Ngutu Special Tea

Finding the perfect blend

With local tea artisan, Belinda, the children in Kalta Wardli learned about tea and tisanes by smelling ingredients, tasting different teas to work out what they liked and brainstorming their perfect blend. The children shared their ideas with Belinda who created two possible blends. They were invited to visit Belinda’s tea studio and taste both. This was a new experience for many children who felt a sense of peace from the beautiful smells and calming environment. After tasting the children felt a strong preference for one of the blends. They also considered the colour of the flowers in the blend and how they could appear through a clear window package, their beauty and the Ngutuness of their colours.

It smells like a calming day at the beach. I really don’t want to leave. This job feels so special.
Ava, 9 years old

Marketing

Once Kalta had decided on the beautiful recipe blending organic honeybush, organic lemon myrtle, roasted wattle seed, wild harvested gumbi gumbi leaves and organic blue cornflower petals, they collaborated to create a brand for the tea. Brainstorming together, discussing and voting, Kalta decided on a name, Ngutu Special tea, and considered options for packaging with design expert, Penny. Valuing a sense of belonging and community, the children wanted the label to represent all the wardli animals, but also the flowers used to make the tea. The result is a clever blend of the two, animal tracks that look floral. After the label design was completed, multiple different colourways were poured over and considered by the children who took their time to come to a final decision they felt would best suit the tea and Ngutu.

Here at Ngutu we have our own Special Tea. It tastes fantastic. The project took a long time, but it was worth it. The project was really fun, and I hope we can do something like that again. I love tea and making the blend. The name is my favourite. I helped make the name.
Ava, 9 years old

We sold out!

Taking a risk on a new product, they decided to order 100 packs of tea to be sold at our ‘Dear Kudlyo‘ musical and were totally overwhelmed and excited by the interest, selling out quickly and taking orders for more.

The unique recipe for Ngutu Special tea belongs to Ngutu College. At this stage, to produce the tea, we need to purchase the ingredients, however, the next part of our journey is to grow the ingredients for the tea ourselves.