Gulbarn Tea the new bush drink on the market

Everybody loves a cup of tea and there's a new Indigenous grown, picked and packaged blend that's putting a small community on the map here and overseas.

"Everybody is loving Gulbarn Tea": Samara Billy, Co-Founder of Gulbarn Tea. Source: NITV

Minyerri, a tiny town about 600 kilometres south east of Darwin, is now the home to a flourishing bush tea business, according to a report from the ABC.

The Gulbarn tree that has traditionally been used in bush medicine and grows wild in and around the town is now taking on a new life as a tea.

Samara Billy, Co-Founder of Gulbarn Tea. Source: NITV

"It has been there the whole time but nobody wanted to use it," co-founder of Gulbarn Tea, Samara Billy, told the ABC. Ms Billy's story began after going to pick leaves with Founder Enterpise Learning Products' Laura Egan.

"We went for a walk out bush to get Gulbarn, went back home and boiled a bit of it and she [Ms Egan] said it tasted like tea."

Picking and packing the tea leaves has become a community affair for Minyerri. Source: NITV

"That's when I had the idea of trying to make Gulbarn tea."

Ms Billy initially didn't think there would be much interest "but now that it's out there everybody is loving it," she said.

And it's a feeling that resonates with Ms Egan who has seen a positive reaction across Australia.

"The demand from existing tea companies and tea entrepeneurs lets us know that this is gold."

Source: NITV