The field journal
Notes from the high gardens
Brewing guides, tea origins, herbal know-how and the seasons of eastern Nepal.
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Tea for Winter in Nepal: Warming Cups for Cold Mornings
Cold Kathmandu mornings call for a warming cup. The best Himalayan teas and herbal infusions for winter, with simple ideas to try at home.
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How to Choose Good Green Tea in Nepal
Not all green tea is equal. Judge green tea by its leaf, colour, aroma and freshness, and brew it so…
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Ilam Tea vs Darjeeling Tea: What Is the Difference?
Ilam and Darjeeling grow tea on the same Himalayan ridges, only a short distance apart. How Nepali tea compares in…
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Best Tea Gifts in Nepal for Dashain and Tihar
Looking for a thoughtful Dashain or Tihar gift? Himalayan tea gift ideas for parents, elders, friends and colleagues, from black…
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Pure Himalayan Spearmint Tea Is Now in Stock
Pure Himalayan Spearmint is now in stock. A sweet, cooling, caffeine-free herbal tea, hand-harvested and air-dried. Order online in Nepal.
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Wellness Blends: A Tea for Every Moment of the Day
Sleep, Digest, Calm, Warm and Bright: five caffeine-free Himalayan herbal blends built around the rhythm of your day.
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Cotton Tea Bags: A Plastic-Free Way to Brew
Our tea bags are made of soft cotton fabric, not plastic mesh or paper. Here is why cotton makes a…
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How to Make Nepali Chiya at Home
Milky, sweet and warmly spiced, chiya is part of everyday life in Nepal. A simple recipe for two cups using…
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Ilam: Nepal’s Eastern Tea Hills
Green terraces, morning mist and small family gardens. An introduction to Ilam and the eastern hills where much of Nepal’s…
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How to Store Loose-Leaf Tea and Keep It Fresh
Light, heat, moisture, air and strong smells are tea’s enemies. Simple ways to keep your loose-leaf tea tasting fresh for…
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How to Brew Loose-Leaf Tea: A Simple Guide
Water temperature, amount and time make all the difference. A simple brewing chart for white, green and black loose-leaf tea,…
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First Flush, Second Flush: The Seasons of Himalayan Tea
Tea bushes rest in winter and grow in waves through the year. Each “flush” tastes different. Here is what to…
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White, Green or Black? How One Leaf Becomes Three Teas
White, green and black tea all come from the same plant. The difference is what happens after picking. A simple…
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Chamomile: An Evening Ritual
Why whole chamomile flowers make a better cup, and a simple five-minute ritual for winding down at the end of…
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Tulsi and Sisnu: Herbs of the Nepali Household
One is honoured in the courtyard, the other gathered from the hillside. Two Himalayan herbs with deep roots in Nepali…
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Spearmint or Peppermint? How to Tell Them Apart
Both are mints, but they taste very different. Here is what sets spearmint apart from peppermint, and which one to…
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How to Brew Herbal Tea: Amount, Temperature and Time
Herbal teas forgive more than green or white tea, but a few simple rules make every cup better. Our brewing…
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A Guide to Himalayan Herbal Teas
Spearmint, chamomile, lemongrass, tulsi and nettle: how each Himalayan herb tastes, when to drink it, and how to brew it…
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White & Green Tea Craftsmanship
White and green teas are the least processed of all teas. Their craft lies in doing as little as possible,…
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The Art of the Cold-Wither
Withering is the first step in making almost every tea, and one of the most important. Freshly plucked leaves are…
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The Science of Muscatel
Taste a fine second-flush black tea from the eastern Himalaya and you may notice something surprising: a sweet, grape-like, almost…
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The Limited Harvest
Some teas are only made in small quantities. When the weather, the leaf and the timing all come together, a…
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The Himalayan Tea Collection
The Himalayan Tea Collection brings together the best of eastern Nepal’s gardens: white, green and black teas, each chosen for…
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The Small Farm Philosophy
Much of Nepal’s finest tea does not come from large plantations, but from small family gardens scattered across the hills…
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Stewardship in Design
Good tea deserves good packaging, but packaging should not cost the earth. We think about what happens to every pouch,…
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The Black Tea Collection
Black tea is the world’s favourite cup, and in Nepal it is the heart of everyday life. But the black…
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The Purity of the Single Estate
Most supermarket tea is a blend. Leaves from many countries and many farms are mixed to make a tea that…
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The Full Harvest Calendar
Tea in eastern Nepal is not harvested once a year. The bushes are plucked again and again from spring to…
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High-Altitude Terroir
Terroir is a French word for everything about a place that shapes what grows there: the soil, the slope, the…
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The Late Season Collection
After the monsoon, the hills of eastern Nepal turn clear and cool. The tea bushes slow down before winter rest,…
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The Ritual of Precision
High-quality leaf deserves a little care. Pour boiling water over a delicate spring tea and you lose the very flavours…
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The Origin of Elevation
Nepal’s tea story is younger than its neighbours’, but no less remarkable. The first tea bushes were planted in the…