Handmade in the Hunter Markets)?

Anything submerged in nature, from gardening to enjoying a walk through our great Aussie bush. Creating old-style high tea parties for friends in my cottage home and garden and writing letters of encouragement to others the old fashioned way with pen and paper. Basically, I'm just a younger version of a little old lady!