An extraordinary Ruhunu with 'mouth feel' and a plum finish but with a very rare handmade leaf style. A tea to note!

Ingredients From: Sri Lanka

Region(s): Ruhunu

Shipping Port(s): Colombo

Grade(s): FBOPFEXS (Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Flavory Extra Special)

Growing Altitudes: 500 – 1500 feet above sea level

Manufacture Type(s): Orthodox (Traditional leafy)

Cup Characteristics: An extraordinary Ruhunu with 'mouth feel' and a plum finish but with a very rare handmade leaf style. A tea to note!

Infusion: Tending golden orange.

Luxury Ingredients: Black tea

Information

Lumbini Tea Factory, located in the Matara district of Sri Lanka’s Southern Province is by all counts a model for the global tea industry. Not only are their teas utterly spectacular, but also their commitment to safe practices, sustainability and the environment is second to none.

Let’s start with the nuts and bolts. The family run factory was commissioned in 1984 to produce a capacity of 3000 kg of finished tea per month. Over time, that number has increased to 50,000 kg of finished tea per month. To produce that much tea, 300,000 kg of fresh green leaf is purchased from nearly 2500 growers in the region, or is plucked from the factory’s own 150 acres under tea and the 1200 acres of land it rents to grow fresh leaf. Daily production is handled by 100 full time staff that sort, process and grade all finished tea. It’s quite a serious operation.

It’s also an exceptionally well-run operation. Lumbini’s attention to detail has seen it earn its HACCP certification, ISO 9001:2000 Certification, a merit award as the best tea factory in Sri Lanka by the STI, Specialty Tea Institute of America, the highest price ever at the Colombo auction, and a further award from the STI, a gold award for the tea we are offering here, the Lumbini FBOPFEXS, Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Extra Special. If that isn’t enough to convince you that this is one heck of a tea operation, consider also that Lumbini composts all its organic waste to be used as a natural fertilizer and plants trees to help maintain their surrounding forests. (The estate is located near the Sinharaja Forest, one of Asia’s last virgin rainforests.) In short, Lumbini is a top of the line tea supplier.

Now, as we mentioned, the tea offered here is a Specialty Tea Institute gold medallist. Quite frankly, it’s easy to understand why. The finished leaf is exceptionally well crafted and very stylish, overflowing with golden and silver tips. The cup is likewise superb with an amber liquor opening up to a refreshing medium body, mouth filling astringency and delicate notes of plum on the finish. Lumbini FBOPFEXS is an exceptional tea from an exceptional source.