Beautiful tea from the misty mountains of South West India
This fragrant tea is full of flavor, full and beautifully balanced. This is due to the temperature and humidity in this region. January through March is picking season, a time when other tea bushes are enjoying their winter hibernation. Sunny days alternate with freezing nights. The flavor concentrates in the leaves and you can taste it!
Mild tea with fresh tones and little astringency make this tea easy to drink
Recipe: 12 grams (6 measuring spoons) | 1 liter of soft water | 90-100℃ | 2-3 minutes
Where does the special name for the color of the mountains come from?
The term Nilgiris is the English translation of Nilagiri, Tamil for Blue Mountains. The striking blue color of the mountains around 1300-1600 meters and is attributed to the massive flowering of the `Strobilanthes kunthiana', called in Tamil `Neela (blue) kurinji' (flower) on the hill slopes. The plant grows 30-60 cm tall and the funnel-shaped blossoms appear only once every 12 years. They are light blue on the young and purplish blue on the older plants. Flowering is recorded in 1838, 1850, 1862, 1874, 1886, 1898, 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 and in 2018, from July to October. The next flowering season is in 2030!
It is thought that the first settlers of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu - the Paliyan and Puliyan tribes, used the Neelakurinji flowering cycle to determine their age. Each new bloom would account for an addition of 12 years to their age. Although this flower has no fragrance or medicinal value, much mythological and cultural significance is attributed to it. In Tamil traditions, the Neelakurinji represents the awakening of a woman, as a girl is considered sexually mature at the age of 12. The Badagas, an indigenous tribe of the Nilgiri Hills as part of their funeral prayers, chant verses asking forgiveness of the plant. For another tribe of the Blue Mountains, the Todas, the flower is identified with great prosperity and is a favorite subject of poetry and romance.
