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Cumulus & Cirrus Cloud Teas Loose Leaf Black Tea

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Cumulus and Cirrus, two first flush black teas from Lakyrsiew, are a truly delicious way we can share a little of the joy we’ve had tasting teas this season.

Usually, when choosing a new harvest of a beloved tea we taste a spread of samples, picked over certain days from certain fields. Sometimes we select a single day’s pick from one field, or it could be a blend of a few days’ harvest, or fields, to find the best expression of the flavour we all know and love (and often can't live without). Cumulus or Cirrus would make a wonderful new release in their own right, blended they are also sublime. Still beaming with the early spring in Meghalaya and drenched with the character of this unique farm these are both stunning teas.

This year we decided to let you into the fun of the tasting process - by comparing teas that are so similar on the surface, yet subtly and wonderfully different.

Season, terroir, varietal, cultivar, pruning cycle, bush age, leaf age or picking ‘round’, oxidation level, withering, rolling, crafting - these all explain something of how two teas picked just nine days apart, from adjacent fields, might differ.

Pouch bundle contains 1 x 25g Pouch Cumulus Tea, 1 x 25g Pouch Cirrus Tea. Tin Bundle contains 1 x 25g Pouch Cumulus Tea, 1 x 25g Pouch Cirrus Tea, 2 x storage tins.

Tasting Notes

Cumulus - The first infusion is rich with heady aromas - raspberry and rose. The flavours develop to a gentle burnt caramel note and a delicate trace of cardamon and sesame. Cirrus - The first infusion is beautifully light, with notes of pea shoots, leading to sesame snaps and macadamia in later infusions. Bright floral aromas; elegant natural sweetness and low tannins.

Origin

Lakyrsiew Tea Garden, Meghalaya, India

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Recommended Infusion Guide

  • Quantity

    Use 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water.

  • Temperature

    For the optimum infusion use 85°C water.

  • Time

    Infuse for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, tasting regularly.

  • Infusions

    You can infuse these teas at least three times. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.

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More infusion tips

How to infuse your tea is very personal, and these are just our recommendations based on experience. Please experiment with these variables to your heart's delight. These are our recommendations, not hard and fast rules. The most delicious tea is the one you love.

Our guide uses a standard tea cup size (150ml/5.5 oz) as a measure, please adjust the quantity of leaf accordingly for less or more water. Our whole loose leaves are of such a high quality that you can infuse our teas at least twice, and the second infusion is often better than the first, with different flavours revealed as the leaf softens. If you prefer your tea stronger, add more leaf, don’t leave it for longer (this will just make it bitter).

  • CUMULUS

    Picked: 2nd April 2024
    Cultivars: AV2 with BB157

    Raspberry and rose. Later a gentle burnt caramel note, cardamon and sesame.

  • CIRRUS

    Picked: 11th April 2024
    Cultivars: AV2 with T78

    Pea shoots, with sesame snaps and macadamia in later infusions.

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Cumulus

  • AV2 is described by Boris Linnebank Sawian at Lakyrsiew as the ‘cream’ of the Darjeeling cultivars, and is found in some of the most famous teas of that region.
  • BB157 is another cultivar developed on the famous estates in Darjeeling. BB157 is particularly high in geraniol, which is a chemical also found in geraniums and lemons, and is used in the perfume industry to approximate a swath of different fruits.
  • The bushes are from an unpruned section planted in 2012, the youngest bushes on the farm. The leaves were plucked on a five day round, meaning the leaf was five days old and very small and tender.
  • The leaves were plucked on a very warm and dry day. This was following a particularly dry winter, however the stress on the bushes is good for flavour, it intensifies the character of the tea.
  • A hard wither down to 70% moisture content and minimal oxidation has allowed the tea to retain a lot more of its green colour.

Cirrus

  • If AV2 is the ‘cream’ of darjeeling cultivars, then T78 is the backbone. "This is a classic Darjeeling combination but the unique conditions in our garden make it a very different tea" - Boris Lynnebank Sawian.
  • These bushes are from older sections of the farm, planted in 2004 and 2005, but again the leaves were picked on a five day round. In dry conditions you get much slower growth, so this is a very small and tender pick.
  • These leaves were also picked on a warm and dry day, and of course following the same winter as the Cumulus. This stress is a major reason for the intensity of flavour.
  • Cirrus was crafted in a similar way to Cumulus, with a hard wither and minimal oxidation preserving a lot of green in the leaf.

ABODE OF CLOUDS

The best of both worlds

In the local dialect Meghalaya is called "the Abode of Clouds" so we call this Cloud Tea. It lies between Assam and Darjeeling and this tea really has the best of both. Light and floral as a Darjeeling with the rich caramel and malty notes you get from the best Assam.

This tiny garden produces tea in very small amounts because their concern is always quality over volume.

METICULOUS CRAFTING

Delicate and graceful

The tea is meticulously crafted to keep the beautiful leaves whole. This tender crafting allows the leaves to retain a delicacy and softness that is very rare in black teas.

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Returns

The Rare Tea Lady believes that our teas are some of the greatest in the world, and that our range and service are second to none.

In the isolated case that you are not completely satisfied with any tea or teaware you purchase from our website, please get in contact with our customer services team to discuss returning your order.*

In most instances we will give you a full refund of the item’s cost excluding postage. We may ask you to return the item to us. Customers in the European Union have a statutory cooling-off period of fourteen days that is not affected by this guarantee, but any tea pouches much remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within two months of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.

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