Our Teas

First Flush Darjeeling

India

Known in India as The Champagne of Teas, we work with a single tea garden in the Lesser Himalayas, near Darjeeling, India. North-facing, and in sight of the world’s third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga, frosts in winter chill the plants, and shade in spring allows for slower growth.

The first flush refers to the very the first tips of the tea that emerge in spring. We pick just the bud and the first leaf from the plant within the first 3-4 weeks of the beginning of the growing season. Withered, rolled, gently oxidised and then dried with great care, this ensures that the leaves are young, fresh and produce delicate fruity notes.

The tea is richly fragrant and creates a brew that is fresh and floral. The tea alone develops notes of young rhubarb, peach and a touch of summer berries. The fruit and spice flavours round out the acids to make it soft and delicate. Delightful to drink freshly brewed any time of day.

But it is in fermentation that the first flush really comes alive. The delicate floral notes of the tea develop into fruity notes of stewed rhubarb, gooseberry, white peach and a touch of blackcurrant. Like a diamond cut from its raw stone.

First Flush Darjeeling

India

Known in India as The Champagne of Teas, we work with a single tea garden in the Lesser Himalayas, near Darjeeling, India. North-facing, and in sight of the world’s third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga, frosts in winter chill the plants, and shade in spring allows for slower growth.

The first flush refers to the very the first tips of the tea that emerge in spring. We pick just the bud and the first leaf from the plant within the first 3-4 weeks of the beginning of the growing season. Withered, rolled, gently oxidised and then dried with great care, this ensures that the leaves are young, fresh and produce delicate fruity notes.

The tea is richly fragrant and creates a brew that is fresh and floral. The tea alone develops notes of young rhubarb, peach and a touch of summer berries. The fruit and spice flavours round out the acids to make it soft and delicate. Delightful to drink freshly brewed any time of day.

But it is in fermentation that the first flush really comes alive. The delicate floral notes of the tea develop into fruity notes of stewed rhubarb, gooseberry, white peach and a touch of blackcurrant. Like a diamond cut from its raw stone.

Lonjing Green Tea

China

Also known as Dragonwell, this is the highest quality pan-roasted green tea from Hangzhou, Zheijiang province and ranks as one of the finest teas in China. The region is particularly famous for its natural beauty nestled in the side of West Lake.

Dragonwell tea originates from just eighteen tea bushes that were given special imperial status by the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing dynasty. These eighteen original tea bushes are still being picked today.

In order to make green tea, the leaves must be baked just after being picked to prevent oxidation and the transformation into a black tea. Unlike the steamed Japanese Sencha green teas, often used in other fermented drinks, Longjing tea leaves are hand fired in big handfuls in a large open wok. This is a highly skilled process, the operator delicately controlling the level of bake to ensure that they develop the best flavours in the final leaf. Processed in this way, the Dragonwell leaves have a distinctive, emerald-green, flat leaf and a delightfully unique fragrance of nuts and straw.

Very mellow, sweet and rounded in taste, the tea after fermentation produces citrus notes of sweet lemons and grapefruit, but with a delicate leafy undertone.

WHITE PEONY TEA

China

Named after the petals of the White Peony, this tea is characterised by its tender, downy-white leaves. Also known as Bai Mudan, our White Peony tea grows in a single tea estate in Fujian, a coastal province of Southeastern China. The province is mostly mountainous and heavily covered in dense forests, offering a formidable natural barrier between the coast and the interior of China.

Bai Mudan is harvested early in the spring, it is extremely highly regarded as one of the finest white teas in China and is made of the buds and first two leaves that remain after the first flush Silver Needle tea has been harvested. The downy tea leaves remain as close to their natural state as possible as freshly plucked leaves are gently withered under natural sunlight before being transferred into bags for storage.

The tea is translucent and pale gold in colour with a delicate, floral aroma which presents as fresh, milky and floral with a slight hint of apricot on the palate. During fermentation, exquisite notes of summer fruits are conjured from the tea as delicate, buttery notes of yoghurt give Peony Blush a well-rounded finish with moorish depth and a soft, syrupy mouthfeel.