Tea Guides

Last updated: August 2026

If you're in Saskatoon and every tea in the pantry tastes either weak or bitter with nothing in between, the issue is the leaf, not your steep time. Nepal Hills Tea grows whole-leaf, single-origin tea at 5,000–7,000 ft in Nepal's Ilam and Taplejung districts and ships it to the Prairies with free shipping on orders over $60 CAD.

Start With the Tea Sampler Kit

The Tea Sampler Kit ($30 CAD) packs 10 single-origin teas — black, green, oolong, and white, 5g each — from all four family farms Nepal Hills Tea partners with: Farmers Tea Co., Sandakphu Tea Estate, Pathibhara Tea Estate, and Norling Specialty Tea. It's a proper tasting flight, built to find your preference before you commit to a full bag.

What High Elevation Does to the Leaf

Tea grown above 5,000 ft develops slowly compared to lowland tea, and that slower pace lets the plant build up sweetness-driving amino acids rather than the harsh compounds that accumulate quickly at low elevation. A 2020 field study of tea clones grown at multiple sites across Ilam, Nepal, found measurable elevation-linked shifts in leaf phytochemical makeup — concrete evidence behind why single-origin high-altitude tea tends to taste rounder and cleaner than tea grown fast at low elevation.

Black Tea Lover Pack: For Bold, Smooth Black Tea

The Black Tea Lover Pack bundles Gold Black Tea (Farmers Tea Co., 5,500 ft, malt/caramel/honey), Muscatel Black Tea (Norling Specialty Tea, 5,135 ft, honey-grape muscatel), Ruby Black Tea (Sandakphu Tea Estate, 5,500–7,000 ft, dark cherry/cocoa), and Special Black Tea (Pathibhara Tea Estate, 6,000 ft, dark chocolate/dried plum).

Each of these is orthodox-processed by hand in small batches on the farm, never run through CTC (crush-tear-curl), the industrial method behind most bagged black tea. A 2020 comparative study from India's Tocklai Tea Research Institute found CTC's aggressive maceration extracts a much larger share of tannin-related catechins — the compounds most responsible for bitterness — into the infusion. Orthodox rolling disrupts far less leaf tissue, releasing flavour gradually rather than all at once, which is a real part of why these teas brew smooth even after a long steep, the way a good loose-leaf Assam or Darjeeling should.

Light Tea Lovers Pack: For Green Tea Skeptics

The Light Tea Lovers Pack is for anyone who's given up on green tea because it always tastes grassy or bitter. It pairs green and white teas from the same high-altitude farms, hand-processed in small batches to avoid the over-oxidation that causes astringency in most mass-produced green tea.

Shipping to Saskatoon

Nepal Hills Tea ships across Canada, free on orders over $60 CAD — easy to reach with a Sampler Kit and a lover pack together. Join tea drinkers in Saskatoon and nearby Warman and Martensville who are switching from bagged supermarket tea to single-origin loose leaf from the Himalayas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Nepal Hills Tea ship to Saskatoon?

Yes. Nepal Hills Tea ships across Canada, including Saskatoon and the surrounding Prairies, with free shipping on orders over $60 CAD.

What makes this tea different from a standard tea bag?

It's whole-leaf, single-origin tea grown at 5,000–7,000 ft on four named family farms in Ilam and Taplejung, Nepal, hand-processed using orthodox methods rather than industrial CTC — producing a naturally smooth cup without added bitterness.

Which pack should I try first?

The Tea Sampler Kit ($30 CAD) — 10 teas across all four types and all four farms, so you can find your preference before buying a full-size pack.

Is this tea organic?

Farmers Tea Co. and Sandakphu Tea Estate are certified organic; Pathibhara Tea Estate is grown following organic practices without formal certification; Norling Specialty Tea's Muscatel and Floral Oolong lines are in the process of organic certification.

How does Nepal Hills Tea compare to Darjeeling?

Both are grown at high altitude in the same Himalayan foothill range on opposite sides of the Nepal–India border. See our full Nepal tea vs. Darjeeling comparison.

Where can I learn more about brewing it properly?

See our guide to brewing black tea and our explainer on why high-altitude tea tastes different. Background on Nepal's tea regions is available from the Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board.

Bhaskar Dahal is the founder of Nepal Hills Tea, sourcing single-origin loose leaf tea directly from four family farms in Ilam and Taplejung, Nepal.