Location, Cultivation, Processing
Glenburn moonshine is a very rare luxury tea which can only be produced once a year in the narrow 2 to 3 week window of the first flush in March; the leaves of this unique white darjeeling were carefully harvested by hand on the 8th of March between 11am and 3pm. This white darjeeling tea can only be picked by the most experienced harvesters due to the special leaves and buds, which are smaller and more pliable than those of a conventional first flush, requiring great care not to break them. Only 1/4 of the usual amount of tea can be picked from moonshine, which makes this precious tea very expensive. The fine and supple leaf has no astringency, but rather distinct citrus and peach aromas.
At harvest, only the buds and 1-2 young leaves are picked. This is followed by a very long withering period to achieve about 63% moisture loss. Drying the leaves themselves is a particularly gentle process conducted in withering troughs with the aid of fans. Depending on environmental conditions, it can take up to 8-12 hours for the leaf to wilt. This strong wilting is characteristic for the production of black darjeeling teas and is also very well suited for the production of high-quality white teas. Slowly drying the tea at an altitude of up to 1,000m in the unique terroir of the Himalayas gives it a special lightness and freshness. In the next step, the leaves are rolled extremely carefully for about 10-15 minutes. Both during withering and rolling, the leaves are handled with the utmost care to avoid even the smallest damage and cracks in the leaf, as these would lead to oxidation and thus mask the subtle, highly elegant moonshine aroma.
Moonshine is a truly fine tea, winning first place in the white tea category at the North American Tea Championships.
Single Origin
This tea comes 100% from the above mentioned tea estate in Teesta, Darjeeling, India, direct sourcing.
