The teas
Leaf, aroma, liquor and how to brew, for every pouch we make. All teas are 100 g, whole leaf, and ship from Amazon in the US and UK.
Khongea is one of the few gardens on the Brahmaputra growing P126 clonal bushes, the ones that throw big golden buds. Picked in May and June, this is the estate's showpiece: warm, spicy, malty, with a caramel sweetness that stands up to milk and needs no sugar.
Brew: 95°C · 3–4 min · takes milk well
The first tender shoots after winter, covered in silver tips. Light, bright and crisp, with citrus and floral notes and a soft peach finish. This is the Darjeeling people mean when they say Darjeeling. Drink it plain.
Brew: 85°C · 3 min · no milk
Cut, torn and curled from the peak May–June harvest, so it brews fast and strong. Thick-bodied and malty with a sweet finish. Make a proper cup of chai with milk and sugar, or drink it black if you like it bold.
Brew: 100°C · 3–4 min · or simmer for chai
Open the pouch and you can see the spices: chunks of ginger, bark of cinnamon, whole cardamom, cloves and black pepper folded into Khongea second flush CTC. No powders, no flavourings. Simmer with milk and it tastes like chai made at home, because that is how it is made.
Brew: Simmer 5 min with milk and water · sweeten to taste
Our only two-garden tea, and both gardens are ours. Rich, malty Assam gives it body; a measure of Darjeeling lifts the aroma and adds a clean, fresh finish. Gentle malt and chocolate notes. Good with milk, better without.
Brew: 95°C · 3–4 min · with or without milk
The last flush of the year, picked in November as the hills cool. Fuller and rounder than spring tea, with sweet berry and floral notes over a woody, mellow base. Rich muscatel character and warm amber colour. A Darjeeling for cold evenings.
Brew: 90°C · 3–4 min · no milk
Most Earl Grey is a thin blend with a lot of perfume. Ours starts with Khongea's tightly rolled whole-leaf black tea, so there is a malty backbone under the bergamot. The citrus is real Italian bergamot oil, applied lightly enough that you still taste the tea.
Brew: 95°C · 3 min · with or without milk
A single-estate Assam base with a lingering sweet strawberry note. The tea does the work: malty and full, so the fruit reads as dessert rather than perfume. Brew it strong, chill it over ice, and it is the summer drink you keep going back to.
Brew: 95°C · 3 min · hot or iced
Darjeeling green tea, smooth and slightly sweet, with real spearmint and peppermint leaf. Cooling, clean and refreshing. Take it hot after a meal or cold-brew it overnight for the best iced tea you will make this year.
Brew: 80°C · 2–3 min · hot or iced
A Darjeeling green base with flecks of dried lemon and ginger and a note of honey. Bright citrus up front, warm ginger underneath. The cup people reach for on a cold morning or when a cold is coming on.
Brew: 80°C · 2–3 min · no milk