Some teas are named for a place. This one is named for a person — Kumari, the founder's mother, who planted the first tea bush at Kanchanjangha Tea Estate in 1984, when the garden was still the family backyard. The estate, in the foothills of Mt. Kanchanjangha between Ilam and Darjeeling, is Nepal's first certified organic tea garden, and Kumari Gold is its signature tea: a golden tips black tea, and their best seller.

In the second flush, pickers take just one or two leaves and the terminal bud from each shoot. The leaves are withered, then rolled in stages — low, medium, and high pressure — so the buds stay whole and their fragrant oils survive. An 8-to-10-hour oxidation deepens the buds' golden color before drying locks in the aroma.

In the cup: full-bodied and toasty-sweet, with caramel and brown sugar up front, baked fruit and honey through the middle, and an earthy, long finish. Very little astringency for a black tea — if you love Yunnan Gold or Golden Monkey, this belongs in the same cabinet.

Ingredients: Black tea, golden tips (Camellia sinensis). Certified organic.

Brewing: 2g (about 1 tsp) per 8 oz water at 210°F, steep 5 minutes.