[BCMA] Native plants inspire unique tea, benefit RBCM Foundation

Wed Nov 20 11:13:52 PST 2013

[cid:image003.png at 01CEE5E1.9756E620]                                      NEWS RELEASE

November 20, 2013

Native plants inspire unique tea, benefit Royal BC Museum Foundation

[cid:image010.jpg at 01CEE5E1.9756E620]Victoria, BC - Silk Road, Victoria's premiere tea company, launched its exclusive new blend at the Royal BC Museum herbarium today.  Proceeds from the sale of this exclusive tea will be donated to the Royal BC Museum Foundation to support the work of the museum and archives.

Silk Road's Royal BC Museum Tea is a unique organic black tea blend inspired by - and created with - premium botanicals from British Columbia, including native species.

"Tea is about a sharing of knowledge and culture," said Daniela Cubelic, Tea Master and Founder of Silk Road. "I remember coming to the Royal BC Museum in elementary school.  I was fascinated by an interpretive ethnobotany demonstration that included whipped soapberries and the experience influenced my interest in tea and [cid:image011.jpg at 01CEE5E1.9756E620] culture."

Nootka Rose and Black Raspberry are two native plants that infuse this unique blend of India, China and Ceylon teas. Its native and cultivated BC ingredients include: black raspberry, thimbleberry, cranberry, blueberry, salmon berry, salal berry and Nootka rosehips.

Dr Erica Wheeler, Collections Manager, Botany said "Rosa nutkana or Nootka Rose was known and used by the WSÁNEC (Saanich) people, and is described in Saanich Ethnobotany and Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples.  This rose was first collected on the BC coast by a Bohemian botanist in the 1790s but was not named and described until sixty years later. The earliest specimen in our herbarium was collected in Victoria by James Robert Anderson on June 16, 1896."

[cid:image012.jpg at 01CEE5E1.9756E620]The Rosa nutkana specimen is only one of over 215,000 botanical specimens that the museum has been collecting since the mid-1800s and continues to collect today, all across British Columbia. These specimens are used by researchers both here in Canada and around the world.

Royal BC Museum Tea is available for purchase at the Royal Museum Shop, at both Silk Road locations and online at silkroadteastore.com<http://www.silkroadteastore.com>.

About the Royal BC Museum

As the provincial museum and archives, the Royal BC Museum explores the province's human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. Through collections, research, presentations and partnerships, the museum and archives tell the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire.  Its two-hectare cultural precinct in Victoria includes a number of historically significant buildings and First Nations sites.

About Silk Road
Since 1992 Silk Road has been creating the world's finest, freshest, organic teas, skin and body products. It all started in Victoria's historic Chinatown, with a passion for premium quality ingredients, exceptional customer service, an eco-friendly approach, and a commitment to community - values which continue to be just as important to Silk Road today as they were when they started.
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High-res photos of Royal BC Museum Tea, botanical specimens and books available on request.
Images shown here:

1.      Jack Lohman, CEO, Royal BC Museum with Daniela Cubelic, Owner and Tea Master, Silk Road.

2.      Rosa nutkana, or Nootka Rose, specimen from Royal BC Museum herbarium, collected in 1896.

3.      Silk Road's Royal BC Museum Tea includes Nootka Rose and Black Raspberry, native species included in Food Plants of the Coastal Peoples of BC and Saanich Ethnobotany, both published by the Royal BC Museum.

Media contact:
Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries, 250-387-3207, news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca<mailto:news at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca>

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