Hand-Sewn Green Heirloom Tea

Rare Green Tea Flowers in Packets of 2 or 4.

Queen Victoria Flowers are hand rolled and hand tied. Delightful Green Tea flavour and aroma with Chrysanthemum notes , 3 blooms are hidden in the Flower and have a balloon like release during steeping.

2 Tea Flowers for $4.95 ~ 4 Tea Flowers for $7.95

Two Queen Victoria Flowers in a Gift Tin $6.75

Cup Characteristics: Pale Green, Smooth with delicate and exquisite Chrysanthemum flavour.

When you place a Queen Victoria Flower in your teapot you will see the leaves begin to uncurl and transform. Once the infusion time is complete the tea looks like a triple blooming Flower with a Delightful Green Tea flavour and aroma with Chrysanthemum notes , 3 blooms are hidden in the Flower and have a balloon like release during steeping.

* they begin with specially selected tea leaves (Leaves that are long and mottled white)

* the leaves are then tied together

* the leaves are then carefully and painstakingly flattened to for a ‘3 -Flower’ shape.

* the tea is steamed and dried with fresh Chrysanthemum flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

The dry leaf appearance of the tea is tending towards a mottled and white appearance, indicating very early new season tea and extremely careful plucking and manufacture. (New season tea of this quality is rare and only available for 2-3 weeks each year!)
 

Hand-Sewn Green Heirloom Tea

Rare Green Tea Flowers in Packets of 2 or 4.

Jasmine Golden Flowers are hand rolled and hand tied. The tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

2 Tea Flowers for $4.95 ~ 4 Tea Flowers for $7.95

Two Golden Jasmine Flowers in a Gift Tin $6.75

Cup Characteristics: Pale Green, Smooth with delicate and exquisite Jasmine flavour.

 -they begin with specially selected tea leaves (Leaves that are long and mottled white)
-the leaves are then tied together
-the leaves are then carefully and painstakingly flattened to for a ‘Flower’ shape.
-the tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

The dry leaf appearance of the tea is tending towards a mottled and white appearance, indicating very early new season tea and extremely careful plucking and manufacture. (New season tea of this quality is rare and only available for 2-3 weeks each year!)

This Jasmine is an exceptionally well-made tea. The leaves have a very tight and wiry roll with an over abundance of white mottled tips. The ‘tippy’ nature of the tea signifies a superior tea. ‘Tip’ is only possible when the estate practices fine plucking and a 3 or 4 day plucking rotation. The mottled effect is from teas that are plucked in the first 2-4 weeks of the new season when the days are warm but the night temperatures are piercingly cool. Further into the season when the evenings are warm as well, the bush grows 24 hours per day eliminating the possibility of fine plucking. The quality of this exceptional Jasmine evokes adjectives such as complex, subtle and mystery from long-unopened jewelry boxes.

New Jasmine blossoms become available about mid May. The new blossoms have the most intense fragrance. After the blossoms are layered between the fine green teas, slightly warmed air is drawn through the layered tea. The delicate fragrance of the blossoms impart itself on the tea. Interestingly Jasmine blossoms are used about 9 times. It is only during the 2nd use of the Jasmine blossoms that this tea made. Each time the Jasmine is used the flavor becomes less delicate and subtle. The more common grades of Jasmine contain the flowers. You will note that this tea has virtually no flower petals, an additional sign of superb quality.

Hand-made Green Heirloom Tea

Rare Green Tea Wheels in Packets of 4 or 8.

Jasmine Wheels are hand rolled and hand tied. The tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

4 Wheels for $6.75 ~ 8 Wheels for $10.75

Cup Characteristics: Pale Green, Smooth with delicate and exquisite Jasmine flavour.

* they begin with specially selected tea leaves (Leaves that are long and mottled white),

* the leaves are then tied together

* the leaves are then carefully and painstakingly flattened to for a ‘wheel’ shape.

* the tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.
The dry leaf appearance of the tea balls is tending towards a mottled and white appearance, indicating very early new season tea and extremely careful plucking and manufacture. (New season tea of this quality is rare and only available for 2-3 weeks each year!) When you place a Jasmine wheel in your cup you will see the leaves begin to uncurl and transform. Once the infusion time is complete the tea looks like a hedgehog - a total spiked ball.

In China these ‘Jasmine Wheels’ - Bai Mu Dan - are highly prized and given as special gifts:

- on the birth of a son - The shape signifies a well-rounded life and as the boy grows into a man a fullness to life emerges (you can see this as this tea infuses from a round wheel to a multi-faceted ball).

- upon a marriage - The two halves of the wheel signify the coming together of two special people and the desire that their life attains a fullness and a long life together.

- to highly esteemed guests and friends - the cost of these special teas signifies respect and the desire to remain a friend in the fullness of life.

- for health, long life and luck - the benefits of the consumption of green tea have been well known for centuries and the cost of this special tea is said to impart good luck and the attainment of great wealth.

Hand-made Green Heirloom Tea

Rare Green Tea Balls in Packets of 5 or 10.

Jasmine Balls are hand rolled and hand tied. The tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

5 Tea Balls for $4.75 ~ 10 Tea Balls for $7.75

10 Jasmine Balls a Gift Tin $9.75

Cup Characteristics: Pale Green, Smooth with delicate and exquisite Chrysanthemum flavour.

* they begin with specially selected tea leaves (Leaves that are long and mottled white),
* the leaves are then tied together and the centre leaves are cut and the outer leaves remain long,
* the outer leaves are then carefully and painstakingly rolled into a tight ball.
* the tea is steamed and dried with fresh Jasmine flowers which impart the delicate flavour and aroma.

The dry leaf appearance of the tea balls is tending towards a mottled and white appearance, indicating very early new season tea and extremely careful plucking and manufacture. (New season tea of this quality is rare and only available for 2-3 weeks each year!)

When you place a Jasmine ball in your cup you will see the outer leaves begin to uncurl. Once the infusion time is complete the tea looks like a chrysanthemum flower with long petals on the outside and the short petals on the inside. The chrysanthemum implies tranquillity, beauty, longevity and health..

Some active ingredients in Green Tea are:

Polyphenols - antioxidants that are responsible for disease prevention and treatment. The polyphenols in green tea include: epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin.
Caffeine - a stimulant found in green tea in small amounts
Aromatic Oils - As many as 500 different aromatic oils in tea leaves contribute to the flavor and aroma of tea.
Nutrients - The nutrients are present in very small amounts: vitamins including vitamin C, minerals (e.g.flouride, manganese) and amino acids such as theanine.

Hand-Sewn Green Heirloom Tea

Rare Green Tea Flowers in Packets of 2 or 4.

Every now and then one comes across a tea that is quite unique. This is one of these teas.

Handmade special green tea balls - a rare tea. Silver Balls are hand rolled and hand tied.

5 Tea Balls for $4.75 ~ 10 Tea Balls for $7.75

10 Silver Balls a Gift Tin $9.75

Cup Characteristics: Light liquoring with slight fullness in the cup but excellent green tea character.

Green tea, above all others has a very delicate flavor which is easily marred by the impurities in the water used for brewing it. In the Tang and Ching dynasties water filters were not available and teas were often as expensive as gold. In those days the wealthy tea drinker would bring water from afar (sometimes up to 1000 miles away). Lu Yu the ‘Tea God’ declared: Mountain spring water is best, river water is next best, well water is the poorest.

There are many legends of the origin of tea. One such legend says that the founder of the Zen Buddhism cult, Saint Bodhidharma, once fell asleep during his meditation. When he awoke, he was so embarrassed that he decided to cut off his eye lids as an act of penance. ‘Cast to the ground, the severed eye lids grew into a tea plant which, when brewed, could banish sleep”.

Hand formed Heirloom Tea

Rare Tibetan Tea Pods sold in packs of 4 & 8.

Rare Rose Scented Tea from the roof of the world!

4 Pods for $3.95 ~ 8 Pods for $6.75

Cup Characteristics: Unique rose scented tea quite unlike any tea in the world.

Information: Rhodiola is a rare plant grown in Tibet between 3500 and 5000 meters (11500 and 16400 feet). This is one of the very few uncontaminated environments in the world producing this rare and valuable tea. Tibet Rhodiola tea is made from First Grade Tea and the rare Rhodiola making this tea a pure natural drink with a unique rose scent and is purported to have health benefits that regulate blood pressure, assist in bodily physiological functions, resist fatigue, improve the sod content of the blood and reduce excessive body weight (per Tibet Resources & Technology Development CO. LTD. China).

Aged Green Tea Cake

Large, compressed Aged Green Tea Cake.

This tea is famed for its medicinal properties.

12.5oz Tea Cake $12.95

Cup Characteristics: Musty, earthy character sometimes described as old or elemental.

Information: This tea is famed for its medicinal properties. The leaves come from the Yunnan Dayeh variety of tea tree - which is purported to be closely related to the original tea tree of pre-glacial times. During the 1200’s the troops of Kubla Khan are said to have introduced Pu-erh to the rest of China for its medicinal value. Pu-erh is often taken for relief of indigestion and dysentery but has also been reported very useful in the reduction of cholesterol. Kunming Medical College claims that pu-erh can lower cholesterol by 17 percent and triglycerides by 22 percent. They may have been slightly over zealous about the properties of pu-erh as a University in Berlin and another in France found that the claim was perhaps overstated. A study in Japan indicated that all tea lowered cholesterol and that pu-erh was more effective than green tea. Other followers of ‘Chinese tea for health’ report that pu-erh can; “cut the grease, help digestion, promote body fluid secretion, quench the thirst, invigorate the spleen and dispel alcoholic toxins” Whether pu-erh is effective or not for the various claims that researchers and tea drinkers state has not been firmly established, but what is certain is that pu-erh is rather unusual with properties many other teas do not share.
The method of production is: The tea leaves are picked, rolled, withered in the hot sun, after which they are steamed and pressed into cakes. (This p’uerh is broken up out of the cakes to make it easier to deal with). The steaming process generates some moisture and when compressed (without drying) into the cakes the tea takes on a musty and earthy character. Pu-erh that gets somewhat moldy before it naturally dries is considered the best. Pu-erh is then stored for years. As with wine, young pu-erh is considered the least valuable whereas pu-erh 5 years or older is more highly prized. Interestingly the taste of pu-erh becomes more mellow with age and perhaps more acceptable to the western palate.

The taste has been described as mellow, however those not accustomed to it might not enjoy the ‘old’ character. For others though, this flavor will add to its aura of wonder and seem fitting in a tea prized for its medicinal properties. Some consumers have recommended that pu-erh be blended with chrysanthemum florets to make the taste more acceptable. In fact this blend can be ordered in tea houses in southern China and Hong Kong.

Other recommended uses: Pu-erh is a main ingredient in Kambootcha.

Exquisite Hand formed Tea Pod sold in a decorative box.

Rare Tibetan Tea Pods sold in packs of 4 & 8.

A perfect gift for a true tea lover, collector or connoisseur !

100gram Pod for $3.95

Cup Characteristics: Unique rose scented tea quite unlike any tea in the world.

Information: Compressed Green Tea with a faint origin distinct character. Legend has it that this tea cured tired heads following a night of revelry.
Awarded a Gold Medal in World Tea in Brussels.
 

Hand formed Heirloom Tea Pods

Exquisite Tea Pods sold in packs of 5 or 10.

Each pod is perfect for a 4 cup teapot.
 

5 Pods for $2.75 ~ 10 Pods for $4.25

Cup Characteristics: A green tea with a distant character of smokiness.

Information: Compressed Green Tea with a faint origin distinct character.  Legend has it that this tea cured tired heads following a night of revelry.

Heirloom Oolong Tea

The flavor and aroma that arose was something not encountered before.

8oz of the world's finest Oolong tea in a canister & Gift Box.

8oz Canister and Gift Box for $32.75

Cup Characteristics: A light ‘airy’ character with unbelievable floral notes. Floral notes are reminiscent of orchids and is a taste not found in any other tea in the world except from selected tea bushes in Guangdong Province.

Information: To understand this tea it is important to know of the legendary origin of the special bush which grows this tea.:
Centuries ago when China was ruled by state despots and tea was being discovered and coveted for its curative powers, there was a regional ruler (despot) living near Jinxing Shantou. Several of his staff while tending the palace’s orchid garden came upon a bush that was very similar to a tea bush. Being a hot sultry and humid day - and it was a good time to have a rest anyway - they heated water and dropped some leaves into a pot to let them steep. The flavor and aroma that arose was something they had not encountered before. One of their group excitedly ran to the palace with a sample to tell the despot. He tasted this nectar of orchid tea and declared it a state treasure. The worker was instructed to show the despot the location of the bush. Once the location was known all the workers were put to death in order to preserve the secret of this outstanding tea.

Oolong tea is semi fermented which is one of the reasons it has such a unique character. The semi fermentation gives the tea a little bit more body than a green tea but less body than a black tea ... and interestingly it gives the flavor a very unique twist. You will see that the edges of the leaves are slightly bruised (brownish). The reason for this is that the tea was shaken in a bamboo basket to bruise the leaves to start the oxidation process. The finished leaf has beautiful ‘pink’ edges with ‘veins’ while the leaf stays green.