Please accept our apologies with the delay in sending the April boxes and publishing this article. We had some technical problems with processing of everything subscription related in April. Thankfully it is all fixed now, so service from this point should resume as normal.
Welcome to the April 2024 edition of the Curious Tea subscription! Here’s a closer look at the four exciting new teas that we are sharing with our subscribers this month.
For the light side of the selection we have two brand new teas from suppliers who we have worked with for a long time already. From Brazil’s Sitio Shimada we have a new wonderfully balanced and approachable green tea. While from Colombia’s Bitaco we are featuring a newly developed white tea that is more oxidised, delivering complex flavours akin to an aged white tea.
For the dark side of the selection we venture to the same producers, although featuring their more classic output. From Sitio Shimada we have their smooth black tea that has a classic black tea profile that is extremely well balanced. Finally, the last tea that we selected is the Bitaco Leafy Black, which is an improved version of their Leafy black tea that has been a staple feature of our shop for many years.
Our Discovery subscription boxes contain 10g taster pouches of all of the above mentioned teas. If you are a subscriber you will benefit from a 10% discount on all teas from our tea shop!
Let’s get into further detail on these teas featured in our April tea subscription boxes.
Bitaco Special White
Bitaco Special White comes from an organic tea plantation located high up in the West Andes north-west of Cali. While Colombia is well-known for its coffee production, tea is still quite a novel crop to be harvested here. This Bitaco Special White is made as a white tea and is a recently introduced new tea from Bitaco. This tea features a balanced yet complex taste that makes us think of aged white teas as well as white teas that have a higher degree of oxidation on the leaves. This particular batch was picked and processed in February 2024.
This Colombian white tea is grown near the town of La Cumbre, situated high up in the West Andes. The altitude of the tea plantation is between 1,800 and 2,050 metres, making the growing conditions perfect for high grade tea. The prevalent weather, consistent rainfall, rich soil and mountainous slopes all combine to make a perfect but unique terroir. The area is also remote and surrounded by unspoilt natural terrain. The plantation is certified as organic under USDA, EU and Colombian regulations.
Bitaco Tea Estate is run by Agricola Himalayas S.A. and they have extensive social responsibility programmes run in the area. These focus especially on education of children in the local area but also provide extensive support for other rural projects.
This white tea is a newly developed tea following extensive experimentation. A less expensive everyday white tea is also produced, but we think that this ‘Special’ version displays layered complexity that is not found in the other version. It is definitely fascinating to see the development of new tea types from the same producer and how gathered knowledge and knowhow works to not only increase the quality every year but also to enable them to introduce new tea types such as this Bicato Special White.
This tea consists of larger leaves with varied coloration. Especially once brewed, the higher oxidation of the leaves becomes more prominent. It has a bright lightly amber liquor with a lovely fruity aroma. The complex flavours are extremely well balanced with notes of fruits and wood and plenty of sweetness. It has a lasting aftertaste that is quite comforting in nature. The sweetness carries through the overall flavour, nicely balancing with the more drying woody notes. This is a really delightful tea and will appeal to fans of bolder white teas or indeed aged white teas.
We suggest brewing parameters of 80°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste, brewing 2 or more times. Why not try using higher temperature and shorter infusion time, especially if brewing this gong fu style!
You can also buy this Bitaco Special White tea in our online shop.
Sítio Shimada Chá Verde da Vovó
Chá Verde da Vovó from Sítio Shimada is a newly introduced green tea from São Paulo state, Brazil. Most tea in Brazil is grown in this state as the climate and landscape provide excellent tea growing conditions. This Brazilian green tea delivers a smooth vegetal flavour, making it quite easy-going. We source this tea directly from Sítio Shimada (previously known as Obaatian). January 2024 harvest.
Here is a small video about the inspirational people behind this unique Brazilian black tea and the production process of Chá da Vovó at Sítio Shimada:
Chá da Vovó (or Grandmother’s Tea) is produced on a family tea plantation that is managed by the family of Dona Ume Shimada. She is 93 years old and with the help of her family has resurrected the tea garden in Registro in 2014. Utilising some unique tea processing machinery, they have managed to produce a truly spectacular black tea of highest quality and most unusual terroir. While for a some time, only black tea was produced, recently this green tea was introduced and we think it’s a lovely example!
The bud and two leaves of this tea are hand plucked from tea plants of the Assamica varietal and carefully hand processed. Being a green tea from Assamica plants, one can expect to find quite a bit of tannins and astringency. But with this Chá Verde da Vovó there are no such qualities, testament to careful and knowledgeable processing.
This Brazilian green tea consists of large wiry leaves. It produces a superbly smooth liquor that delivers a very classic green tea profile. The main notes are vegetal, reminiscent of cooked asparagus and fresh spinach. It also has a pleasant level of savouriness without becoming too drying or astringent. The verdant aftertaste is smooth with top notes of seaweed and just a hint of smoke. Overall it has complexity that is delivered with an overall impression of smoothness and drinkability.
Chá Verde da Vovó Brazilian Green tea is best brewed at 80°C for 2 minutes according to your taste. It should also be brewed multiple times, slowly increasing the steeping time with each subsequent brew.
You can also buy this Sitio Shimada Cha Verde da Vovo green tea in our online shop.
Sítio Shimada Chá Preto da Vovó
Chá da Vovó from Sítio Shimada is an unusual black tea from São Paulo state, Brazil. This classic black tea delivers a bold tea profile that is smooth and balanced with malty, mineral and sweet fruity notes. We source this tea directly from Sítio Shimada (previously known as Obaatian). January 2024 harvest.
Most tea in Brazil is grown in São Paulo state as the climate and landscape provide excellent tea growing conditions. Most Brazilian-grown teas are destined for the tea bag and tea extract markets and therefore are not of very good quality. Chá da Vovó grown by the Shimada Family is an exception to this as they produce a true artisanal style tea of highest quality that is grown in a biodynamic fashion and to organic standards.
The bud and two leaves of this tea are hand plucked from tea plants of the Assamica varietal and carefully hand processed. The character of this tea is strong as dictated by the plants that are used for it. However the dark leaves produce a liquor that lacks much of the astringency that can be often found in other teas made from the Assamica varietal. The liquor is medium strength with a malty and balanced flavour. Lack of astringency brings out some sweetness in this tea. There are fruity notes evident, such as of sweet citrus, that complete the flavour. We also found some tobacco and leather notes that add to complexity of flavours. The aftertaste is lasting, with a pleasant lightly tannic effect.
Chá da Vovó Brazilian Black tea is best brewed at 90°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste. It should also be brewed multiple times, slowly increasing the steeping time with each subsequent brew. This tea is well suited for gong fu brewing.
You can also buy this Sitio Shimada Cha Preto da Vovo black tea in our online shop.
Bitaco Leafy Black
Bitaco Leafy Black tea comes from Colombia, a region that is not really known to be a tea growing region. Colombian coffee is well known and regarded around the world but this unique tea is a perfect example of what can be achieved in terms of tea production in the mountainous regions of Colombia. This Bitaco Colombian Black tea is from the February 2024 harvest.
While we have been selling a black tea from Bitaco for some time, the guys over in Colombia are never resting and constantly innovating and improving their teas. While we started with just one black tea version from them, this was improved into three different black teas: Wiry, Leafy and Tippy. The Wiry black is the most delicate and the Tippy is the strongest. So we find this Leafy version to strike a really nice balance between lighter fruity and stronger malty flavours. The new batches from 2024 have been further refined in terms of leaf material used and the processing involved.
The neat dark leaves produce a medium strength amber liquor with a slightly malty aroma. This tea is superbly smooth and flavoursome. The character is sweet yet a little savoury with malty, stony and fruity notes. The fruity notes are reminiscent of pomegranate and mixed wild berries!
We suggest brewing parameters of 90°C for 3-5 minutes according to your taste, brewing 2 or more times.
You can also buy this Bitaco Leafy Black tea in our online shop.
We really do hope that you enjoy this tea selection and are looking forward to the selection in our May boxes, which will be a Taiwan spring tea special! We will feature two teas made from the same ‘Hong Yu’ Red Jade cultivar: a complex white tea and a characteristic GABA black tea. The lighter side of the selection would be completed by a lovely floral Green Heart Oolong from Alishan. While on the darker side we selected a black tea made from the newly introduced Qi Yun cultivar.
If reading this has made you curious about our teas, but you don’t yet subscribe to a monthly tea selection, you can sign up for our tea boxes in just a few clicks. We ship worldwide from London, UK.
We always love to hear from you, so if you have any questions, suggestions or just want to chat about tea, email us at contact@curioustea.com, via our Facebook page or via Twitter.
