A sip back in time
Move over Kiwiana icon L&P.
Lemon & Te Aroha – a revitalised flavour from another Waikato town could soon be world-famous in New Zealand.
After more than 50 years, Te Aroha has its own mineral drink back in business, but this time L&T with a refreshed style and glass packaging.
Te Aroha Mineral Water began re-production of the L&T beverage earlier this year after four years of planning and preparation.
For many, Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) staple has been the carbonated king of kiwiana culture, but it was the L&T beverage which came out first, 19 years prior in 1888 with its own smooth lemon flavour.
During the early 1900s was when it was at its peak both locally and nationally.
Up until the 1970s, the L & T drink was a hit in the town before its more famous eastern Waikato cousin from
Paeroa took the limelight.
Company director Richard Revell, is behind an initiative to re-introduce the drink. It comes after some dabbling in a carbonated milk drink called
back in 2010 that took six years of development in his dairy shed.
Revell said he’s always had an interest in beverages and revitalising the L & T drink came about after he was approached about purchasing the land that hosts the spring water bore and nostalgia took over.
‘‘As a young person, we drank the L&T product . . . It’s very much a community product because everyone that are sort of my age and older, can
‘‘The newest version does taste like a very natural product . . . it’s a very smooth, thirst-quenching drink, we only add natural products . . . it’s got a nice flavour without being overly sweet’’
Richard Revell
remember it,’’ Revell said.
‘‘The newest version does taste like a very natural product ... it’s a very smooth, thirst-quenching drink, we only add natural products . . . it’s got a nice flavour without being overly sweet.
‘‘We want to bring it back into the town because that’s the essence of the product.’’
The Te Aroha mineral springs have long been a prominent site amongst locals and tourists to the area and with the idea of bottling its sparkling water taking off. Extravagant claims were made for the power of the water to cure illnesses of the stomach, intestines, bladder disorders, nasal issues and gout.
With Te Aroha having the only natural soda water geyser in the world, people travelled miles to take advantage of the health benefits, Te Aroha and District Museum president Janice Parsell said.
‘‘Then we had an analysis of both the springs and some bright spark decided they could bottle it and sell it.’’
Matamata-Piako District Council mayor, Ash Tanner, who has resided in Te Aroha for most of his life, remembers the popularity of the drink, especially amongst the younger generation at that time.
‘‘I can remember it quite fondly as a kid having it [L&T]. You used to be able to buy it up at the hot pools at the Te Aroha domain . . . you could buy it at the skating rink as well,’’ Tanner said.
‘‘It was always a bit of an icon with Te Aroha ... it’s a little like the L&P branding. It’s really neat that Richard has actually gone out and put the effort into reviving it. I think it’s great.’’
It was the entry of competitors like Lemon and Paeroa (L&P) and Coca-Cola alongside issues regarding the amount of spring water being collected that led to a commercial decision being made to close Lemon & Te Aroha. Now with the return of the beverage, Revell and the company were continuing to further develop the new L&T brand from the ‘craft water’ stage to a full-fledged product, manufactured in their own facility.
‘‘Our product is natural, it comes out of the water carbonated, and we don’t add any chemicals to it, so it’s a true organic water and all the essence of the word,’’ he said.
Over the next two weeks Revell was looking to distribute samples at the Te Aroha Domain before hopefully moving into production and looking to distribute beyond the town.
Tanner was looking forward to the drink making its mark once again amongst the township and beyond.