Nepal Giribandhu Estate Tea BOP

Giribandhu sits in Jhapa, in Nepal's east, an estate over fifty years old that now runs on CTC processing with an eye toward sustainable practice going forward. This particular lot is a hand-plucked Broken Orange Pekoe, made the traditional way rather than machine-harvested, which shows in the cup: dark in colour, strong in body, with an orange cast to the liquor. It's a black tea built for a brisk morning pour rather than a delicate afternoon one. Steep it with boiling water for three to five minutes — closer to five if you want the full strength the leaf is capable of, shorter if you'd rather keep it milder.