Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2019 | Page 270

Mother
Becky
Tea
St. Kitts & Nevis
“Mother Becky” hailed from
a small company based on the a generation who drank bush
tea daily. Tea drinking in St.
island of St. Kitts, within the
Federation of St. Kitts & Nevis, Kitts & Nevis is a relic of the
providing high-quality, locally Federation’s historic sugar era,
produced bush tea born from with the term “bush tea” used
to describe any tea made
a rich Kittitian and Nevisian
from whole tea leaves picked
cultural tradition.
and dried near one’s home.
The company is named after
Bush tea in that time was a
owner, Jermine Mike’s great-
grandmother, who lived to be commodity of the poorer
close to 100 years of age and class but has now become a
was recognized as a matriarch quintessential part of St. Kitts
& Nevis’ finest culture and
of her community.
Mother Becky Bush Tea is
history. Owner Jermine Mike
and Co-Owner Sara Ramírez
aim to honor and revitalize
the bush tea tradition of St.
Kitts & Nevis and establish
high-quality bush tea as an
authentic, essential experience
for residents and visitors of St.
Kitts & Nevis, as well as the
Caribbean diaspora and tea
lovers worldwide. The Mother
Becky Brand allows you to
enjoy the perfect cup of bush
tea at home just like “Mother
Becky” would have made.
Owner Jermine Mike
is a Chemist by trade and
works in the Standards
Department of the St. Kitts &
Nevis Bureau of Standards.
He grew up steeped in bush
tea culture and learned the
tradition from his great
grandmother Letitia Rebecca
Blackman, also known as
Mother Becky. Seen as a
matriarch within not just
her family, but also her
community, Mother Becky
gave Jermine the foundation
of bush tea knowledge that
he now uses to bring a new,
modern twist to bush tea
culture to entice younger
generations to partake in the
dying tradition.
to St. Kitts and Nevis in 2007
to pursue sea turtle research
and has since made the
Federation her home.
diaspora, and tea lovers of
any kind.
The business was born
after an observation of
two problems in St. Kitts
Sara’s experience in the
and Nevis that they aimed
realm of Sustainable
to solve: that many of the
Tourism highlighted the
need for more authentic and younger generations were
indigenous experiences and/ no longer partaking in
the tradition of bush tea
or souvenirs for persons
consumption, and that
visiting St. Kitts and Nevis.
She is also constantly working visitors to the Federation
were often presented with
to make sure that Mother
products and experiences
Becky Tea is and remains
that were not authentic to St.
as sustainable as possible
Kitts and Nevis.
in order to highlight and
protect the incredible natural
Mother Becky Tea is working
resources of the Federation.
to revitalize the bush tea
tradition in St. Kitts and Nevis
With their combined efforts,
by providing an authentic
Jermine and Sara have
and indigenous experience
Co-Owner Sara Ramirez is created a local company
that provides authentic, high for nationals, visitors, and the
a champion of sustainability
quality bush tea for residents, Caribbean diaspora all over
and works in Wildlife
the globe.
visitors, the Caribbean
Conservation. She first came