Vancouver brand launches innovative iced tea just in time for summer
We can hardly imagine a world where we didn’t have caffeine to help jumpstart our days or to fight off the afternoon slump. But in the hustle and bustle of it all, we often lose sight of the harmful economic and environmental impacts of coffee bean farming and production.
For one, the coffee bean season is fleetingly short, which means workers are often only employed seasonally for a few months of the year and subsequently forced to migrate elsewhere to find work. In order to appease consumers, coffee prices are also often lower than they should be, resulting in little to no profits for coffee farmers.
This is what led Vancouver brand Wize to discover a better, more sustainable alternative that involves using a wildly underused (but equally delicious) element of the coffee-farming process: coffee leaves.
The brand innovators were inspired to create the first iced tea in the world that is uniquely sourced from excess coffee leaves in Nicaragua.
The leaves, which usually go to waste, are transformed into a refreshing beverage using traditional tea-crafting techniques that involve oxidizing, fermenting, and drying the coffee bean byproduct — revealing a smooth and lightly sweet taste.
By doing so, the brand is employing workers throughout the nine-month coffee bean off-season — a powerful strategy that has had positive reverberations throughout the local community and economy.
Each can generates at least two minutes of employment for Nicaraguan coffee farmers. The year-round employment mitigates seasonal hunger and migration and allows local farming areas to develop stronger local communities and families. This innovative method has also created skilled jobs for farmers who are learning to craft teas.
The all-natural, plant-based iced teas come in three summer-ready flavours: Original, Mango, and Grapefruit. This means, yes, they’re perfect for homemade craft cocktails.
You can kiss the coffee jitters goodbye since the refreshing teas only contain 25% of the caffeine of a regular coffee and a single gram of cane sugar. So, you’ll get a much-needed boost without feeling like you might vibrate right off your chair.
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The beverages are also rich in antioxidants and other health-endorsing properties. In fact, coffee leaf tea has been consumed in Ethiopia and Indonesia for over 200 hundred years for this very reason.
Unlike regular tea, you won’t have to worry about it getting stale after sitting out. The rich, fruity blends of the iced teas are meant for sipping all day long without turning bitter.
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The company has already managed to employ its workers for 75,000 hours, with the ultimate goal of eventually eclipsing 1 million hours. It has also steadily increased the number of people it employs with each passing year, growing its roster from five to 120 workers. As such, families are able to remain rooted in their communities instead of migrating elsewhere for work in the off-season.
So, feel good about throwing a few of these babies in a cooler and hitting the beach on a sunny day. Or, crack one open to boost your clarity while working from home for an afternoon pick-me-up that won’t leave you jittery or unable to sleep.
Contest
To enter for your chance to win one of five Wize Iced Tea Discovery Packs follow @drinkwize and tag a friend in the Instagram post below.
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Contest entries will be accepted from the time and date of publishing until 11:59 pm on August 10. One winner will be chosen at random and contacted through the platform.
Try Wize Iced Tea by visiting drinkwize.com or follow them online via Instagram to learn more and #WizeUp. You can also grab a can by dropping by your local Famous Foods, Greens Market, Foxy Farm Market, or Larry’s Market in Vancouver.
This article was created with a contribution from Buy BC
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