Gently Stirred
Loose Leaf Tea
Assam Hathikuli Estate GBOP Naturally Grown Tea
In Assamese
Hathikuli means ‘Elephant-Frequent’, and the Tea Garden is found on the very
edge of the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park
hosts two-thirds of the world’s Great One-horned Rhinoceroses, boasts the
highest density of Tigers in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006
as well as being home to large breeding populations of Elephants, Wild Water
Buffalo and Swamp Deer as well as numerous other mammals, birds, reptiles and
plants.
The Tea Garden was
started by a Scotsman, James Finley in 1902, the estate came under ownership of
Tata Tea in 1983 and Amalgamated Plantations in 2007. The immediate proximity
to the Kaziranga Park was paramount in the choice of converting to Organic methods
initiated in 2007 and achieving completion in 2011. The estate also is part of
The Rainforest Alliance. They received a prestigious award from Sanctuary Asia,
‘Wind Under the Wings’, usually only given to individuals, for their decision
to go Organic especially as initial financial losses were high until the Garden
to bring pests under control by natural predators.
The tea is a very
nice, quite typically Assam, malty, strong and dark, in fact too strong for me,
it does need milk. Helen loves it. It is also great value. I did the usual five
minutes at 100oC initially, but I feel four minutes is probably closer to the
mark.