Flowery notes with slightly thick body. This grade is generally the grade used when making tea in a samovar.

Ingredients From: Sri Lanka

Region(s): Uva

Shipping Port(s): Colombo

Grade(s): OP (Orange Pekoe)

Growing Altitudes: 4000 – 5900 feet above sea level

Manufacture Type(s): Orthodox (Traditional leafy)

Cup Characteristics: Flowery notes with slightly thick body. This grade is generally the grade used when making tea in a samovar.

Infusion: Bright coppery.

Luxury Ingredients: Black tea

Information

For the first 300 years of their tea-drinking history, the people of Russia primarily drank Chinese tea. The tea was transported to Moscow on the backs of Camels from the Far East on a trip that took upwards of a year. As you can well imagine, by the time it reached market, tea was incredibly expensive. Still, despite the difficulty in getting to Russia, the taste for tea grew quickly. Around 1700, Moscow was receiving about 600 camel loads of tea per year. By 1796, the year Catherine the Great died, Russia was consuming over 6000 camel loads of tea per year, roughly 3.5 million pounds. The Russians preferred highly flavory Chinese black teas, Keemuns in particular. These were brewed using a Samovar, a modified Mongolian firepot. (In Russian Samovar means self-heater). The brewing process involved preparing a very strong pot of tea and diluting it with water boiled in the Samovar’s kettle. When preparing the concentrated brew, the flavory Chinese teas were better suited than their stronger counterparts. If the teas used were too strong, the tea would become too astringent and the diluted cup wouldn’t have enough flavor.

Which leads us to Dyraaba – since by now you’re probably wondering why we’re discussing Chinese tea and Russian samovars in a Sri Lankan tea write-up! During the 20th century, Russia’s population growth coupled with an increased worldwide interest in Chinese tea meant that China could no longer keep up with Russian demand. So, Russian blenders began tasting teas from many different growing regions. Indian black teas were found to be too malty for the Russian palate, African teas too astringent. Instead, the perfect balance of flavor and strength was found in Sri Lanka’s Up-Country teas.

Dyraaba OP is the perfect example of the type of Sri Lankan tea Russians look for. The leaf is broad and twisty - when infused it releases its flavor slowly. (Tea flavor comes from proteins in the leaf.) The cup is medium thick, with a lightly floral, almost wine-like profile. Dyraaba OP is grown in the Uva district where peak production occurs between July and September. We carefully select teas from this period only. Enjoy! Or it’s off to Siberia!