Oakridge Centre

John Murchie immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1894 and founded Murchie's Tea & Coffee in New Westminster, BC. Long before that, John had started his career in the tea industry with Melrose's of Scotland, a prestigious tea import merchant in Britain. John was a young boy when he started working with Melrose's, and one of his jobs was to deliver tea to Queen Victoria while she was in residence at Balmoral Castle, in the Scottish Highlands. Over time, John Murchie became familiar with the types of teas the Queen preferred and as his knowledge of tea grew, and he started experimenting with blending teas on his own.