It would be fair to say that I’m already a champion tea drinker, but during lockdown I may have reached Olympic levels.
Has there been a time in the past two months when I’ve not been drinking tea? Yes, but only when the kettle was on to make the next cup. Blacks, green, herbal, in pots, in teabags – I welcome it all.
So, I was very excited to learn of the existence of an Irish tea brand that I hadn’t come across before, the wonderfully named Mrs Doyle’s. Sure who else would you want to make you a cup of tea?
According to the brand’s website, the company was founded by “five lovely girls” who met Mrs Doyle at Electric Picnic and were inspired to start what would become a comprehensive the offering. Described on the packaging as ‘the best team the island’, Mrs Doyle’s range comprises black, green, herbal, oolong, white and matcha teas.
The blends include a ‘happy tea’, a ‘sleepy tea’ and a ‘hangover tea’ – presumably what would be Fr Jack’s cuppa of choice. They’re available in loose leaf and tea bags, and the range also includes some old-school tin tea caddies.
The Co Clare tea brand is one of the range of 75 Irish-made products which will be sold in Aldi in the coming weeks.
As part of the supermarket chain’s ‘Grow with Aldi’ programme for developing suppliers, 45 brands have been selected to sell their produce at Aldi stores for a two-week period, beginning on Sunday, May 31. After the two weeks, five of the products will be chosen to sell their products in the store year-round.
Some of the other products included in the programme are St Tola Goat’s Cheese, from Inagh Farmhouse in Co Clare, Furnace Green’s meat-free black and white pudding from Co Mayo, Mella’s Irish butter fudge from Cork, Kahawa Coffee’s cold brew lattes from Co Monaghan, and Porter & Nash organic gravy from Wicklow. You can find the full details here.