Pussimbing Darjeeling Black Tea

We are very excited to offer a special Darjeeling - Second Flush Darjeeling Select - Pussimbing Estate black tea is one of our new favorites!

This limited batch was the best tea we tasted from Darjeeling this year. This was one of the hardest years to find good quality Darjeeling tea.  The region was hit by back-to-back drought quality years and high quality was way down.  We were so lucky to find this one from the Pussimbing Organic Fair Trade Tea Estate.

Pussimbing Tea Estate is situated East of Darjeeling, just below the famous “Tiger Hill” and is famous for its misty ambiance which helps to produce a completely  different, exclusive variety of teas.

The history behind the local name, Pussimbing, is that it is a combination of 2 words “Pasang”(name/community) and “Ung” (water source).

It is said that a monk named "Pasang" searching for water near Darjeeling found several sources of water in the valley on the hills where the present Pussimbing Tea Estate is situated. Due to abundance of water tea could be cultivated with ease and the British Planters expanded it into a fully commercial plantation sometime in the year 1911.

Today Pussimbing makes some of the finest Bio-Organic teas produced in the Darjeeling District and a distinctive feature of the teas produced here are that they have a natural fruity fragrance and taste.

This is one of the highest elevation gardens in the district and also produces some of the finest Darjeeling Green Teas.

Elevation: 1500 Mts. to 2200 metres above sea level

Total Crop: 80 MT annually

Total Gross Area: 400 Hectares

Total Planed Area: 201 Hectares

Jats of tea planted :Both Original Darjeeling seed (China ) & High Quality Assam Hybrid

Workers Employed: 531

Status: 100 % Certified Bio-Organic since 1997 (Fair Trade since 1995)

Fair Trade Details

A. Number of families covered -   650

B. Utilization of  Fair Trade premiums :

  1.)  Distribution of  Livestock (cows) amongst workers

  2.)  Distribution of  LPG cylinders and stoves to workers for cooking

  3.)  Repair and construction of Village roads

Learn more about our new Pussimbing Estate Darjeeling

Tea Mavericks of America

Join Rishi Tea founder, tea buyer and CEO, Joshua Kaiser for a tea talk and tasting at Samovar's inaugural Tea with...Tea Mavericks of America! Joshua and other leading tea experts will discuss new innovations in the tea industry, the challenges they face, health benefits, sustainability trends and share their latest and greatest artisan teas on-camera for a live tea tasting. Joshua will be brewing our new award-winning Super Green, a blend of chumushi Sencha from Kagoshima and Matcha from the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan. 

Tea Mavericks of America takes place on Tuesday, September 14th at 5pm PST at Samovar's beautiful Yerba Buena Gardens location. Tickets are available for $40 or join the discussion online for a free streaming at Samovarlife.com.

The Story behind our 12 New Teas

Written by Kevin, Rishi Tea Head Blender

Kevin with a hand blended batch of our award-winning Cinnamon Plum

The way we taste is extremely personal and inarguable: No one can tell you what to like. Marketing notwithstanding, our taste buds are our own. A beverage designed to appeal to everyone rarely does. Looked at from another angle, products created with a specific function in mind--sleep aid, rejuvenator, brain tonic--are generally consumed for that specific function and not for their flavor. As much as they were intended to be enjoyed, they're more often than not simply tolerated for the good of one's health. We sometimes struggle with drinking things that are beneficial. Holding your nose to ease the medicine down, still somehow relates as an adult.

That reality is exactly the reasoning behind the development of our New Blends.

Drawing upon my 10 years of experience as Rishi's Master Blender and R&D Specialist, I strive to create products that are healthful as well as flavorful, melding the knowledge, skill and passion of our development team with the opportunities that exist in the under-represented, functional, full-leaf tea and herb categories.

We wanted to bring to market products that served specific functions and still had a taste to be craved. Because, ultimately, we drink what we like and always return to what pleases us.

So, for me, the impetuous behind a blend like Organic Hot Rod was less than altruistic: I wanted a new daily, go-to tea. I love Japanese greens and Taiwanese oolongs. These are my favorite styles of tea. Their clarity, depth and energy are remarkable, their history humbling. But, like most people with jobs, I have a busy schedule that doesn't always allow time for the attention to detail and reverence for preparation that these teas deserve. So, along comes Hot Rod!

Organic Hot Rod has the strength to live up to its name and the subtlety and complexity to satisfy an admitted tea elitist. And the blend's versatility means it can be enjoyed hot or iced. I have a jug of Hot Rod in my fridge right now.

We also wanted to offer a range of tastes from challenging and adventurous--Organic Turmeric Ginger and Bergamot Sage--to comforting--Organic Chocolate Maté Chai--that would allow people to explore the diversity of possibility in artisanal tea and herb pairings.

Organic Turmeric Ginger has a powerful profile driven by the pungency of its namesake ingredients. Its color and strength in the cup are remarkable and extremely enlivening. This blend is the result of Rishi's founding owner, Joshua Kaiser's desire to challenge the market and his continued faith in its ability to understand and appreciate bold innovation.

While, on the other hand, Organic Chocolate Maté Chai's creation was meant as a reward to adulthood. This blend has the smooth texture of hot cocoa, but a depth of character that the late night stand-by can't touch. Organic Pu-erh tea, shade-grown Organic Yerba Maté and Ayervedic longevity herbs like Organic Long Pepper lend a nuanced richness and complexity that force your taste buds to pay attention. This is truly a grown-up indulgence.

Our other new blends are equally intriguing, diverse and, with all due modesty, delicious. There’s no reason to wait for your body to need them; you'll just want them. And no need to hold your nose.