After graduating as an economist in Australia and travelling the world for four years, Ian Bersten started a successful coffee roasting company in 1968. A deep desire developed to understand the mysteries of a product which has surrounded itself in myriads of confusing opinions and myths. A lot of research and trips overseas to talk to informed people and to see coffee in its myriad forms followed.
In 1993 the book ‘Coffee Floats Tea Sinks’ was published – it was a book aimed at helping the trade and the consuming public to understand the history and technology behind coffee in all its manifestations as well the background to the growth of the tea industry. The book was widely acclaimed by the trade as one of the best. It had over eight hundred illustrations of his antique collection which was the largest in the world. The collection is now on display in Mareeba near Cairns at the Coffee Works.
The Roller Roaster was developed as a fluid-bed roaster and achieved very accurate roasts and excellent flavour with a very simple operation. A new model is being built which is even simpler. Other inventions included the microwave plunger, and the Tru-Brew.
In 1999 ‘Coffee Sex and Health’ was published – it was a book explaining where the opposition to coffee came from over a period of the past few centuries.
In 2006 and now out of the coffee roasting industry, Ian put his mind to making a tea cappuccino. In a few inspired moments the TEA-CHA process was invented and it was soon realised that a totally new approach to making tea had been discovered. Once you were prepared to accept that the flavour of the tea in the mouth was more important than the appearance of the leaves and the story and origin of the tea, the result was more than acceptable for consumers who wanted a good, strong cup of tea made within a very short time. The process was capable of making a tea concentrate to make cappuccinos, iced tea, iced milk tea, a hot cup of tea and a hot pot of tea. Additionally Chai Latte, herb teas and flavoured teas could be made – all in less than a minute. Amazingly, it became possible to make a green tea cappuccino which was acceptable to the Chinese and Western palate.
It was obvious that the convenience of tea bags was accompanied by a poor brewing process – the biggest problem was the brewing temperature which was way too low. The TEA-CHA process offered excellent convenience and a really hot brew. On the basis of excellent taste results in tests it was decided to open a new company to develop the market for the new range of products. It was seen that consumers who wanted a quick cup of tea would reject teabags and embrace the new technology and that coffee shop owners and restaurants would adopt the process to make a first class product in a very short time.
Very small leaf teas had been categorised by the tea trade automatically as poor quality when in fact, just as in all types of tea, there were grades with a good taste as well as poor ones. Orthodox grades of tea are selected by blowing the broken particles of the brittle tea leaf across several bins – the smallest particles are blown the furthest – the largest and heaviest fall into the bin closest to the blower and are called leaf grades. They are in every sense from the same batch of tea and it follows that the flavour of the small particles is the same as the large particles – only the brewing time is different. The tea selected to make TEA-CHA tea is definitely not the sweepings off the floor but selected leaves with a quick release of fine flavour. The process will make a fine cup of tea for the most demanding tea connoisseur.
The range of teas is limited at the moment but will expand to cover decaffeinated, organic tea and herbal teas.
In 1993 the book ‘Coffee Floats Tea Sinks’ was published – it was a book aimed at helping the trade and the consuming public to understand the history and technology behind coffee in all its manifestations as well the background to the growth of the tea industry. The book was widely acclaimed by the trade as one of the best. It had over eight hundred illustrations of his antique collection which was the largest in the world. The collection is now on display in Mareeba near Cairns at the Coffee Works.
The Roller Roaster was developed as a fluid-bed roaster and achieved very accurate roasts and excellent flavour with a very simple operation. A new model is being built which is even simpler. Other inventions included the microwave plunger, and the Tru-Brew.
In 1999 ‘Coffee Sex and Health’ was published – it was a book explaining where the opposition to coffee came from over a period of the past few centuries.
In 2006 and now out of the coffee roasting industry, Ian put his mind to making a tea cappuccino. In a few inspired moments the TEA-CHA process was invented and it was soon realised that a totally new approach to making tea had been discovered. Once you were prepared to accept that the flavour of the tea in the mouth was more important than the appearance of the leaves and the story and origin of the tea, the result was more than acceptable for consumers who wanted a good, strong cup of tea made within a very short time. The process was capable of making a tea concentrate to make cappuccinos, iced tea, iced milk tea, a hot cup of tea and a hot pot of tea. Additionally Chai Latte, herb teas and flavoured teas could be made – all in less than a minute. Amazingly, it became possible to make a green tea cappuccino which was acceptable to the Chinese and Western palate.
It was obvious that the convenience of tea bags was accompanied by a poor brewing process – the biggest problem was the brewing temperature which was way too low. The TEA-CHA process offered excellent convenience and a really hot brew. On the basis of excellent taste results in tests it was decided to open a new company to develop the market for the new range of products. It was seen that consumers who wanted a quick cup of tea would reject teabags and embrace the new technology and that coffee shop owners and restaurants would adopt the process to make a first class product in a very short time.
Very small leaf teas had been categorised by the tea trade automatically as poor quality when in fact, just as in all types of tea, there were grades with a good taste as well as poor ones. Orthodox grades of tea are selected by blowing the broken particles of the brittle tea leaf across several bins – the smallest particles are blown the furthest – the largest and heaviest fall into the bin closest to the blower and are called leaf grades. They are in every sense from the same batch of tea and it follows that the flavour of the small particles is the same as the large particles – only the brewing time is different. The tea selected to make TEA-CHA tea is definitely not the sweepings off the floor but selected leaves with a quick release of fine flavour. The process will make a fine cup of tea for the most demanding tea connoisseur.
The range of teas is limited at the moment but will expand to cover decaffeinated, organic tea and herbal teas.
