{"id":853,"date":"2015-06-05T03:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T03:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/?p=853"},"modified":"2015-07-21T18:36:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T18:36:41","slug":"garden-to-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/garden-to-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Tea Garden to your Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time:<\/b> <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Started in 2013, Garden to Cup<\/span><\/a> is a unique program that drives our sense of exploration and discovery. Throughout the year, we scour the globe in search of the world\u2019s freshest and most intriguing single-estate teas. Once plucked, teas are sent to stores within a matter of weeks \u2013 about as close as you can get to drinking a freshly-picked tea. Today, we\u2019re adding three amazing new teas to this fantastic collection.<\/p>\n

\"Garden<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1) Zomba pearls \u2013 Malawian White Tea<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Our first ever Malawain tea! Grown on a third generation, family-owned garden in the Shire Highlands, these exceptional little pearls are a true labour of love. Each leaf is hand-plucked and rolled by an amazing team of 15 tea-crafting local women. Committed to giving back, this Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance certified garden has also introduced some amazing initiatives to support the community, with a strong emphasis on health, wellness, education and the environment.<\/p>\n

\"Zomba<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the tea, it steeps a beautiful bright yellow, with the aroma of lemon meringue and a light, buttery taste with natural sweet and floral notes. To get the most out of these fair trade<\/span><\/a> gems, try drinking them over multiple steeps, or \u201cgung- fu\u201d style. As the leaves unfurl with each steep, each cup is a totally new experience.<\/p>\n

\"Zomba<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

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How it’s made?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Hand Plucked >>\u00a0Quickly Withered >>\u00a0Hand Rolled and Shaped >>\u00a0Dried<\/p>\n

2) Lung Ching – Chinese Green Tea<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Location, location, location. It\u2019s what makes this tea so special \u2013 and so sought after. If it doesn\u2019t come from Hangzhou, you can\u2019t call it Lung Ching. Ours is grown in a small, family-run garden in Lanxi, an area specially selected for its mineral-rich red soil. And trust us, these guys are pros. They\u2019ve been making this tea for decades, hand-flattening and drying the leaves in a deep, hot wok. Is it worth the trouble? Absolutely. Each sip is rich, nutty, sweet and vegetal, with note of minerality.
\n\"Zhejiang<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those keeping tabs, this is our second tea from the Zhejiang province in China. A relative to our much-loved Dragonwell<\/span><\/a>, the key difference between the two lies in the withering process. After plucking, tea leaves are left to wither, allowing the moisture to evaporate from the leaves. Lung Ching is left to wither much longer than Dragonwell, leaving it with almost no moisture left in the leaves: a process called \u201chard withering.\u201d When the hard-withered leaves are then pressed in the wok, the lack of moisture causes them to stay bright green. Though this process might seem like a small difference, it\u2019s one of the most important factors that makes our Lung Ching so unique.<\/p>\n

\"Lung<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

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How it\u2019s made?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pluck >> Hard Wither >> Wok Fire\/Roll\/Shape >> Dry<\/p>\n

3) First Flush Darjeeling – Indian black tea<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"Garden<\/a><\/p>\n

Although Darjeeling teas represent only about 3% of all tea produced in India, the region\u2019s 86 tea gardens have perfected their crafts, and produce some of the country\u2019s most sought after teas.<\/p>\n

High up in the Himalayas, overlooking the snow-capped peaks of majestic Mount Kanchenjunga, lies one of these 86 gardens \u2013 the exceptional Puttabong Tea Estate. Tea grown up here just tastes better \u2013 thanks to the pure mountain air, unique soil and perfect altitude. This garden has been growing amazing Darjeeling teas since 1852. And this year\u2019s delicately delicious crop is no exception \u2013 sweet, refreshing and uniquely creamy, with hints of sweet grass, sycamore leaves, tea oil and mountain meadow honey. We rushed this organic Super-Fine-Tippy-Gold-Flowery-Orange-Pekoe Number 1 (SFTGFOP1) to our shelves right after the pluck so you can taste it fresh off the bush.<\/p>\n

\"F\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First dibs, first bids<\/strong><\/h4>\n

First flush<\/em> refers to the first plucking period of the year, when spring rains have stimulated new growth in the regions tea plants. Given their rarity and exceptional quality, First Flush Darjeeling teas are in incredibly high demand, so as soon as the production is finished for each \u201clot\u201d of tea, we express ship samples from Darjeeling right to our tea tasters. The teas are tasted and a bid is placed within 24 hours. From there, it\u2019s a waiting game to see if our bid is accepted. Needless to say, we\u2019re over-the-moon to have won this bid. This tea is absolutely phenomenal.<\/p>\n

How it\u2019s made?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pluck >> Hard Wither >>\u00a0Roll >> Oxidize >>\u00a0Fire<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Want to enjoy these teas to the fullest?\u00a0Read our sipping guide<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time:<\/b> <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Started in 2013, Garden to Cup is a unique program that drives our sense of exploration and discovery. Throughout the year, we scour the globe in search of the world\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,176],"tags":[166,164,165,107,167,168],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-gardin-to-cup","tag-darjeeling","tag-garden-to-cup","tag-hand-rolled","tag-loose-leaf-tea","tag-lung-ching","tag-zomba-pearls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.davidstea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}