Donna and Chloe Stephens have taken the Sunraysia tea market by a storm since introducing Dynasty of Tea in December. Caitlyn Morgan sat down with the mother and daughter to discuss how their business has taken off. Pictures: Carmel Zaccone
AWARD-winning Sunraysia winemaker Donna Stephens didn’t expect her regular trips to China would turn into tea buying trips, but that is exactly what happened on her most recent visit.
The chief winemaker and part owner of Cappa Stone Wines says she was blown away by the quality and flavour of the tea available that she just knew she had to offer it in Mildura.
“When you go there you are offered all types of different tea and are just exposed to it morning, day and night,” Donna says.
“They have a tea for every occasion, before and after every meal.
“What really appealed to me was the quality and flavours. You can fill up your glass at least four or five times and the flavour is still there.”
Donna and her daughter Chloe decided to take the plunge and began offering 10 flavours direct from China as of early December, 2018.
“People are just loving it with all of the flavours really popular,” Chloe says.
Donna added, “It’s all been really positive. People are really excited about it.”
“The opportunity to bring the product out here has been amazing.”
While all flavours have proven to be popular, the longjin tea, lemon tea and “blooming” teas have been the most popular.
“I thought about the Australian market and what would be popular here and so far everyone loves the blooming tea, because they are just beautiful,” Donna says.
“The green tea (longjin tea) flavours are incredible and the lemon tea is the classic and people love that you can fill it up as many times as you like.”
“The longjin tea is my favourite, it just smells so fresh,” Chloe says.
The pair agree while the flavour is something many people consider when buying tea but, so are the health benefits.
“I love that there are so many health benefits to them, it is quite exciting,” Chloe says.
“Benefits can include aiding in the reduction of bad cholesterol, digestion, weight loss and a sore throat.”
“If I do feel unwell I will go have a lemon tea or a wolfberry tea,” Donna says.
The pair plan to introduce new flavours later this year.
“We are looking at getting chamomile, chia and hibiscus,” Chloe says.
“We are also looking at others that are not currently available locally.”
Donna added, “We would like to bring out Pu’erh tea; the older it is the better the benefits are.”
“We just hope people love them as much as we do.”
Dynasty of Tea is available directly from Donna and Chloe at Cappa Stone Wines or from various retailers in Sunraysia.
