A Q&A with Corinne Noyes, founder of Madame Flavour

What was the initial vison for Madame Flavour? When did it begin?

Tea is so rich! I thought it deserved more than an anonymous bag.

I was drawn to the idea of creating a more pleasurable tea drinking experience for people. I looked at the tea that was widely available in 2007 and realised it was mass produced and functional; my philosophy was that tea drinkers deserved better and so, Madame Flavour was born.

My vision was, and remains, to surprise and delight tea drinkers. It was a whimsical, self-funded start-up. I began plotting and creating in the spare room when my daughter Sienna was one. Being on a shoe-string budget, I recruited market research participants outside Sandringham station to come to my place and talk to me about tea.

I discovered a wonderful invention from the 1960s — the tea pyramid. Filled with real loose-leaf tea and to be made in the cup, pyramids had not yet been launched in Australian supermarkets. That gave me the confidence to follow this passion.

Why did you choose to play in the tea space?

I was drawn to the calming, ritualistic and exotic nature of tea. Having come from a career in corporate marketing, life had been all about driving and pushing and lots of caffeine.

Tea is a comfort, a gentle companion, a connector to nature – it has been wonderful for me personally and a journey of slowing down and grounding myself.

Please expand on the ethical philosophy that sits at the core of Madame Flavour.

My philosophy is that rich experiences make life great, those that are real and authentic and involve people and care. Nowadays, however, they are not easy to find. Everything is so commercial, so bottom-line focussed.

I decided to make a tea that drinkers would love by using long-leaf tea, which is known to have the best flavour. I began visiting tea estates and getting to know the people there. I use Australian ingredients for a local, personal touch and I scoop the blends into silky, biodegradable pyramids, so that tea drinkers can see and connect with what they are drinking. We have worked with the same packers and suppliers in Sri Lanka and China for 10 years.

As for the team, we’re a close-knit group of 10, all sharing the joy of surprising and delighting our customers and acting with respect and integrity. I’ve never worked with such committed people.

Madame receives thousands of ‘love letters’ from our customers. It is the best part of the job.

How important is it to spend a few minutes daily reflecting over a warm cup of tea?

More important than ever. Today, life compels us to keep moving, to keep busy. Our lives are flashing before our eyes.

The sensory aspects of Madame Flavour – the warmth, aromas and flavours of malt, lemon, mint, berry; the sounds as the kettle boils and the teaspoon taps against the cup — these are all grounding sensations. They bring us out of our heads, to be in our bodies, in the present moment. It’s a great opportunity to connect with ourselves and take note of how we feel.

We partnered recently with Smiling Mind to create a short tea meditation: just a few minutes of stopping with that tea, breathing, noticing where we might be tightly held and letting go is so good for us all.

Please share your reasoning behind the beautiful colouring/drawings you provide with some of your tea.

These mindful colourings we’ve put inside packs are to encourage us to take a few moments with our cup of tea, to stop and connect with our creativity and give a little kindness and energy to ourselves.

What are your favourite blends?

We have a great collection now and they are all so delicious and different (if I do say so myself, having developed each of the recipes).

I am loving our new Melbourne Morning blend, with that hint of vanilla. I also have a soft spot for Madame’s Mint Lavender Tisane. I love it because the round leaf mint is from the Australian native mint bush, which grows wild at my rainforest retreat hidden in the Gippsland hills.

How do you find inspiration to create your blends?

I collect ideas as I go through life and find inspiration everywhere. Lately, I’ve been playing with a new ingredient — freeze-dried pomegranate seeds. I taste and add more or less of a different ingredient until it is perfect. It took more than 100 iterations to perfect our Rooibos Mint Choc. Am I slightly obsessive? Maybe…

Where do you source your tea leaves?

Our tea leaves come from Sri Lanka (Ceylon tea), India (Assam and Darjeeling) and China (remote Fujian Province), the traditional countries where each tea was first grown.

My parents met and married while working in Sri Lanka in the 1950s, so for me there is a personal connection to the place. Then, depending on the blend, we mix the tea with spices, berries and native Australian herbs.

Twenty years ago, I bought 46 acres of rainforest in Gippsland and my neighbour introduced me to Australian native mountain pepper. I use it in our Sultry Chai and my passion for Australian native plants grew from there. We now also use lemon myrtle from Lismore in our Grey de Luxe, and aniseed myrtle in Luscious Licorice.

What sustainable/environmental practices do you adhere to when producing your tea?

We buy rainforest-certified tea and practise the art of personally knowing and regularly visiting the people we buy from. We do no anonymous buying at auctions, as is standard practice.

We only buy tea made the traditional way — hand-picked, gently rolled and fired or dried. And we use green-certified biodegradable pyramids versus the nylon standard.

What’s next for Madame Flavour?

Madame Flavour is very excited to be launching a range of Australian Morning teas. Our customers asked us for a black tea to enjoy daily, even when short on time.

The loose-leaf tea we use in pyramids takes a little longer to infuse, so I have spent the last 18 months perfecting these Australian Morning teas, choosing finer-cut leaf from my favourite estates in Sri Lanka and putting them in faster-infusing paper teabags.

So far we have Australian Morning, which is a little stronger; Melbourne Morning, with a hint of classic vanilla; and Sydney Morning, with a hint of lemon myrtle. I’m excited to start playing with ideas for other cities.