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The rolling hills and the walk through expansive tea gardens bathed in mellow sunlight against the backdrop of the majestic Kanchenjunga stirred the beginning of a deep love for tea in Ashutosh Ghosh. He was enchanted by the terrain with its dewy muscatel and the sweet floral fragrance, he immersed himself in the history of the region. His travails through the meandering HillCart Road from Darjeeling sparked the entrepreneur in him and this was the start of what was to be a legacy. Born in a distinctive era yet crafted for the modern connoisseur, The Hillcart Tales traces its roots over a hundred and twenty years.
The flame grew brighter as Ashutosh continued to fuel his ignited passion for teas through a dream. A vision nurtured to bring the choicest of world teas together and to offer exquisite blends to aficionados worldwide. The return to his roots to old British Calcutta evoked the beginning of an era with the British giving an impetus to tea trade in India during the late 1800s. The journey of sourcing and blending rare teas led to his establishment as an eminent trader who launched his first venture of handcrafted blends at Harrison Road, Calcutta and a legacy was born. The generations after have stoked the flames and carried the beacon that culminated in The Hillcart Tales.
We selectively handpick our shoots taking care to make sure that only the first few tender leaves and the iconic still-curled bud that defines the uniqueness of the Camellia Sinensis leaf reaches our bouquet of offerings. Our tea leaves are freshly picked and gather an intense aroma from the choicest tea gardens which translates into a characteristic flavour once brewed. Our master blenders are well connected with the estates ensuring the quality behind the cultivation and its processing remains consistent. Through extensive and diverse sourcing, tea leaves are selected through auctions and directly procured from the finest gardens and expertly blended using the age-old secret recipes to bring in the perfect harmony of notes and taste.
The Camellia Sinensis is a temperamental plant. A region’s climate, temperature, soil composition as well as elevation has an immense effect on the flavour and aroma of the leaves. Hence, blending becomes an inseparable part of the tea-making process to ensure consistency. Blending also allows our tea-tasters and innovators to let their imagination run free and delight you with exotic flavours and ingredients.
The finest quality leaves are sourced from auctions and private buying from select gardens after thoroughly examining for suppleness and freshness. Our blending then takes centre stage through an exploration of the senses. Our master blenders weave their magic delving into the finest details, building structure, form and meaning into every sip to be savoured. The unifying factor of the skilful blending is rich consistency and a mesmerising flavour profile reminiscent of the rich history of our age-old traditions.
Our packaging is a celebration of art and traces the origins of our teas. Hand-painted watercolour illustrations, brought to life by 37 generations of renowned artistic lineage, adorn our boxes and tins. The hues artfully represent the origins and nature of the tea packed within. Each stroke of paint in this poetic representation is dedicated to the sheer focus and single-minded effort of our tea pickers in the misty mountains of Darjeeling, Rwanda, Taiwan and Assam.
Our 32 blends are presented to you in a combination of packs of 7 and 14 teabags, as well as loose leaf tin caddies. The tea leaves themselves are enclosed in individually handcrafted muslin bags to preserve the aromatic and flavour integrity of the brew. These teabags are then packaged into coaster pods with handpicked quotes and sustainable boxes that can also be up-cycled into various household décor accessories.
We cherish our legacy and our rare tea blends have been a part of our heritage. As a tribute to celebrate this richness of culture, we treasure the role that tea cultivation plays in individual and community enrichment. We support growth in promoting traditional skills and expertise, access to education and training and the preservation of environment. Sourcing ideal ingredients that bring a complexity with health benefits in every one of our rare tea blends, we continually strive to be ethically, socially and globally conscious. Our environment friendly muslin tea bags are hand crafted under strict hygiene standards and we have been able to provide employment to a significant section of underprivileged women for the same.