Bewley’s bag prestigious international awards for tea

Bewley’s have won three gold medals at the prestigious international Great Taste Awards 2009 for their tea.

Bewley’s Gold Tea Blend was awarded a Two Star Gold Award in the Blended tea-bags category, and Bewley’s Green Blend Tea and Bewley’s Special Reserve Tea each were awarded One Star Gold Awards.

The Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Foods, are the acknowledged benchmark of speciality food and drink. They have been described as “the Oscars” of the food world and the “epicurean equivalent of the Booker Prize.” Products are judged by at least three different judging panels. All the tasting is blind and the judges are fine food retailers, chefs, restaurant critics, food writers and other industry experts.

Over 1062 companies entered the Great Taste Awards 2009, submitting 4873 products. 766 one star gold, 311 two star gold and 83 three star gold were awarded

Mark Saunders, General Manager, Retail and At-Home Division, Bewley’s, commented, “Bewley’s has a strong tradition in tea and has been a favorite of Irish consumers for generations, so it’s great to see our expertise and experience being recognized. The Great Taste Awards is one of the major international authorities on speciality food and drink, and we’re delighted our tea has received such a major endorsement from them.”

“We source our tea from Kenya, China, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, selecting only the finest teas, based on leaf appearance and infusion qualities such as flavour, colour, strength and briskness. Then our Master Blender creates the award-winning blend of tea in Dublin for Irish consumers.”

In 1835, Charles Bewley, made history by bringing the ship ‘Hellas’ into Dublin from Canton, bearing over 2,000 chests of tea. It was an extraordinary initiative for the time and the Hellas was to be the first of many such ships. This was the first time that tea was shipped direct to Dublin since the Boston Tea Party, which saw an end to the monopoly held by the East India trading company in 1833.