Looking for some teas with gumption? Our Australian-grown teas that count extraordinary eucalyptus leaves among their ingredients are the perfect place to start!
The definition of gumption is “shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness.” This perfectly describes the zeitgeist we are capturing with the gum-infused blends in our Australian Botanical Tea collection! Our four gum leaf teas evoke nineteenth-century Romanticism for the ‘outback’ and the pleasure-seeking that naturally emanates from enjoying something from your own backyard.
Billy tea x extraordinary eucalyptus blends
Fun fact of the day: did you know that Banjo’s original line in Waltzing Matilda was ‘he sang and he looked at the old billy boiling…’?
Businessman James Inglis changed the lyrics in 1905 to emphasise ‘Billy’ as synonymous with tea. Not so coincidentally, the name of Inglis’ tea business was ‘Billy Tea Company’, and changing the lyrics was a marketing ploy to increase the exposure of his brand!
Sure, Australians boiled tea in billy cans long before Inglis stepped in, and oral traditions suggest that Indigenous Australians have been cultivating medicinal gum teas since time immemorial. However, what this footnote in history does show us is how closely Australians associate billy tea with national identity and a preoccupation with a perceived 'authentic' Australian lifestyle.
As noted on the National Museum of Australia website, “Australians invested it [billy tea] with human qualities such as reliability, hospitality and egalitarianism…the billy today is largely an object of nostalgia, symbolic of a way of life that has almost disappeared.”
While the ‘bush life’ may have disappeared, The Tea Centre is breathing life back into the idea of distinctly Australian tea. Our Australian-grown blends harken back to the days when ‘the billy tea’ were beautiful loose leaf-gum leaf blends. Similarly, eucalyptus also feature heavily in Australia’s national imagination, a shadowy stand-in for resilience in the face of the unrelenting ‘outback’.
This tradition of drinking billy tea with gum leaves likely had practical origins. It was recognised from the first that the bluish-green leaves had medicinal properties, making them safe and even beneficial to brew with your daily cup of tea. This is why another nickname for gums was the ‘Australian fever tree’.
Making up roughly 75% of Australia’s tree population, evergreen gums grow abundant in our beautiful country! Here’s how we incorporate four gum species in our ABT collection.
River red gum x Smoked Redgum tea
Smoked Redgum stands out even among our gum-infused teas. This is because we use the tree’s bark instead of it leaves to make the blend. Specifically, the bark of the River Redgum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) finds popular usage as firewood, which is why we chose it to cold-smoke our Australian Daintree tea with.
Known for their propensity to gather in billabongs, the secret behind these fast-growing gums (and the delicious smoky flavour they impart) has long been enjoyed by bees. Peel back the bark and it's immediately apparent...Aussie bees gravitate towards the abundant nectar hidden inside these nut-bearing trees!
Specifically, this nectar infuses with the redgum wood. As a result, redgum chips give our smoked tea a distinctively sweet, almost honeyed bacon-like flavour.
Lemon-scented gum x Desert Lime & Lemon Myrtle tea
Carrying a citrus aroma that’s so vivid, botanists coined it Coymbia citriodora (‘lemon-scented’ in Latin), you would be forgiven for thinking lemon-scented gum leaves were more lemony than the real thing.
Specifically, lemon-scented gum leaves contain up to 80% citronellal! This makes them popular among perfumeries who regularly extract essential oils from the foliage. For the same reason, the gum leaves are an essential component of our Desert Lime & Lemon Myrtle tea.
The leaves add aromatics that match the citrus flavour brought in from the dried Desert Lime and Lemon Myrtle. It also perfectly complements the crisp scents of the Alpine Sencha green tea base. The result is a wholesome, perfectly rounded cuppa for afternoon tea.
Peppermint gum x Mountain Mint tea
Unlike the sunnier gums on this list, Eucalyptus radiata is a more austere tree. It resides in the cool quiet of the woodlands and wetter climates of South Eastern Australia. What sun it does receive, it filtrates down through its bark and into its glossy grey leaves.
As a result, peppermint gum sports that quintessential scent everyone thinks of when they think of eucalyptus. In fact, peppermint gum holds the title of being the first gum ever commercialised for its essential oils in 1854. That nostalgic aroma that you’re thinking of is eucalyptol, which is thought to have aromatherapeutic properties.
For this reason, The Tea Centre combines it with traditional mint leaves to produce Mountain Mint tea. The narrow peppermint gum leaves give the blend a rousing aroma that uplifts and softens. Together with the mint, it’s also cooling on the palate, leaving a lingering, refreshing taste.
Strawberry gum x Davidson’s Plum & Rosella tea
Introducing the rabble-rouser of the gum tree family. Sporting pinky-green leaves, bright fuchsia flowers, and hoary bark that comes off in long ribbons, Eucalyptus olida looks as flamboyant as it tastes.
We include this gum leaf in Davidson’s Plum & Rosella. It lends the blend a distinctly fruity taste and berry aroma that emanates from its crushed leaves. More importantly though, these subtle elements work to enhance the overall flavours of any dish—or tea—it’s added into.
Therefore, infusing strawberry gum into our sweetest iced tea in the Australian Botanical Tea collection was a no-brainer.
Want to savour all of our gum teas in the one go? Then be sure to peruse the Taster box or more substantial Exploration gift box.