Mountain Hand Rolled 2021

The Garden

At Lalani & Co, we’re always looking for new origins and unusual teas to bring into our 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 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.

This Batch

Picked early in the 2021 season on the 2nd April at 4,000ft from China hybrid varietals. The freshly picked tea leaves were lightly 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, followed by drying.

Tasting Notes

This batch is full of woodland notes, like a walk in the woods. When it was young, it was sappy and mineral with notes of freshly cut wood, herbs, and unripe fruit. After a couple of years of ageing, the tea has loosened and ripened. The wood notes are smoother and more mature with less tannin. The fruit notes are slightly riper and sweeter, leaning towards orchard fruit, with more sweetness. The florals are slightly richer. Overall, the profile is beautifully complex and long-finishing.

We like this tea infused with 3g:150ml at 80˚C for 3 mins which gives the most balance of all the flavours. Feel free to try other temperatures if you prefer.

Storage and Ageing

Store in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. Surprisingly for 1st flush tea this tea ages wonderfully. This tea has a couple of years of ageing behind it and I expect it will have about three more years of excellent ageing.