Nepal Pathivara White

Autumn harvesting of white tea from the Pathivara garden, located in the mountainous Ilam region in the very east of Nepal near the border with India. Light green, silvery, slightly oxidised, open and longitudinally rolled leaves with a light, herbal and floral aroma. A very light green, clear infusion with a mild, drier, slightly vegetal taste with pleasant floral notes of jasmine and flowering fruit trees.

Preparation of Pathivara White

Use 5 grams of tea leaves for 0.5 litre of boiling water cooled to 85-90 °C, steep for 2–3 minutes. Feel free to experiment with steeping time, water temperature, and the amount of tea leaves. You can also read our articles on tea preparation and water quality. These tea leaves are also suitable for Asian-style preparation, which includes multiple infusions: you steep 5 grams of tea leaves per 150 ml of water that has boiled and cooled to 85–90 °C for 20 seconds and in the following three infusions, you steep the leaves for 30, 40, and 60 seconds, respectively.

Pathivara Tea Estate, Nepal

Pathivara Tea Estate is named after its local village, Pathivara. It is in a very remote area of Eastern Nepal, 9 hours from the closest developed area. The tea, composed of Chinese hybrid varietals, grows at an altitude of 1800-2000 meters (5900-6500ft), and the gardens are surrounded by an old, virgin forest area with indigenous trees over 500 years old. The soil has been tested to have a higher organic matter content, making it ideal for growing tea. The slopes of the garden directly face the snow-covered Mount Kumbhakarna. It is only 5 kilometers from the Singhalila Wildlife Reserve, a high biodiversity area of the Himalayas, famous for the rehabilitation of the Red Panda and the Rare Himalayan Newt. Although the plantation is 28 years old, the garden was left to grow wild for 10 years during the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Only the recent arrival of tea entrepreneurs restarted cultivation and the management of the new Pathivara Tea Estate processing unit, in 2012.
The unique thing about this garden is since temperatures are below 23 degrees throughout the year, and precipitation is above 1800 mm per annum, the yield or the harvest is very low. The yield is 50-60 kgs of made tea per hectare, compared to the world average of 1.1 tons per hectare. Since the yield is very low, the teamaker's focus is on developing only specialty teas from this garden. The cold and dry air from the mountains dries the leaves, making the content of dry soluble substances higher. To keep the leaves as natural as possible, very little machinery is used to produce this tea.
Almost 75% of the production is carried out by using natural air from the snow mountains and sunshine. As per the variety of the tea, plucking is considered to be the most important aspect of tea-crafting in this garden. Plucking is usually carried out as per the flush, season, and the variety of tea that is to be produced. The area is completely pollution-free so the natural process of oxidation takes place in a very clean environment.

Video from Pathivara.