PRODUCEDINKENT
MEET THE PRODUCER :
NICK GANDON
CEO , Mr Ames
WAY BACK IN 1909 REGINALD AMES BEGAN SOURCING AND BLENDING FINE TEA FOR THE GREAT BRITISH PUBLIC . IT ’ S LIKELY YOU HAVE ENJOYED A CUP OF THEIR SUPERB TEA WITHOUT KNOWING IT . ESSENTIALLY , THEY ARE THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN TEA . BASED IN TONBRIDGE , THEY HAVE BEEN SOURCING AND BLENDING TEA FOR OVER 112 YEARS .
How did you end up blending tea ?
At the tender age of 17 , my parents ‘ encouraged ’ me to find some holiday work and start to pay my way . Having interviewed for the role of batch boy and tea blender , I was swiftly enrolled in the art of running on tea batches for a team of tasters who would then smell , slurp , spit and ponder over the batches I ’ d carefully presented them . This would repeat back to back and I found myself running on over 150 teas a day for the tasters to deliberate and agree auction bid prices . Within a short space of time I was hooked in the world of this fascinating product . Over the next 5 years , I spent every holiday at ‘ Reginald Ames Tea Merchants and Brokers ’, running on batches , tasting tea , mixing hand blends , blending thousands of kilos of tea , packing and delivering products all around London and Kent . After 5 years as a trainee tea taster , I was sent on a two month tour of Calcutta , Assam and Darjeeling , to learn more about tea production at origin , meet our suppliers and understand even more about tea – I have returned there ( and to other growing areas ) every year since !
What was the inspiration behind Mr Ames ?
When tracing the roots of our company , we stumbled across some tea-stained and dusty paperwork originating from the London Tea Auctions . It was amongst these that we discovered the earliest mention of a well-respected gentleman going by the name of Mr Reginald Ames . He was engaged in the purchase of several chests of the highest quality teas . Over 100 years later , we remain true to his beliefs that only the best quality will do . That ’ s why we named our new range , Mr . Ames . In his honour and to ensure the legend lives on …
Why is sustainability important to you ?
Sustainability is so important – it is quite simply our future . What we do today , the decisions we make , the directions we go in , will affect the world tomorrow . Our parent company has been heavily focussed on sustainability , ever since it began contract packing , over 20 years ago . The world does not belong to us , we are part of it and we must look after it if we want it ’ s beauty to remain for future generations . With Mr Ames , we are proving that sustainable products can be supplied in a cost effective manner , consumers shouldn ’ t be charged more for making the right , sustainable and ethical choices , and this does not come at a cost to the quality of a product either . If brands are sensible , they can pack more product into their packaging , they can use less packaging , they can use sustainable packaging and they can make it commercially viable for consumers .
What ' s your favourite blend / how do you drink your tea ?
I am very fortunate that I get to taste hundreds of different teas every day , so picking a favourite is very difficult . Of course I start every day with a Mr Ames Golden Breakfast , I just love the taste and strength and it sets me up really well for the day ( I ’ ll often have 3-4 of these daily ). Then spread throughout the day , I ’ ll often have a Liquorice and Peppermint if I ’ m after something sweet ( without the calories ) or a Lemongrass & Ginger if I want a little kick . Of course the range has several flavour profiles in order to suit every palate , but equally , there are so many other wonderful teas out there that are not in the range ( yet ), but we may well add these later , if customers would like to try them and if so , I ’ d strongly recommend Ti Guan Yin ( a buttery Oolong from China and Formosa / Taiwan ), this is probably my favourite tea that ’ s not currently in our range .
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