How do we ensure that Newby teas are the very best they can be? There are many factors involved. Today, we’re talking about our selection process.

For every blend we select, almost 200 cups of tea are tasted. This step starts with selecting 10 to 15 top tea gardens of a region from which we will receive tea samples. Our master tea tasters choose these gardens carefully - an intensive study of the tea estate is done prior to putting it on the recommended list. Like any other agricultural product, tea has its prime quality seasons, or flushes – the first flush from March to May, and the second around June to August. It is at these peaks of quality that Newby buys its requirements – ensuring our customers receive the highest quality consistently.  Once the gardens have been shortlisted, samples begin to arrive at our tea buying department. Samples are screened and a shortlist is made, a set of which is sent to our Head Office in London, where the master taster makes the final and comparative tasting. During the tasting process, emphasis is placed on choosing teas which will ensure an improved, consistent product compared to the blend’s previous variant – we call this challenging our internal benchmarks. The final list is tasted once again to ensure that the teas conform to the highest standards. Based on this final selection, we ask the supplier to send us a chest-drawn sample of the purchased tea, which we taste and compare with the sample we placed our offer on. The new sample must be equal or better quality for final approval to be granted.  

Tea is very sensitive and susceptible to damage, so we require that each sack of tea is doubly wrapped in polythene bags over and above the original garden packing. Our suppliers understand the importance we place on the safe handling of our purchased teas, and they make sure the transport used is clean, dry and free from contamination. Chest-drawn samples are also used to check compliance with EU Maximum Residue Level (MRL) regulations and Food Safety & Standards Authority India (FSSAI) rules. Only when all aspects are certified as clear by our chosen independent laboratory is the supplier allowed to ship the tea to us.