Description

I have yet to try this one, but just based on the description below, I feel safe in recommending it. Plus, I love Darjeeling tea.

"Darjeeling is a small resort town situated in northwest Bengal, 400 miles due north of Calcutta in the small neck of Indian territory that separates Nepal and Bhutan. Its location at 6500 feet provides a temperate, if rainy climate, and breathtaking views that allow the eye to travel from the scorching plains below, upward over a succession of mountains that culminate with the mighty Kanchenjunga, almost as high as Everest.

Only to the western world is the name Darjeeling synonymous with superior tea. This is because Darjeeling's mere forty two thousand acres under tea cultivation account for less than three percent of all tea that India produces. Darjeeling's reputation for quality tea is so high that India sells almost all of it abroad. Tea estates in Darjeeling range from less than four thousand feet to almost ten thousand feet in elevation.

Darjeeling teas are considered the rarest and most prestigious of black teas. The taste of Darjeeling varies with the seasons. The first flush or springtime tea, is harvested from late February to mid-April. The young leaves yield a light tea with a flavor of green muscat.

Stash Tea is pleased to be working with the Ambootia™ Tea Estate, which has been producing superb Darjeeling teas since 1861. Ambootia™ has rich green hillsides reaching up toward the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. The combination of climate and elevation creates a unique geographical phenomenon not replicated anywhere else in the world.

The Ambootia™ Estate is a balanced ecological system with natural forests, which help maintain the ecosytem and protect the fragile soils of its steep slopes. Much of the tea is shielded from any excessive sun by these trees which play an important role in providing natural organic nutrients to the soil as they fall and decompose.

Ambootia™ is certified as organic by the Institute of Market Ecology of Switzerland which is recognized around the world for its exacting standards and is also a member of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement).

Only safe, all-natural preparations are used to grow Ambootia™ tea. Ambootia™ uses Bio-Dynamic organic principles to make the best compost possible. Revitalizing preparations made from yarrow, valerian, chamomile, nettle, oak bark and dandelion are used in small homeopathic doses. These preparations are added to compost heaps for their positive effects. No artificial fertilizers are ever used at Ambootia™.

Our Organic Darjeeling Supreme black tea from the Ambootia™ Estate has an exquisite flowery bouquet. It brews up a sparkling amber color, is smooth and mellow with the distinctive muscat flavor that is characteristic of the worlds best Darjeelings." (via stashtea.com)

Updated Sep 22, 2008