Description Shangri-La Ruby Spring Snail Black Tea Shangri-La Ruby Spring Snail is a highly aromatic, fully oxidized black tea from Nepal. There, it is the qualitative spearhead of the eponymous “bought leaf” tea factory (Shangri-La”) founded in 1999, which buys and processes freshly picked tea leaves from 350 small farmers in the region. In this way, the tea factory ensures the existence of its suppliers, whose tea gardens are either too small for an own processing unit or whose operators simply lack the know-how to process top-quality tea such as this one. The raw material used to process this tea comes from tea gardens at altitudes between 1500 and 1800 meters. In addition to the terroir, they also share the principle of strictly natural cultivation without the use of any pesticides and/or artificial fertilizers. Another shared quality feature is the meticulously implemented picking standard of 2 1. This means that only the young, still unopened bud together with the two youngest adjacent leaves qualify for picking . The processing takes place according to the classic black tea processing method. The tea leaf gets its characteristic snail shape through a three-hour “shaping” (= rolling) process. At the end of this process, oxidtion is stopped through heat induction. The result clearly shows the high share of gold-colored “tips”, corresponding to the unopened buds in the picking standard. The extremely careful picking and processing becomes particularly evident in the wet bronze-colored leaves after infusing. In terms of taste, Shangri-La Ruby Spring Snail is dominated by a canon of intense malty base notes with a light chocolatey, gently tart finish. Bitterness or astringency, on the other hand, remain completely foreign to the rust-red infusion even with extended steeping periods. Preparation Initially poor 2-3g/100ml Shangri-La Ruby Spring Snail in a tea pot with boiling hot water (90°C-100°C). Then let infuse for 3-5 minutes, according to taste preference, for a delicious intensive first steep. After this, a subsequent infusion does a lot more than just keeping the pleasant aftertaste alive! Is Nepal the new Darjeeling? The history of tea cultivation in Nepal reaches back to the middle of the 19th centruy. Since then, tea from Ilam, Nepal’s first tea cultivation area, has gained a worldwide reputation for its black tea. However, just like in neighbouring Darjeeling, much has happened here during recent years. As a result, the general trend in Nepal is towards partial oxidation processing. Also, there’s quite some experimenting in green and white teas. Friends of classic black teas will find it all the more gratifying that the processing of Shangri-La Ruby Spring Snail uncompromisingly follows the ancient tradition of processing fully oxidized teas . Find more top quality teas from Nepal here: Tea from Nepal @ Siam Tea Shop Related