Hand Rolled Oolong 2020 | Single Batch Tea
Complex woodland and spring aromas in this special 1st flush from a little-known tea region.
At Lalani & Co, they're always looking for new origins and unusual teas to bring into their collection, which are the most delicious of their region.
The Mann garden is in the foothills of the Himalayas, in a region of India called Himachal Pradesh. Starting at Darjeeling, follow the line of the Himalayas to the north-west and you’ll go through Nepal, then back into India, in Himachal Pradesh. Many tea drinkers have never heard of teas form this region as it doesn’t receive the same attention as Darjeeling or even Nepal. The Mann tea garden has been in the same family for six generations. The garden sits at about the same elevation as some of the highest Darjeeling gardens (6,000ft), making fine, high-elevation Indian teas.
These 1st flush oolongs are made using leaf plucked at the very beginning of the 1st flush (spring) season, from China-hybrid varietals. The freshly picked tea leaves are sun withered (wilted) at first. Sun withering often gives a more layered, three-dimensional flavour compared to indoor or machine drying. The leaves are carefully hand rolled and very lightly oxidised to give a complex, expressive, light oolong, with excellent leaf shape and flavour structure.