Our First Tea Blends Are Here
- Himalayan Chai: A masala chai inspired by road trips across the Himalayas, combining strong, black loose-leaf with dried ginger, fresh black pepper, and aromatic cardamom.
- Kumaon Earl Grey: Our rendition of the world’s most popular blend. The light black tea within carries sweet notes of caramel, enhanced by the citrusy zip of bergamot oil.
- Indian Breakfast: A twist on the classic English Breakfast, which combines two single-origin black teas for a strong, balanced, and complex cup.
- Nepali Green Mint: The smoky strength of a roasted, pearl-shaped green tea gets a clean, light lift from the herbal trio of spearmint, peppermint, and lemon myrtle.
Behind-The-Scenes Of A Tea Collaboration
It’s been a fun process, which began when Jasmine Pearl’s co-founder Heather reached out to me in May. She said she woke up one morning with the idea to use our teas as the base for a new line of custom blends. From personal experience, I knew that Heather was incredibly talented at selecting herbs and spices that complement and enhance—rather than mask— the base tea’s inherent character and qualities.
And from more personal experience, I knew that making good blends was not easy. We had previously tried our own hand at blending, starting by searching things like “How to make your own tea blends” and “DIY loose-leaf tea blends.” Using spices and herbs we got from the bulk section at the local grocery store, we did our best but the results were, well, rookie at best. The flavors certainly were not up to the standards we hold for any tea in our collection.
So when Heather wrote, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to showcase the teas made by our Indian and Nepali partners in new ways. After all, we’d just received feedback from tons of you via our annual customer survey, and the resounding message was that our customers wanted to see us offer blends. We heard lots of you ask for masala chai, Earl Grey, English breakfast, and Moroccan mint. So with those guideposts to frame our creativity, we got to work.
Over the next few months, we sent teas back and forth, shipping new base teas up to Portland, and Heather sending back well-crafted blends to us in Springfield. We slowly honed in on a winning set of formulations, and raised a cup when we locked in the first four blends to launch Young Mountain Tea into a new chapter.
Why We're Offering Loose-Leaf Tea Blends
We’re excited to add these teas to our collection for three reasons. First, because you told us that you wanted to see us offer loose-leaf tea blends, and we really care about giving you the experiences you want! Second, because we love being part of the Pacific North West’s tea community, and saw these blends as a way to collaborate with another tea company. Third, because we wanted to find new ways to showcase the teas made by our Indian and Nepali tea partners. Our work is inspired by creating a sustainable future for Himalayan farmers and their families, and to do that, we need to continually find new and fresh ways for US tea drinkers to enjoy our partners’ teas. So when you choose to try these blends, you’re not only getting top quality blends made through collaboration, you’re also supporting Himalayan farmers and their families in their journey towards a brighter future.
We hope you enjoy these teas as much as we enjoyed making them. Cheers!
Shop Our Blends:
Blog Author:
Raj Vable, Founder
He has been confounded by the leaf since his first transcendental encounter with white tea in 2010. Three years later, he started Young Mountain Tea to bridge his budding tea obsession with his interest in traveling in the mountains and previous experience creating job opportunities in rural India. He revels in working across cultures and can be regularly found trying to get the rest of the team on board with another outlandish tea project. His favorite teas remain white, and he’s always searching for the next cup of magic.
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