REST OF THE WORLD BLACK TEA

This high quality tea, known as Black Ruby, grows on La Cumbre, Valle del Cauca, situated in tropical western Colombia. This variety is a small tightly twisted leaf, which offers notes of cocoa, honey, sweet raisins and plum. The garden is reached by narrow, winding, dirt roads that lead to a subtropical cloud forest. The farm is entirely organic and each lot is bordered by wild forest, and great bio-diversity.

This very rare tea grows wild in the woods of Georgia, near the Mtirala National Park, just a few kilometres from the Black Sea. These hand-produced teas have the quality of some of the finest teas in the world grown in Taiwan and are similar in complexity. The soft, infusion almost without any bitterness has nuances of wild berry, maple, pine, malt, raisins, honey, cocoa, caramel, apple, chestnut and spice. The long, wiry matt black leaves also look like those of Taiwanese teas, the larger leaf size reflecting the fact they are produced on tea trees rather than bushes. Many of these tea trees were planted in the 19th century and until recently were not harvested. The rich forest soil, the surrounding trees offering shade mean that these wild trees produce naturally high quality material for artisan tea makers to express.

Jenny's favourite teas, which she brewed ceremonially every morning and drank from her favourite cup, long before anyone else was awake, were Keemun Hao Ya B and a big leaf, malty Assam from Mangalam. We've blended the two together to combine the pleasure she took from drinking them. Both teas have a rich body but are smooth; the notes of malt, molasses, orchid, chocolate and rose complement each other perfectly.

Jun Chiyabari is a family run tea garden established in April 2000. The tea is aromatic and depending on the variety or cultivar and processing, flowery, fruity, grassy or nutty. This batch also has the special 'muscatel' character found in some Darjeeling and Oriental Beauty teas.

Gisovu tea is rich, bold and full of flavour, thanks to the high altitude of the growing slopes and the fertile soil the bushes grow in. Renowned for its fresh, crisp, almost tart finish this tea offers a very refreshing brew. It has a green apple aroma with flavour notes of caramel, currants, rose and hints of pepper.

This smooth, full-bodied black tea has bold floral notes, a strong spicy aroma, and a pleasing caramel finish. There are also red grape and cocoa notes that linger. It is similar to a fine Assam tea in its full body but has almost no bitterness, like a golden bud tea from Yunnan.