Chef Clayton Donovan at the 2014 Madura Tea Estate Canstar Blue Taste Award presentation ceremony

How do you celebrate when you’ve just won a major tea award for the third year in a row?  With a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake, of course writes Candida Baker…

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for Madura Tea Estates (maduratea) to celebrate the fact that they had just walked away with the Canstar Blue Taste Awards in the Tea Bags category for the third year in a row, beating competition such as Dilmah, Tetley, Twinings, Nerada and Lipton.  The sun was shining, and the rows upon rows of tea bushes positively gleaming when we turned up for the ceremony, held in a shady area near the peaceful creek that runs through the property.

A treat for the morning was the presentation by Indigenous chef Clayton Donovan, who ran the highly successful Jaaning Tree Restaurant in Nambucca Heads.  Donovan, who grew up on the mid north coast of New South Wales has had a stellar career – from washing dishes in his home town as a teenager, to working in restaurants around the world. During its five years of operation  The Jaaning Tree  won an Australian Good Food Guide Chef hat four years in a row. ) These days he has evolved the business to include media work, long lunches, pop ups and education, (jaaningtree) as well as of course, introducing a wide audience to Australia’s native food through the Wild Kitchen television series.

Clayton Donovan’s take on Rocky Road – Gravel Road – loaded with wattle seed.

It was certainly an education to watch him prepare his Australian version of Rocky Road, most aptly named Gravel Road.  This incredibly rich dish involved copious amounts of dark chocolate, marshmallow, coconut and lots of wattle seed – a stable in many Donovan dishes.  (Jaaning is the Gumbaynggir word for Acacia – so it’s a long-term favourite for Donovan.)  He entertained us with anecdotes from home: “I use dark chcoloate for this because I’m the only in the house that likes it,” he said cheerfully.  Once he’d prepared it, and put it in the fridge to set, he told us: “I’ve been waiting 20 years to say this – now, here’s one I prepared earlier!”  He pulled the Gravel Road out with a flourish, cut it up and it disappeared in the blink of a kangaroo’s eye.

Catering for the heat, the Madura team, out in force, had made not just hot tea but two beautiful iced-teas, including a lemon and ginger tea which just happened to go with the most amazing cakes prepared by Rose, one of the Estate staff, whose caramel cheesecake I have to say very closely rivalled Gravel Road in taste, texture and deliciousness.

Lemon and ginger iced tea

My vote for the best teabag from Madura’s best teabags – their amazing Pure Assam with its rich flavour, and dark red colour – a perfect post lunch pick-me-up.  Or even on this occasion, post cake…

maduratea

jaaningtree

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Pretty as a picture – teacups for the inaugural Creative Business Women’s High Tea at Newrybar Hall. Photo: Megan Kinninment

It’s never easy settling into a new area, but having moved to the Northern Rivers from the Central Coast earlier this year Beverly Masters found some friendly folk, a cup of tea and a cupcake at her local community hall…

I love living in an area where Community Halls are literally about just that – community. I live not far from the historic village of Newrybar in the hinterland of Byron Bay, where the hall, which was built in 1899 by the early settlers as a place for social and cultural activities, is still a hub for local activities, and recently I was lucky enough to be invited there to the inaugural North Coast Creative Business Women’s High Tea.

The purpose of the teas is to raise money for charity, and this tea’s chosen charity was Rafiki Mwema – a safehouse for sexually abused Kenyan girls. The teas themselves are the initiative of Janine Emerson from Love in a Cake (<https://www.loveinacake.com.au>) who created the most tasty and beautifully put together dessert table and Zanni Louise from My Little Sunshine House (<https://www.mylittlesunshinehouse.com>) who hosted the event. The pair of them are definitely a dynamic creative duo when it comes to bringing people together – and you can read stories from some of the attendees about their experience of the event on their page: <https://www.facebook.com/creativebusinesswomenshightea?fref=photo>

It was a wonderful combination of old meeting new – with old-fashioned tea-cups and saucers, home-made cakes and traditional treats all being enjoyed by women who use the internet and blogging as part of their way of relating to the world. Our liquid refreshment included tea from the Byron Bay Tea Company (naturally) https://www.byronbayteacompany.com>  and one of the most wonderful and uplifting cold drinks I have tried in years from Organic Miracles <https://www.organicmiracles.com.au>.
The High Tea was a great way to gather a group of ‘creatives’ together, so we could learn about each other’s creative passions in life – and the blockages we put up in the way of our success, including the fear of what people might think of us. It was inspirational to discover how many creative businesses are being run from the Northern Rivers, and also to discover more about the international blogging community. The idea that someone can work from home, be there for their family and live their passions on a daily basis is enticing to say the least.

High-tech and low-tech – the art of blogging over a cup of tea and cake. Photo: Megan Kinninment

Since the event I have discovered many more local blogs via the High Tea guests, some are making money some are not, some are getting lots of viewer, some are not, yet reading through the interconnected bloggers world with community sites like blogchicks facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/BlogChicks>  where women actually help each other out technically and motivationally has also made a huge difference to how I personally will view blogging from now on.   Check out the Blog Chicks Website <https://blogchicks.com.au/>  for more information.

The tea made almost $3000 for Rafiki Mwema which was an amazing result. It proved to me that connection with community is where everything starts.

Beverly Masters

Photos provided by Megan Kinninment: https://seekerofthelostarts.com/

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