QUALITY CLONALS
With over a century of close nurturing, the tea bushes have evolved into a library of quality clones that industry veterans come and visit.
With over a century of close nurturing, the tea bushes have evolved into a library of quality clones that industry veterans come and visit.
Clonal plants grown from a single tea leaf, are specially selected for particular characteristics. Clonals select, without altering the composition of the plant to create consistent desirable results every season.
The saplings reared in Luxmi’s nurseries are chosen to suit the weather and soil and most crucially, to enhance the attributes of existing varietals. Luxmi’s gardens are abound with quality clones that make the finest tea - TV1, Panitola and Samdang.
CRAFTING TEA
Luxmi nurtures robust varietals in its nursery. However, to make exceptional tea, the leaf is reviewed by an exceptional tea maker who will decide how each batch needs to be withered, fermented and dried.
A combination of the clonal’s variety, its soil and microclimate makeup, and the processing involved determines whether the leaf becomes a full-bodied black tea, a fresh green or a rare silver needle tea. The tea makers in the factories have access to the best tools of the trade, but more importantly the years of experience to know how a lead will best evolve. A succulent leaf loves a long wither and slow cooking in a drier, and that is Luxmi’s preferred recipe.
TASTING CENTER
An important step to producing fine tea is sipping through hundreds of harvests to determine the perfect blend for the tea variety.
An important step to producing fine tea is sipping through hundreds of harvests to determine the perfect blend for the tea variety.
In describing the characteristics of tea, professional tasters employ a vocabulary as picturesque as that used by wine tasters. Thus a tea leaf with fine appearance is “well twisted”; if too large for the grade to which it is assigned, it is described as “bold”. An immature tea tastes “green” whereas a “fully mature” is neither bitter nor flat. At Luxmi, tea tasting is what drives the quality, with regular sessions to get acquainted with different characters of tea.