10,000 Miles to the Perfect Cup of Tea
Nestled in the valleys between the mythical cloud covered "Holy Mountain" of Adam's Peak and the Sinharaja rain forest lies Sri Lanka's (formerly Ceylon) lowland tea growing region of Sabaragamuwa. Known for it's unique fast growing tea bushes, Sabaragamuwa is where Persian Choice tea leaves begin their journey.
With its humidity, cool temperatures and frequent rain, Ceylon has the perfect climate for growing tea. Lush green tea plantations fill the landscape with immaculately manicured rows of tea bushes that follow the contours of the hills and valleys. Ceylon has been growing tea since the 1800's and under British rule developed a method of tea cultivation that yields the finest teas on the planet.
Tea cultivation is an art performed by the Indian Tamil women of Sri Lanka. For generations these tea cultivating masters have plucked tea leaves by hand. Every leaf that leaved the Island nation of Sri Lanka is picked by hand by these master pickers. Skilled pickers painstakingly pluck the youngest leaves at the top of each branch. A tea picker can pluck up to 50 pounds of tea per day.
After the leaves are collected they're sent to a collection station where they're weighed and graded. Our buyers inspect each harvest and reserve the top 1% directly from the growers.
Once teas are sorted and graded, they're sent to a production station where the teas are laid out on drying beds and gently withered using centuries old tea machinery. When the teas reach the right temperature and moisture level they are moved to a rolling station where the leaves are rolled and agitated. Rolling breaks the cell wall in the tea leaf and allows for adequate fermenting and the perfect flavor development.
After the rolling process, the tea is then baked using a specialized tea baking machine. The tea moves through a conveyor and is heated until it reaches the perfect color. After the tea is baked samples are sent to the cupping room where our buyers taste and score the teas they reserved. If the tea passes our standards and scores high enough, they are purchased and sent to port to begin the 10,000 mile journey to Oakland.
Once tea arrives and is received into our factory, we run a series of quality checks including sensory evaluations, test blends, and blind cupping to ensure the tea can be sent to our blending rooms to become Persian Royal Teas. Earl Grey is blended in our special tea blenders and black teas are sent to mixing rooms where they're mixed with other fine black teas. After packaging, Persian Royal Tea is ready to be shipped to retailers across the world and enjoyed by tea connoisseur everywhere.
