JUN CHIYABARI SHIIBA FIRST FLUSH CERTIFIÉ BIO
Another very extraordinary quality tea from Jun Chiyabari which could be described as competition tea, because if he participated, he would get medals. It is produced with the first leaves of spring 2022 from the Zairai (Japan) and Quing Xing (Taiwan) tea trees on the plantation. There is umami, a lot of floral, and a lot of freshness in this Nepal/Japan/Taiwan golden triangle. Only 1kg of this batch was produced this spring.
The plantation:
The Jun Chiyabari Garden, literally the tea garden illuminated by the full moon, was created in 2000 with the aim of establishing a certified organic high-altitude tea plantation on the Himalayan slopes of eastern Nepal. The garden is located around the small town of Hilé in the district of Dhankuta at an altitude varying from 1450 to 2200 meters. Darjeeling Gardens are about 100 km as the crow flies from the plantation.
The garden is spread over a hundred hectares for a production of only 15 to 20 tons per year, which is very little in ratio. This is explained by tea trees planted in nature, without disturbing it, and a reasoning of non-intensive cultivation, with a permanent search for optimal quality.
Bachan Gyawali, owner of the plantation and our direct contact, told us how over the years different cultivars from the best regions of East Asia have been planted at Jun Chiyabari. Indeed, tea plants from China, Taiwan, and even Japan have been acclimatized to the extraordinary terroir of Nepal to produce today some of the best organic teas in the world.