Re: The Tea Lover's Treasury at 40
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2022 6:24 am
After Nilgiri, Pratt goes into "Russian teas", which was not Russian Caravan, but a way of saying Soviet teas from Georgia and Azerbaijan, although there was some tea grown in Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia. I think here he is following the lead of the tea-packers, as this is what they called teas from the Transcaucasian region.
In this case, all his direct recommendations are for teas from companies that no longer exist or that no longer sell their own blends, such as Jacksons of Piccadilly's Russian Tea, James Ashby & Sons Rose-brand Russian (Ashby seems to have been bought by an American importer who only sells teabags), or Russian tea from First Colony.
He does list one named estate, though, Chakve (Chakvi), in Georgia. Most of the estate has gone wild, although supposedly some of it is still farmed. An example might be Gurieli (https://gurieli.ge), which was started in 2010 and seems to be the current packer of the old "Georgian No. 36" brand (a once-popular blend of Georgian and Indian teas).
In this case, all his direct recommendations are for teas from companies that no longer exist or that no longer sell their own blends, such as Jacksons of Piccadilly's Russian Tea, James Ashby & Sons Rose-brand Russian (Ashby seems to have been bought by an American importer who only sells teabags), or Russian tea from First Colony.
He does list one named estate, though, Chakve (Chakvi), in Georgia. Most of the estate has gone wild, although supposedly some of it is still farmed. An example might be Gurieli (https://gurieli.ge), which was started in 2010 and seems to be the current packer of the old "Georgian No. 36" brand (a once-popular blend of Georgian and Indian teas).