First Flush Tì Uaine

Tì uaine, the bonus first flush!

Tì Uaine, green tea in Gaelic, is a recent addition to our Guisachan tea line up.

Why is first flush such a big deal?

As the tea plants emerge from their winter slumber, all the nutrients absorbed over this dormant period are put into the new first spring growth.
Which means all the goodness stored over winter are released into these precious new leaves.
This is the first flush.

Warming malt notes greet your senses, even before the water washes over the leaves.
As the water unravels this golden tea, the light malt scent intensifies.
On the tongue this tea offers light and sweet apricot notes wrapped in a gentle black tea robe.

You can’t have two first picks, can you?

Yes we have two first flush teas, both picks from the first buds that the tea plants produced in May 2026.
But how exactly did this happen? In Guisachan we had a lot of very cold nights in May, just when the tea plants were waking up.
This slowed the bud growth down, which meant when we picked for First Flush Tì orach not all the plants were producing buds yet.

Cue a message from Donald a week later saying the frost reached the middle of the tea tunnel overnight, and he was going on a mission to save as much new leaf as possible.
This is the first flush from the plants that were slower to grow, a smaller pick with only one bud and a leaf. So our very first frost and first flush green tea was created.

Frosty nights

I am going on about frosts, but what does this mean for the tea?

When temperatures drop below zero, something incredible happens in a tea plant.
It panics; in the most sophisticated way imaginable.
It floods its own leaves with sugar.

Glucose, fructose and sucrose surge through the plant in an attempt to protect it’s cell membranes from freezing.
On top of that, certain amino acids rush in as a kind of antifreeze. Proline, arginine, leucine are some of the compounds that help maintain the plant’s balance under cold stress.

The sugars the plant produces under cold stress? If we pick the leaf at exactly the right moment, before the damage takes hold, those sugars are captured in the finished tea.
Which means more sweetness. More complexity. A tea that embodies and tells the story of what the plant survived.

Straight from the lush Scottish Highlands, this sweet black tea is fresh as production finished in May 2026.
Teas mellow with age, especially in the first few months, so it may become even smoother and sweeter.
Which is somewhat surprising as it is such an incredibly sweet tea already.

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

Our double lidded tins are a great container to store this tea in as it locks in the aromatics within the leaves.
Also helps keep out many strong smells which can leave these leaves tasting of something stored close by.

How to prepare First Flush Tì Uaine?

Western style brewing

Use 2g of leaf to 200ml of water
Bring the water to boil, then leave to cool for two minutes and pour over the leaves.
Infuse for 2 minutes.
Leaves used this way can be reused up to 3 times, adding 2 minutes onto each subsequent infusion.

Eastern style brewing

Use 5g of leaf to 150ml of water
Bring the water to the boil, and leave to cool for two minutes.
Then pour over the leaves, wait 15 seconds and decant your tea.
Leaves use this way can be reused at 6 times or more, adding 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.

Store in a cool dry place away from strong scents and sunlight.

Ingredients: Camellia Sinensis leaves, grown and produced in Scotland

Discover more about Guisachan here.

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