A CUPPA blends healthy living and business, writes SARAH HUDSON
Kathy Stokes admits she was partial to a daily swig of coffee.
It was certainly not a significant vice - "just a few lattes", she says.
But then one day, after a stay in hospital for a tooth infection, she chose clean living.
"Being in hospital meant I couldn't have coffee and so I just made the decision to stop," Kathy says.
"At home I made up a mix of relaxation tea - with green tea, peppermint, passionflower, lemongrass, camomile and a touch of sage."
The concoction didn't just signify a healthier Kathy, but also the launch of her new business, Bliss Blend tea, made out of her Talbot home near Maryborough.
"I made that initial blend and gave it to friends and they said I should sell it. It was a gradual start, developing the packaging and labelling and getting a trademark.
"My first farmers' market was in Talbot in 2007 and I sold 10 packets. I thought 'this is all right'."
Since then she has launched two further varieties, in addition to the original Cleaning and Replenishing blend, all developed through customer demand and sold at farmers' markets around the region, including Castlemaine.
Her Invigorating tea includes green tea, ginger, lemongrass, spearmint, Siberian ginseng and gingko biloba.
The latest concoction is Antiox-Tonic, with white tea (the younger leaf of the green tea plant), rosehip, blackberry, raspberry leaf and the super-food goji berries. All teas are made using certified-organic ingredients and where possible come from Australia.
"White tea is lower in caffeine than green tea and higher in antioxidants," says Kathy, who works part-time in the local health food shop.
"A lot of women who are pregnant ask for raspberry leaf because it tones the womb and helps with labour.
"The antioxidants in the green and white tea, and particularly the goji berries, helps fight disease and stop the ageing process and also helps break down fat cells."
Tea for humans wasn't enough of a new venture for the health-conscious Kathy, who at the same time as launching the business became involved in herbal potions for horses.
After studying a two-year, part-time correspondence course, she is now an equine natural therapist, administering all manner of herbs to her two horses and anyone else who asks for help - sometimes even at the Ballarat Turf Club where she also works part-time in the bar.
In her horse first-aid kit there is devil's claw, used as a tincture in food for pain relief.
Camomile, she says, is an excellent eye wash for horses and also an anti-inflammatory for the stomach.
Rosehip cools the blood and is full of vitamin C, aiding in wound healing.
And garlic for horses, like humans, boosts immunity.
"I keep an Esky in the stable with all the potions. I see it as an alternative to vet treatment. A lot of the time if an animal hurts itself people panic rather than thinking what can they do about it," Kathy says.
She says between her own love of tea and remedies for horses the Stokes' household is now a healthy one.
"People can rely on a first coffee in the morning but I think the less you drink the less you need. I drink my tea first thing and I definitely feel it cleansing my system."
- Bliss Blend, Talbot, ph: 0410 460 688
