Not all black tea is created equal. The word 'premium' should mean something — here is what it means to us.
Premium black tea begins with location. Altitude, soil pH, morning fog, and gentle sun all shape the leaf long before it ever meets the roller. Our estate sits at the foothills of the Himalayas — the same terroir belt as Darjeeling.
Cheap tea is broken, fannings, or CTC dust. Premium tea is orthodox — long, twisted, whole leaves that unfurl in your pot and give up their liquor slowly.
A true black tea is fully oxidised, then fire-dried within a narrow temperature window. Under-oxidised leaf tastes green and grassy; over-fired leaf tastes ashy. The middle path is the whole art.
Tea, unlike wine, does not improve with age. Premium tea should be consumed within a year of harvest — which is why we date every pouch.