Frost Tea comes from the Nilgiri Hills, also known as the Blue Mountains, in southern India. The Nilgiri Hills are home to the highest elevation tea gardens in India. Ranging in altitude from just under 1000 metres to almost 2500 metres, they provide the perfect canvas for growing tea. Nilgiri Kairbetta Frost Tea is grown at one of the highest altitudes in the Nilgiri Hills.
Winter brings heavy dew in some parts of the Nilgiri Hills and frost sometimes covers the tea leaves. This is a challenge for the tea estates, as the frost acts as a magnifying glass when the winter sun rises and the sunlight could burn the leaves. However, it can also be a blessing in disguise, as harvesting the tea leaves early in the morning, before the sun hits the stressed leaves, creates a unique opportunity to produce a very special type of tea – frost tea.
Although frost is usually detrimental to tea harvests, the creative tea producers of the Nilgiri Hills, especially those who produce Nilgiri Kairbetta Frost Tea, rise to the challenge and instead of trying to disperse the frost or cover the plants as is done in other countries, they adapt their production techniques and use the force of nature as a transformative force.
What makes frost tea special is that the cool temperatures stress the plants and cause a change in the tea leaves. After plucking and rapid transport to the factory, the leaves for Nilgiri Kairbetta Frost Tea undergo a controlled, prolonged withering process to reduce the water content to around 65%. This carefully controlled, prolonged withering process allows the tea maker to create a unique tea, preserving the complex aromas created by the stress on the plants and enhancing the flavour profile of the finished tea. Nilgiri Kairbetta Frost tea has a completely different flavour profile to tea from Darjeeling, Assam and even other Nilgiri black teas. The combination of using stressed leaves and careful production techniques results in floral and fruity notes rarely found in Indian black teas.
The tea growers of the Kairbetta Estate are leaders in the production of Frost Tea, being among the first to deliberately exploit the effects of frost on tea leaves, turning the challenges of nature to their advantage. Nigiri Kairbetta Frost Tea is not just a black tea from southern India; it’s a tea experience, crafted with precision, passion and a deep understanding of the intricate relationship between frost and tea.
Wonderfully complex, Nilgiri Kairbetta Frost Tea is a rare gem in the world of tea, a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Nilgiri tea pickers and farmers, bringing the essence of the beautiful Blue Mountains straight to your cup.
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