This special and rare Darjeeling Green Tea is from the Rohini Tea Estate, one of the youngest tea gardens in Darjeeling. It is made during the spring season, from special Japanese bushes that have less tannin content in them. The bushes are covered with thick natural shades which help the leaves retain chlorophyll and give them a unique taste. After careful plucking, the whole tea leaves are allowed to rest so that they develop some flavour. This is followed by steaming, drying, and lightly rolling the tea.

The whole tea leaves appear dark green in colour and contain several buds. This rare Darjeeling green tea brews into a bright green cup that is rich and smooth on the palate with a tinge of sweetness and no astringency. It has vegetal and umami flavour with a hint of pine and a lingering aftertaste.

For many years there were four basic taste groups i.e. sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. ‘Umami’, or the fifth taste, has been a recent discovery. Umami is a Japanese word that means “pleasant savory taste”. It is a very common flavour and we’ve all tasted it without really noticing it. Some of our foods that have the umami taste are tomatoes, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, and parmesan cheese.