Caledonian Awakening

First Flush tea, but why all the fuss?

So light refreshing and complex all wrapped into one tea experience. In my 20 years of sourcing tea I have never experienced a tea like this.
Think fine white wine, as you sip it on a terrace overlooking the vineyard that grew the grapes.
From a top rated tea garden in Darjeeling, it is said to be some of the finest in the world.
Envelope your tastebuds in this tea and you will reconsider the Darjeeling tea world.

But why Caledonian Awakening?

Lakyrsiew Organic Hill tea, where this is grown is in an area which is often called the Scotland of the East, a nod to this.
Laykrsiew translates to ‘Awakening’, which perfectly describes the life bursting forth after winter hibernation.
During a walk along the Caledonian Canal (which is right on my doorstep in Inverness) in Spring, just after this tea arrived, I encountered the exact smell that this tea tastes of.
Cue a search for the exact flower it came from, sticking my nose into every spring blossom in sight.
However not a single flower matched this overall scent, turns out the tea tastes like a bouquet symphony rather than individual blooms.

What flowers were there?

Burnet Rose: one variety that creates rosehips, the scent is lightly rose
Dames Rocket: delicate sweet almost hints of clove notes
Gorse: adds in hints of sweet coconut notes in the background
Hawthorn: very sweet heady flower
Green Alkanet: very light floral
Cow Parsley: sweet, delicious lightly aniseed
Rowan blossom: light and almost hints of almond cherry notes

This exquisite first flush darjeeling style tea was chosen for us by by a tea mentor of mine, Nalin Modha, he has utilised his expertise to create an incredible tea.
For more about Nalin, check out our blog post here.
Teas mellow with age, especially in the first few months, so it will become smoother as time goes on.

Always interesting to discover how the taste profile of teas change, a journey worth experiencing.

Our airtight foil lined packs are a great container to store the young tea in as it locks in the aromatics within the leaves.
Also keeps out any strong smells which can taint the tea leaves.

This tea demonstrates just how mind blowing Darjeeling style teas can be, if you skip the supermarket and have Nalin on your side.

How to prepare this tea?

Western style brewing

Use 2g of leaf to 300ml of water (china tea cup size).
Bring the water to boil, then leave to cool for about one minute then pour over the leaves.
Infuse for approx 3 minutes.
Leaves used this way can be reused up to 3 times, but please increase infusion times each subsequent infusion.
1st infusion: 3 minutes
2nd infusion: 5 minutes
3rd and final infusion: 9 minutes

Gong Fu or Chinese style brewing

Use 5g of leaf to 150ml of water (general gaiwan size).
Bring the water to the boil, then pour over the leaves.
Wait 30 seconds and decant your tea.
Leaves use this way can be reused at least 7 times.

Store in a cool dry place away from sunlight.

Ingredients: Camellia Sinensis