Seasonal Teas
With the change in seasons come a range of heavenly liqueurs…
As the seasons change, transformations take place in the environment around us with nature taking its perfectly timed deviations towards sustaining life and its gradual progress through time. Some transformations are very visible while others are more subtle but no less awe-inspiring. Tea, already impressive in its high composition of wellness properties and the nearly infinite range of taste and aromatic nuances, amazes us once more with the seasonal changes that come in to form across different geographies and altitudes.
Sri Lanka; although a tiny mass of land, displays a high degree of diversity in its geographic and climatic variations. This contributes to the many seasonal appearances that are found in Ceylon Tea. Daytime and nighttime temperature fluctuations, frost buildup, dry winds and other climatic changes cause chemical reactions in the tea plant that drive these seasonal characters to appear. Lumbini Tea Valley, through decades of experience have achieved the rare skill level in being able to identify and source these seasonal teas within the short time span they occur.
Nuwara Eliya, Dimbulla, Uva and Ruhuna are the main seasonal appearances that are found in Sri Lanka, and occur at different times of the year. The ‘Nuwara Eliya’ and ‘Dimbulla’ seasonal appearances occur during the months of February and March while the ‘Uva’ season presents itself during the months of July and August. The ‘Ruhuna High’ seasonal appearance however comes in for a longer period of time, occurring in the months of February, March, July, and August. The liqueurs from these rare teas showcase distinct flavor tones. ‘Nuwara Eliya; the champagne of Ceylon seasonal teas, boasts a flavor palette of mountain flowers and citrusy notes. ‘Dimbula’ too brings to mind a bouquet of seasonal flowers with the notes of Jasmine being prominent. The ‘Uva’ seasonal flavor must be the most distinctive and unique, with its pungently sweet notes of natural menthol. ‘Ruhuna High’ too is extremely unique with its flavor of fragrant, lightly-roasted peanut coupled with rainforest floral honey. Each tea is a representation of unique seasonal beauty, capturing the momentary geographic and climatic transformations condensed into four unique cups.
