King Cole Tea

The world according to Des



Drinking tea every day and traveling to distant countries - welcome to the world of Des McCarthy, tea taster extraordinaire for G. E. Barbour Inc. Des has been blending and tasting tea for more than 30 years. Although Des spends most of his time in Sussex, New Brunswick, tasting up to 100 cups of tea a day, from time - to - time Des hits the road for India, Sri Lanka, Kenya and other exotic locations.

For tea tasters anywhere, the best investment of time and money, according to Des, is visiting a producing country and experiencing first hand the origins of tea. Origin travel makes sense. It gives you a fresh enthusiasm for your business and it provides you with a wealth of knowledge about the latest developments in tea.

"You can never fully appreciate how much work is represented in a cup of tea," says Des. "To achieve a quality tea, the top two leaves and bud are selectively picked from the tea plant. After you have tried to do this yourself, you'll have great respect for those people who work the fields."

"Being a tea taster is a rewarding career," says Des. "I especially enjoy blending tea for the knowledgeable and discerning tea drinkers of Atlantic Canada."

Enjoy these helpful tips from Des:

  1. TEA STORAGE: Tea is affected by light, air, and humidity! Store tea in a cool and dry place in an airtight container.

  2. BOILING WATER FOR BLACK TEAS: Do not overboil! Boiling the water for too long can affect the tea’s taste.

  3. WATER QUALITY: Use bottled water or non-chlorinated water for best results. Filtered tap water helps tea taste better.

  4. STEEPING TIME: Steeping time is very important, do not over steep! Over steeping can cause a bitter taste. For black teas steep for 5 minutes, for green teas steep for 3 minutes.

  5. GREEN TEAS: Allow the boiled water to sit at least one minute before pouring over green teas. Never add milk to green teas.


Tea is a healthy beverage! It contains vitamins A and B plus it contains the antioxidant vitamin E.

Tea is also rich in minerals, up to .3mgs of cavity fighting fluoride is in just one cup of tea!