Organic Kumaon White | A Delicate Spring White Tea

PLEASE NOTE: Our tea bags our certified organic, and the current lot of the loose-leaf is 100% organically grown but not certified due to changes in USDA organic requirements, which forced Indian farmers to get re-certified. Thanks for understanding! 

Taste: Peeled cucumber & honeydew melon

Origin: Kumaon, North Indian Himalayas

Tea Makers: Champawat Village

Infusion Suggestions:

Steep 1  2 Tbsp /2.5 g  |  8 oz  |  170° F  |  3 min

Steep 2   8 oz  |  175° F  |  4 min

Certifications: USDA Organic

Contains Caffeine

Kumaon White: A fresh and bright organic white tea from one of India’s forgotten tea regions. This tea is harvested on small-scale farms in the early spring from bushes that are nearly 200 years old.

Tasting Notes: “What does white tea taste like?” is a question many people ask. While minimal processing makes most white teas delicate-bordering-on-flavorless, the Kumaon White has a full, juicy body and brightness that makes it shine. This Himalayan spring tea captures the clean and floral aromas of new growth. When steeped, the fully intact buds release notes of vegetal peeled cucumber alongside floral honeydew melon, with a lingering spicy-sweet cinnamon finish. Straddling what traditionally defines green and white teas, expect a floral smoothness with a fresh, clean, and bright finish. As the tea ages, it acquires more depth and smoothness, and the longer it ages, the better. So stock up to enjoy this tea for years to come! Lovers of White Peony (Bai Mudan) and Jasmine Green will likely enjoy this tea.

Production: The best white teas come in spring, which in Kumaon is typically late March or early April. Great care is taken to protect the leaf from damage as it is transported from field to factory where, unlike green and black teas, it is left intact to wither and dry with no rolling or heat applied. The unique taste of Kumaon White can, in part, be attributed to the age of the nearly 200-year-old bushes that are harvested for this tea. These bushes were planted by the British in the 1830s from seeds that were imported (or smuggled, depending on who you ask) from China. We’re particularly proud of this tea, because we had a hand in its creation: in 2015, we asked a local tea maker named Desmond Birkbeck if he could make a white tea for our customers. At the time, Kumaon farmers hadn’t heard of white tea. On our visit while standing around a cupping table in their factory, we shared a sample of white peony tea from China. Desmond, who grew up in a tea garden, crushed the tea in his hand, smelled it and said “If this is what you want, I can do it.” The rest is history!

Region: Nestled in the foothills of the mighty Himalayas, Kumaon lies 20 miles west of Nepal’s border and is one of the most remote tea regions in all of India. When the British introduced tea to India in the 1830s, they were enticed by the acidic and well-drained soils of Kumaon. The plant thrived on the mountainside slopes, but the region’s isolation made it difficult for the British to get the tea from the mountains to the port. In the 1920s, the British began to abandon or sell off the experimental Kumaon tea plots. This prompted a group of six families from Sri Lanka to move into the region and try to pick up where the British left off. All of those families left tea except one -- the Birkbecks -- who became the sole torchbearers of the Kumaon tea tradition. In the 1990s, the local government joined forces with the Birkbecks to help other local communities grow tea. This tea was all sent to the auction or sold locally until we entered the picture in 2015. Young Mountain Tea is proud to be the first US importer of Kumaon teas, and we are working with Birkbecks and other partners across the tea industry to help reintroduce Kumaon’s unique and exceptional teas. Read our blog about this region here.

Tea Makers: Desmond Birkbeck comes from the only family that continued to work in  tea after the British abandoned Kumaon in the 1920s. Desmond grew up on his family’s remote tea garden, which is only accessible by a gravel road that twists through an oak forest with howler monkeys overhead. He fondly tells the story of the time he wrote a letter to the Tea Board of India when he was just 14 years old, requesting his family’s tea garden be granted the status that would allow it to sell in auctions. He left home for college and eventually received his master’s degree in biochemistry. After earning his degrees, he had a choice to either pursue a job in the US or return home to help his community through tea. He chose to return home, and today, he is a leading force behind organizing local tea farmers to grow and make quality tea. 

Impact: Today, more than 450 farmers in the village of Champawat produce 30,000 pounds of organic tea annually. Each year the number is growing thanks, in part, to Young Mountain Tea customers. Kumaon tea farmers have a unique partnership with their government, pioneering a new sustainable, community-based model of tea together. In that model, abandoned land with once-rich soils are being rejuvenated by certified organic tea bushes, and Kumaon farmers are using these plants to make new specialty teas that earn them 5-10 times the rates of the average Indian tea farmer. In short, Kumaon is a model for how tea can uplift Himalayan communities. Kumaon is also near and dear to our hearts, because it was here that Raj, our founder, was inspired to launch Young Mountain Tea. Plus, we are working with the farmers there to launch a tea factory that they will soon own, helping increase their livelihoods. 1% of the sales of this tea and all other offerings on our website go towards supporting this future farmer-owned tea factory. Learn more.

Packaging: Our commitment to sustainability means we offer our teas in several types of packaging:

• Tins: Durable and reusable, made from 100% recyclable steel. Labels are not recyclable but made from 50% hemp and 50% post-consumer waste.
• 1 lb Bags: Tough, resealable stand-up pouches with storing moisture and oxygen barriers. Not recyclable due to a 3-layer structure that serves as a food-safe barrier to keep your tea fresh as long as possible.
• Packs of 100 Tea Bags: Recyclable stand-up pouches with tea bags, strings, and tags made from 100% sugarcane PLA, commercially compostable and degrades into organic matter. For best results, use a commercial compost facility.

(Read our Kumaon blog: Cultivating Kumaon)