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Sri Lankan Vanilla Tea Loose Leaf Black Tea

CHF 19.00
CHF 0.00 CHF 19.00
CHF 0.48 per cup
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A velvety smooth, handcrafted black tea scented with vanilla.

The tea and vanilla orchids flourish together in an agroforestry garden. Nestled under Adams Peak in the Erathna Valley, the garden is located on an abandoned tea farm that has been left to re-wild for over 130 years.

Tasting Notes

This rich wild tea infused with vanilla creates something rather spectacular - greater than the sum of its parts: notes of cinnamon, cloves and holy basil and caramel along with the velvety vanilla. It has a deliciously smooth, round mouthfeel and very low tannins.

Origin

Erathna Valley, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka

Cost Per Cup

CHF 0.48 per cup based on 2.5g of tea per 150ml of water and 2 infusions.
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🍃 HIGH IMPACT TEA

While all of our teas are the best available from around the world, this tea makes a vital socioeconomic impact on the community that grows and crafts it.

With these high-impact teas, we are shining a light on the people who most need our support.

A prosperous nation like Japan, with a long history and strong domestic market, commands great prices for great tea. Land, labour and expertise are highly valued. Demand for the most famous teas often outstrips supply and buyers compete to get their hands on the best.

For less fortunate economies, where even safe drinking water is not a given, tea is an export. Origins are obscured. Terroirs hidden. If all we are shown is a packet and a brand with no connection to the people and place it comes from, we remain ignorant of its impact.

Many people do not know that much of the tea they drink comes from places like Malawi in East Africa. They are unaware that land, labour and expertise are given little value; that their tea is traded as a commodity by giant multinational agribusinesses, bought for low cost and high quantity over quality; that the farmer has no control of the price. Nor do they know that people in tea communities often do not live beyond their 50s.

It is our business to change that, to establish a value market for their incredible craft and amazing terroirs, much like fine wine.

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 1-2 minutes, tasting regularly.

  • Infusions

    This tea can be infused at least twice. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.

1 3

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).

Buddika Dissanayake took over an old tea estate at the foot of Adam's Peak in 2018. It was originally planted in 1890 and abandoned soon after.

The forest reclaimed the land and the tea bushes grew among the rich flora and fauna to become trees of about 9-12 meters tall. The vanilla orchid grows naturally within the forest and among the tea.

Before starting his own tea estate, Buddika worked for 18 years for big tea plantations. He left his corporate career to create Forest Hill — an artisanal tea project built on preserving nature, uplifting local communities, supporting small farmers, and reviving heritage tea practices in harmony with the environment.

The garden is 1,840 feet above sea level and covers around 100 acres. The team is made up of Bukkika and his wife together with 12 local women who work full time, with 8 men brought in to assist.

Most of this beautiful loose leaf tea is not only hand picked but hand rolled on this artisan garden (with a small orthodox roller used for large harvests as needed). The vanilla orchids are hand pollinated. The pods are harvested, cooked, then sun-dried by day and kept in cool shade by night for 4 months to develop rich vanillin. The tea and vanilla pods are then stored together in clay pots for two and a half months, allowing the aroma to infuse naturally.

Shipping, delivery & more...

Europe Shipping Information

Europe Tracked Delivery from €5.95/DKK 45/CHF 6

FREE Europe Tracked Delivery when you spend €70/DKK 515/CHF 65 or more

Europe Express Tracked Delivery from €21.95/DDK 165/CHF 21

FREE Europe Express Tracked Delivery when you spend €120/DKK 860 or more

Europe Express Courier from €26.95/DKK 205/CHF 26

Availability of rates depends on location and order weight. For a complete overview of our shipping rates please see our delivery page. Prices displayed at the checkout are based on live currency exchange rates and may differ slightly from the listed price.

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 product 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 UK & European Union have statutory rights not affected by this guarantee, but any bags of tea must remained sealed for this to be in effect.

*We only accept returns/refunds for tea within 30 days of receipt, because it is impossible for us to know if the tea has been stored correctly.

**We will endeavour to ask for pictures where possible - but if you have changed your mind and are outside of any statutory rights time period, return postage is payable by you.

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