Special Selection: Tea from Nepal’s Only Woman-Owned Tea Estate

Special Selection: Tea from Nepal’s Only Woman-Owned Tea Estate

Last summer we brought you our first Special Selection – Black Jasmine from Vietnam. Now we have a new limited-quantity Special Selection to offer: Black Ruby.

Black Ruby is a tea with a story: It comes from what is likely the only woman-owned tea estate in Nepal.

Buy Black Ruby Now

This carefully rolled, orthodox black tea is the work of Milan Kumari Khatri (left) and her team in the Himalayan foothills of Ilam, Nepal. Rakkasan Tea Advisory Board member Jeni Dodd recently visited Milan in Sakhejung and learned her story. Fortunately, she brought back several kilos of this superior black tea which has notes of chocolate, black cherries and even a hint of strawberry.

Each canister is $17.99 and has enough tea for 20 cups. And that’s what we’re offering today – while supplies last.

Milan Kumari Khatri began as a laborer on someone else’s tea farm. But she soon began growing and hand-rolling her own tea, selling it along the roadside. Her reputation as a master tea maker grew locally and people soon sought her out to buy it. Eventually a customer provided her with equipment to expand her operation into a professionalized tea estate. He told her to pay him back when she could – which she now has. Today, her sons help with the growing business.

At Rakkasan Tea, we’re proud to support not only farmers in post-conflict countries, but also those who work at a disadvantage – or those who blaze trails, like Milan Kumari Khatri in a male-dominated industry. Buying our tea helps us help them, and we appreciate every purchase you make.

Milan Kumari Khatri with Rakkasan Tea advisor Jeni Dodd. (Photos courtesy of Jeni Dodd)