Srùbag | Eastern Beauty Oolong

B’ e Oidhche Shamhna a bh’ ann an t-seachdainn 's a' chaidh agus thug na sìthichean dhomh prèasant! Tha teatha ùr againn le ainm Gàidhlig: Srùbag! 

Halloween was last week and the fairies left me a presant! We have a new tea with a Gaelic name: Srùbag (pronounced stroo-pack).

The word srùbag can be thought of as the equivalent ot a British “cuppa”; more of a small meal consisting of tea or coffee and a pastry of some kind. I couldn’t think of a tea more fitting of the name than this one. 

Srùbag is an Eastern Beauty tea, a type of tea that is unique for its production style, in which farmers allow bugs called “leafhoppers” to jump on the leaves and bite them. As a response to this attack, the tea plants will release a chemical which wards off the pests, but tastes delicious to us. This unmistakeable aroma of oats and honey, peaches and cream is why this tea has earned the name Srùbag - not only does it taste like a cup of tea with an oatcake by itself, but it naturally pairs very well with any cookie or pastry. 

Harvest: Spring, 2024

Elevation: ~900m

Region: Simao, Yunnan, China

Cultivar/Varietal: Qing Xin