KOREA - THE NOIR JUKRO

Origin: Corea, Hadong district, Giri mountains
Tea colour: black tea
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: very delicate, long leaf, only gently rolled.
Colour: matt black with touches of very dark green.
Scents: initially planty, then much warmer roasted notes (roasted cocoa, coffee), vanilla, woody, cooked fruits, typical roasted notes, cocoa beans at the beginning of the roasting process.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Scents: initially very chocolaty (roasted and milky vanilla), very powerful and sweet. Notes of cocoa, chocolate, butter, milk and vanilla. Also notes of dark fruits (plum), quetsche plum jam and crème chocolat.

Liquor
Texture: very supple, powdery texture. Good, persistent presence in the mouth.
Aromas: sweet vanilla, milky (warm milk) and roasted cocoa and coffee notes. Typically evokes chocolate notes combined with notes of cooked fruits (plum and quetsche plum jam) and touches of honey and waxed wood (sandalwood).
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: Wonderful. Well balanced. Rich and complex throughout. The cocoa bouquet has exceptional length in the mouth.

Our verdict: This tea is really quite unique. Plucked and processed entirely by hand at the Jukro farm, this is one of the best black teas produced in the country. The cocoa, vanilla bouquet evokes the rich note of the China Qimen Mao Feng teas, but its strength, richness and intensity takes us more in the direction of the best dark Wu Longs from Taiwan. An outstanding gastronomic experience!

CHINA AIGUILLES D'OR

Origin: China, Yunnan
Tea colour: black
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: long golden buds with yellow glints. A magnificent plucking.
Colour: golden.
Scents: floral, honey, animal, vanilla and woody notes.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Appearance: beautiful buds, sometimes with a young leaf attached.
Colour: a uniform brown-red.
Scents: honey, cooked fruit (sweet purple plum, mirabelle) and sweet vanilla as well as very distinct woody notes.

Liquor
Colour: coppery, with red glints.
Texture: velvety texture, full and long lasting.
Flavour: acidic.
Aromas: honey, cooked fruit (plums), woody (wax-polished wood, bark) and sweet vanilla accompanied by a few notes of undergrowth (mushroom, tobacco).
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: very round in the mouth thanks to the velvety texture present from start to finish, and the lovely succession of notes. The woody notes are beautifully long.

Our verdict: Les Aiguilles d’Or (“golden needles”) are known, along with the Bourgeons de Yunnan (“Yunnan buds”), as being one of the rarest, most exceptional black teas. This plucking of the finest downy buds acquires, following oxidation, a beautiful golden sheen which, when infused, produces a wonderfully smooth, fragrant, deep red liquor. A true delight for connoisseurs!

CHINA QIMEN MU DAN

« Qimen Peony »
Origin: China, Anhui
Tea colour: black
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: a hundred young leaves are stitched together in a star shape.
Colour: black and golden.
Scents: floral (orange blossom), zesty (orange), woody, terpenic.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Appearance: the “peony” of tea opens up.
Colour: red, brown.
Scents: fruit (cooked fruit) and jam (cooked strawberries), accompanied by woody, vanilla (vanilla pod) aromas and very rich cocoa notes.

Liquor
Colour: coppery.
Texture: supple and smooth.
Aromas: mild and sweet, vanilla, cooked fruit and a few floral notes.
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: round and smooth, with mild and sweet yet heavy notes.

Our verdict: Inspired by the eponymous green tea “Huang Shan Mu Dan”, this is a finely crafted tea of very high quality, from Anhui. The finest Qimen leaves have been carefully “sculpted” into a star shape with a very refined fragrance. The delicate star will gradually unfurl during the four-minute infusion in your cup.

DARJEELING PHUGURI DJ58 TIPPY CLONAL SFTGFOP1 - 2009 SECOND FLUSH

Origin: Darjeeling
Tea colour: black
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: large crumpled leaves (gently rolled) with plenty of downy buds.
Colour: brown, with some leaves still khaki green and barely rolled.
Scents: bread crust, fruity, woody, vanilla.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Colour: lovely blend of coppery brown and green.
Scents: rose, orange blossom, butter-vanilla, very rich with some milder notes.

Liquor
Colour: pale copper with golden yellow glints.
Texture : smooth, thick texture, full in the mouth.
Aromas: rose-floral and citrus. Initially fruity (mango), then woody, combined with fresh planty and vanilla accents. Long notes of stewed fruit and wax-polished wood, with fresh planty accents.
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: elegant, rich, fresh and long in the mouth.

Our verdict: This plantation has been offering extraordinary “clonal” pluckings for the last three years and this 58th batch is an ideal example.

YUNNAN TIPS

A spectacular plucking of Yunnan, composed almost entirely of very long golden tips. This exceptional tea is to black tea what the Silver Needle is to white tea: an essential for all lovers of fine teas. The infused leaf has a powerful, deep aroma, with almost meaty, truffle-like notes of damp earth and rich foliage. The liquor is dark, almost black, and its full, generous fragrance evokes cocoa.

Undoubtedly the best of the Yunnans.

QIMEN IMPERIAL

The finest quality Qimen. This plucking is extremely difficult to obtain as it is one of the rarest and most prized teas of Anhui. Deliberately produced in small quantities, Qimen Imperial is renowned for its unique aroma and malty flavour.

DARJEELING RISHEEHAT DJ147 «CHINA» SFTGFOP1 – 2009 SECOND FLUSH

Origin: Darjeeling
Tea colour: black
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: lovely leaves with plenty of downy buds.
Colour: mixture of brown, copper and khaki, with golden buds.
Scents: vanilla, woody, heady spicy and fruity (cooked fruit).

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Colour: copper and khaki.
Scents: highly fragrant: woody (wax-polished wood), preserved citrus and vanilla.

Liquor
Colour: gleaming, coppery.
Texture: initially supple, then an astringency that lines the whole mouth and adds presence.
Flavour: initially sweet, bitter, slightly acidic.
Aromas: woody, liquorice and spicy (star anise), honey, stewed fruit (eg. grape, mirabelle plum) and vanilla.
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: well balanced, rich and harmonious. Long fresh notes (twigs, fresher fruit) and vanilla notes, thanks to the astringency and slight bitterness.

Our verdict: A truly excellent tea from this year’s harvest! Derived from China plants, this plucking shows all the qualities of the best second flush Darjeelings. The woody, fruity notes are well balanced with a few fruity accents which give it great elegance.

CHINA BAI LIN GONG FU

“White jade for the Gong Fu”
Origin: China, Fujian
Tea colour: black tea
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 90°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: rolled leaves with plenty of small buds.
Colour: blackened leaves and golden buds.
Scent: honey, fruit and stewed fruit (prune, mirabelle, rhubarb), vanilla, cocoa and wood based notes (wax polished wood).

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Scent: honey, fruit with apple, mirabelle and prune notes, as well as almond, vanilla and woody notes.

Liquor
Colour: a clear, gleaming coppery colour.
Texture: supple, powdery, developing a delicate astringency in the back of the mouth.
Aromas: initially plenty of honey and fruit, followed by wood and undergrowth, with floral accents over the top (geranium).
Aromatic profil and lenght in the mouth: the notes are present right from the start, and the intensity is long lasting and full. Woody, liquorice and spicy notes come through.

Our verdict: A surprising name for a black tea! In fact, it derives from the cultivar, the famous “Da Bai” – “Great White” – which supplies the leaves for both the Fujian white teas (Bai Mu Dan, Silver Needles) and for the spring pluckings of this region (Bai Mao Hou, for example). Processed in the same way as black tea, the Da Bai leaves produce a rich, complex brew not unlike the best Qimens. Tea fans will love it!

YUNNAN D'OR

Golden Yunnan is an exceptional crop of a rare delicacy that Le Palais des Thés experts source directly from the plantations, something which is very difficult in China because the marketing of tea is still very centralized on a regional basis. This is one of the finest, the most delicate and the most subtle of the Yunnan teas.

NEW VITHANAKANDE F.B.O.P.F.E.X.S

Origin: Sri Lanka, Ratnapura
Tea colour: black tea
Water temperature: 90°C
Length of infusion: 4’


Dry leaves
Appearance: long, dark and well-rolled leaves that are not broken despite what might be assumed from the grade. Plucking features plenty of buds, somewhere between gold and silver.
Scents: fruity bouquet (ripe apples, strawberry), chocolaty and woody.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Scents: woody (damp wood) and fruity (apple), note of “wet flowers”.

Liquor
Colour: mahogany, nice and clear liquor.
Texture: slightly oily, with a hint of astringency.
Flavours: slight bitterness.
Aromas: woody and honey notes – typical of low-grown teas – culminating in the distinct presence of an apple note.
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: initially soft and supple, the notes mainly develop at the mid-point. Long in the mouth, supported by the bitterness.

Our verdict: the F.B.O.P.F.E.X.S from New Vithanakande is one of the best low-grown teas in Sri Lanka. Although it represents only 1% of the garden’s production, this grade’s finesse and aromatic richness have impressed connoisseurs over the last few years.

QIMEN HAO YA

Like Qimen Impérial, this tea grows on the Huang Mountain. It is a high quality crop. The tea has a delicate, slightly chocolaty, taste. A subtle tea for the late afternoon.

DARJEELING TONGSONG BIO F.T.G.F.O.P.1

Origin: Darjeeling, Tongsong
Tea colour: black tea
Length of infusion: 4’
Water temperature: 85°C

Dry leaves
Appearance: with buds.
Colour: very coppery and brown.
Scents: highly fragrant. Strong fruity notes (grapes), woody and zesty aromas.

Brewed leaves (infusion)
Colour: green, copper and brown.
Scents: A fruity attack (grape) with woody notes (twigs) against a vanilla backdrop.

Liquor
Colour: glistening, coppery.
Texture: very supple, then astringent at the back of the mouth, giving lots of lingering character.
Flavour: a very sweet flavour.
Aromas: fruity notes, both cooked fruit and fruit paste (grape, apple), followed by liquorice and woody notes (dried wood) and finally honey.
Aromatic profil and lenght in the mouth: a long liquorice note, followed by cooked fruit.

Our verdict: A really lovely second flush Darjeeling from an estate that is particularly well known for its environmental stance. It has the typical flavours of a summer plucking, with ripe fruit and a complex aroma.

DARJEELING PUTTABONG T.F.G.F.O.P.SECOND FLUSH

A prestigious estate and of one of the oldest in Darjeeling, famed for its pluckings rich in buds. The second flush produces a dark infused leaf and an amber liquor with depth and a lot of body. Its unique full, turns it into an ideal morning tea.

ASSAM MAIJIAN-T.G.F.O.P. SECOND FLUSH

One of the best Assams. With a large leaf and plenty of golden tips, this remarkable tea produces an amber liquor with a rich fragrance. A very fine tea which is flowery in the cup and long in the mouth.

DARJEELING CASTLETON T.F.G.F.O.P. SECOND FLUSH

One of the most famous Darjeeling gardens which produces very consistent pluckings. This is a fine, well-structured tea which develops complex aromatic notes in the cup - both flowery and woody - with a good balance between the two. Suitable for drinking throughout the day.

YUNNAN DE MAI BIO

China organic black tea. From the An Ding estate in Yunnan province.
A wonderful, tippy plucking of one of the best black teas in the world, Yunnan. A full flavour with a touch of honey; long in the mouth. The perfect tea for connoisseurs who prefer an organic brew.

DARJEELING MARGARET'S HOPE T.F.G.F.O.P. SECOND FLUSH

Fruity with a great character. Special feature: it is invigorating and dark because of the greater proportion of Assam tea plants (20%) than Chinese plants on the plantation, something that is not very common in Darjeeling. It is a much sought after tea, which Darjeeling enthusiasts find ideal in the morning.

DARJEELING GIELLE FTGFOP In Between Flush

A wonderful tea, characteristic of the in between flushes produced every year by India.

DARJEELING THURBO F.T.G.F.O.P. SECOND FLUSH

A carefully selected harvest with a high bud content. A very good afternoon tea with well developed flowery aromas.

EARL GREY BIO

A blend of two organic black teas from Sri Lanka and Southern India, scented with the natural essence of organic bergamot. A delicate orange note complements the typically fresh, lively flavour of Earl Grey. A lovely tea.