I have always loved drinking tea, especially the fruity, floral blends. While working part time as a cook in 2013, I started to look into the ingredients of many of my favourite teas. I was shocked to see many of them had flavour enhancers, artificial flavours and sweeteners added.

With a passion for gardening, cooking, and working with nature’s offerings, I started to recreate a few classic teas. I began by picking fruits such as apple and lemon, as well as blooms and herbs from my garden, and drying them in a dehydrator. Then I brought organic spices and traditional teas from my local organic store, to blend with my dried produce. Quite quickly I had recreated half a dozen delicious and beautiful handmade teas.

A local gift store offered to sell my tea blends for me if I could create some packaging, which was a fun creative process. We started with simple brown coffee bags, hand stamped labels, and handwritten ingredients.

To begin with we attended local craft markets, sharing samples and engaging with customers. This was a fantastic way to help test the blends and get immediate feedback. From these interactions we quickly had enquiries to supply a few local cafes. So, we began working on storage jars and large wholesale bags to supply the teas in.

For several years, Mikaku operated as a passion project, while I raised my young children. Ticking along in the background and continuing to sustain my need for creativity and having purpose.

As my children grew and became more independent, my desire to continue growing Mikaku Tea was ignited once more. Over 18 months or so, I worked with a local designer (Ellabobella Design) to create new branding and packaging for both retail and wholesale tea customers. We worked on many different ideas with a focus on sustainability, locally made, and beauty. We now have 9 retail boxes and over 18 tea blends available.

I worked together with a dear friend and fellow mother (Charlotte Clements) on many different photoshoots over the years. Being an artistic person, it was important to me that the imagery for our promotional material represented the unique difference Mikaku tea brings to the consumer and to portray a mindful, nourishing experience.

In 2021, I hosted the first Mikaku Tea Workshop, sharing my experience and love for connecting within, with others, and with tea. Guiding guests through the sensory enjoyment of blending a tea to take home and offering a mindful tea ceremony meditation was the motivation for these workshops.

Mikaku is an expression of my love for creating and making. We hope to continue expanding and developing new products using produce from our gardens and orchard. Our dream is to create a Mikaku sanctuary. A destination to enjoy and experience the Mikaku tea difference.