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Tasting Notes: Before we tell you about the tea, we want to tell you about Mary Jayawardana. Her late husband, Mr. Dayapala Jayawardana, founded Lumbini Estate in 1984 with proceeds from an extraordinary sapphire he discovered while mining gemstones in Sri Lanka. He built it into one of the country's most recognized tea estates, and when he passed, his son Chaminda took over. Today Chaminda runs the estate, and Mary still lives right on the estate. She has her pick of the finest Ceylon teas from Lumbini every single day. She chooses this one every morning, so we wanted to honor her in the name. The cup is round, layered, and deeply satisfying, opening with ripe plum and honeyed sweetness, moving into soft cocoa notes, and finishing with a gentle caramelized warmth that lingers clean and long. Often described as a dessert tea, every element is in place and nothing overreaches. One thing worth knowing: the small, finely broken leaf style is not a sign of lower quality. Those golden and silver tips threaded through the leaf are a mark of careful, precise plucking, and the fine broken leaf produces a quick, consistent extraction with exceptional depth. Start with a one minute steep and add time from there. Features: Origin: Lumbini Estate, Ruhunu Region, Sri Lanka Cultivar: Cultivar 2043 Black (assamica) Grade: FBOPF EX SP Style: Single Estate Ceylon Black Tea Harvest: Fall 2025 Caffeine: High Lifestyle-Friendly: Vegan, Paleo, Keto Ingredients: black tea What Is FBOPF EX SP? If you are new to Ceylon tea grades, FBOPF EX SP stands for Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Extra Special. It sounds technical, but what it means in practice is that this is a fine, carefully graded broken leaf tea with a high proportion of golden tips — the most prized part of the tea plant. The short, broken leaf style produces a quick, full extraction with exceptional clarity and depth, which is why Mary's Breakfast Tea brews so beautifully in just one to three minutes. The small leaf size can sometimes be mistaken for lower quality, but the opposite is true here. This is a precisely crafted, hand-processed tea, and the golden and silver tips threaded through the leaf are a direct reflection of the care taken at every stage of plucking and production. Lumbini Estate: Where Mary's Breakfast Tea Comes From Lumbini Estate sits in Sri Lanka's southern Ruhunu region, near the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, one of Asia's last remaining primary rainforests. The surrounding forest shelters the tea gardens from harsh monsoon winds, creating a protected microclimate with filtered light, steady humidity, and conditions that allow for slower leaf development and deeper flavor concentration. It is a growing environment unlike anywhere else in Sri Lanka, and it produces teas that reflect that distinction. Founded in 1984, Lumbini Estate has earned international recognition for producing some of the country's most distinctive and highly awarded teas. The estate composts all organic matter for natural fertilization and actively supports reforestation in the surrounding area, ensuring that the land that makes this tea possible is preserved for generations to come. How Mary's Breakfast Tea Is Made Plucking at Lumbini is exacting and focused on fine leaf and bud sets, the source of those golden tips that define this tea. After harvest, oxidation is closely monitored and guided with precision, bringing the leaf to its ideal expression before drying locks in the flavor. The result is a dark, wiry, beautifully handcrafted leaf that produces a glowing amber liquor with a full, mouth-coating body and a structured astringency that carries the flavor forward with clarity rather than harshness. This particular lot represents one of Lumbini's finest expressions, with a rare handmade style and exceptional balance that sets it apart from typical southern-region Ceylons. How to Brew Mary's Breakfast Tea Use 1 teaspoon (approximately 2 grams) of loose leaf per 8 oz of water at 212°F. Start with a one minute steep and taste from there, adding time in 30 second increments until you find your ideal cup. Because the leaf is finely broken, extraction happens quickly — one to three minutes is the recommended range. Brewing light brings out the plum and honey notes beautifully. A longer steep deepens the cocoa and caramel character. Mary's Breakfast Tea is wonderful on its own, and equally good with a splash of milk if you prefer. It has the body and structure to hold up beautifully either way.
