Darjeeling Gopaldhara Clonal White

Darjeeling Gopaldhara Clonal White is a wonderfully complex First Flush white tea from Gopaldhara Tea Estate that consists of fine young tippy leaves of select clonal tea bushes. Simply dried in the sun, it produces a fruity and floral liquor with notes of light wood, hay, vanilla and honey.

Brewing guide: 2.5g in 250ml water at 80°C for 2-3 minutes

£4.00£17.00

(10-50g)

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Origin:Gopaldhara Tea Estate, Darjeeling, India
Elevation:1,700 - 2,100m
Cultivar:Select Clonal Plants
Harvest time:April 2021 - Invoice EX-19
Sourcing:Direct from Gopaldhara

Description

Darjeeling Gopaldhara Clonal White is an exquisite white tea from Gopaldhara Tea Estate. It consists entirely of fine young leaves of select clonal plants grown at and altitude of 1,700 – 2,100m. Entirely hand picked and carefully processed by hand in order to retain the shape of the fine leaf. The oxidation is light and natural, the leaves are simply dried in the sun under controlled conditions. The exquisite taste is unlike anything else from Darjeeling, it is fruity and floral with notes of vanilla and honey. Simply a must-try! April 2021 harvest, only 6kg was made in this batch.

You may also be interested in our other 2021 harvest teas from Gopaldhara and Rohini Tea Estates.

Like all our Gopaldhara teas, we source this tea directly from Rishi Saria, the owner and director of Gopaldhara and Rohini Tea Estates. Gopaldhara Tea Estate is nestled in the Mirik Valley, in the Himalayan foothills, and is one of the highest tea estates in Darjeeling with elevations of up to 2,100m. It is renowned for producing teas of exceptional quality and very often quite unusual character. The estate is also known for innovation, with new types of tea that utilise new and traditional production methods being developed every season.

This Clonal White tea is perhaps one of the best limited production batches we tried from Gopaldhara in 2021. It is also one of the most naturally-produced teas. The plucking is carried out entirely by hand and the plucking standard is extremely high, consisting of fine, young tippy leaves. After plucking, instead of rolling and oxidising, the tea undergoes natural but controlled withering in the sun, until the desired level is achieved. Following this, the tea is left naturally to dry. During this hand processing, the tea does go through a very light, natural oxidation. So this is a very delicate, but also very natural processing.

The leaves of this white tea from Gopaldhara are very attractive, with a mixed colour and plenty of silver tips. It is immediately obvious looking at both the dry and the wet leaf that it is of an exceptionally high standard of plucking and that the processing was carefully carried out by hand. This Clonal White tea produces a bright liquor with a light yellow colour. There is a fruity floral aroma with a touch of woodiness and some hay notes. This is a very smooth tea, with a thick mouthfeel and finely balanced flavours. There are lightly floral, woody, fruity notes and an overall sweet impression reminiscent of vanilla and honey. The aftertaste is clean and sweet, developing more tangy wood notes at the very finish with a hint of mineral tannins. This is a complex Darjeeling white tea that has no harshness or overpowering woodiness found in many other Indian white teas.

This tea is best brewed at 80°C for 2-3 minutes and can be brewed 2+ times. Like all top grade teas from Gopaldhara and Rohini, you can try experimenting with gong fu brewing.