Country of Origin: India Region: Darjeeling ShippingPort: Calcutta Grade: TGFOP1 (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe #1) Altitude: 3000 - 4600 feet above sea level Manufacture Type: Pan Fired Orthodox Green Tea Cup Characteristics: Tending delicate, light liquoring with notes of muscatel, pungent (full body- typical of 2nd flush) Infusion: Tending bright, green, typical infusion of a well made green tea Ingredients: Premium green tea. In the production of green tea the new leaves are hand plucked and immediately taken to the factory where they are slowly withered to reduce their water content. The leaves are not allowed to ferment and immediately go to the rolling process where the shape of the leaf is achieved. Following this they are pan fired which locks in the flavor. You can see that these teas are machined rolled since the leaf appearance is somewhat mixed and the final product has not been hand sorted (which would result in whole leaf and buds appearing). The pan-fired tea has more body than the steamed green Darjeeling because during the rolling stage a small amount of fermentation does occur - hence the slightly extra body. Nagri Farm is a tea estate in the Darjeeling region. Prior to the 1800s Nagri Farm, due to its prominent location where it has a commanding view of the surrounding plains, was a fortified (fort) location with a local garrison. There were occasional skirmishes between local tribes peoples and outsiders from Nepal, Tibet and warring Maharajahs. Later the fort became a dairy farm using the old fort buildings. In the 1880s use of the farm changed when tea was planted - hence the name of the estate. The estate is divided into 34 sections. Sections 1-5 are bushes that were planted prior to 1883 and sections 6-12 were replanted in 1883. Sections 13-34 were subsequently planted over the intervening years. Interestingly these old bushes have a very unique shape - almost bonsai like. Despite the fact that these bushes are extremely hardy, the yield is low. The estate covers 726 acres and the average yield is 600 pounds per acre - compare this to an estate in Assam (called Keyhung with young bushes) which has a yield of 2000 pounds per acre. |
