Amba Estate Organic Ceylon 2nd Flush Black Tea with Tea Flowers, an all natural tea created by Amba Estate is lovingly hand-crafted using only the finest quality one leaf & bud that is hand-plucked with great care & blended with flowers from the same Camellia sinensis tea plant. It is then processed in small batches entirely by hand. This beautiful whole leaf black tea is brisk & bold, with raisin & malt flavors complemented by the natural mild honey sweetness from the flowers.
Ingredients: Artisan Handcrafted Black Tea with Tea Flowers
Origin: Ambadandegama, Bandawarela, Uva Province, Sri Lanka
Amba Estate Organic Ceylon 2nd Flush Black Tea with Tea Flowers, an all natural tea created by Amba Estate is lovingly hand-crafted using only the finest quality one leaf & bud that is hand-plucked with great care & blended with flowers from the same Camellia sinensis tea plant. It is then processed in small batches entirely by hand. This beautiful whole leaf black tea is brisk & bold, with raisin & malt flavors complemented by the natural mild honey sweetness from the flowers.
Sri Lanka is famous for its brisk but flavorful Ceylon black tea, but this hand-crafted, artisanal black tea from Amba Estate is of unprecedented quality. Much of Sri Lanka's production is commodity, low-quality tea. It is only through carefully-processed specialty teas like these from Amba Estate that the Ceylon profile can be experienced fully.
Amba Estate is an all-natural tea farm in the highland Uva district of Sri Lanka. The estate is nestled in a little valley below Lipton's Seat (site of Sir Thomas Lipton's first tea estate), and is located above the famous Ravan Ella Waterfalls (known as the refuge of the Goddess Sita in the Ramayana). The team is dedicated to creating high-quality, hand-made teas through ethical industry practices and environmental sensitivity. A creative new tea by Amba Estate, blended with flowers from the Camellia sinensis tea plant. This OP1 Black Tea is brisk and bold, with raisin and malt flavors complemented by the natural mild honey sweetness from the flowers.
Amba aims to maintain these ancient fields by using strict organic growing methods, which requires enormous extra effort. They use no artificial fertilizers, pesticides or weed-killers. To maintain and enhance soil fertility, Amba uses their own compost and organic sprays, using green plant material from the Estate's ground and manure from their own herd of ‘rescue cows’. They weed the fields manually, and leave the trimmed leaf material as mulch between the bushes to improve water and nutrient retention. They also plant gliricidia and other nitrogen-fixing plants between the tea, making for very healthy plants.
All of their teas are truly artisanal and are made in small batches by hand. Amba is empowering tea workers beyond the norm in Sri Lanka by teaching them the crucial techniques to make high-quality teas. While most tea workers in Sri Lanka are assigned to one or two tedious tasks and have no stake in the final product, Amba Estates upskills tea workers and gives them long-term, rewarding employment. As a result, the team creates teas of unprecedented quality and creativity.
Brewing Instructions
Water Temperature: Just off the Boil (205 degrees)
Water Quality: Best with Spring Water
Amount of Leaf (per 6 fl oz water): 2 Tbl.(4 grams)
Steep Time: 2-3 minutes
Number of Infusions: 2-3
When measuring it is best to weigh your tea. (I use a small pocket scale. We have a few or you can get good inexpensive scales at Old Will Knotts) Measuring volume with a teaspoon or tablespoon is not accurate because whole leaf teas take up much more space than broken, graded teas.
We highly recommend brewing your tea in a teapot or mug with a removable infuser so that you can remove the leaves at the end of the steeping time. Whole leaf teas of this quality need room to unfurl and expand in the water in order to perform their "magic." However, leaving the tea leaves in the water will result in an over-infused, bitter (or at best, unpleasant) tea. If you want a stronger cup of tea increase the amount of leaf rather than the steeping time. If you don't have a removable infuser, you can brew the loose leaves directly in the pot. At the end of the steeping time, pour all of the tea into a warm serving pitcher or pot.
While many black teas are frequently served with milk & sugar, we strongly recommend NOT doing so with this excellent tea! In doing so you will miss out on the subtle nuances that make this such a wonderful tea!
