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From the poor neglectede queue! I’d just nearly learned the habit of keeping and posting from the queue regularly, and then Christmas and moving happened. So it’s time to get back in the swing!

Here’s another one out of the EU Travelling Teabox. It took a little detective work to find out what exactly it was, but I asked Google and eventually learned that this is a Sri Lankan black from the Uva district, Saint James being the name of the tea estate/factory. At least I found a tea factory by the name of Saint James in Sri Lanka so I’m going to assume it’s the same place.

Therefore,

Project Ceylon!

If I am correct in my aforementioned assumption then this is a high grown tea, which fits well with the very floral aroma of it. The more high grown a tea is, the more floral it will smell/taste in my experience. There is also a malty and slightly woody note underneath the floral aspect, but it feels like it really is struggling to get through all the floralness.

The first sip reminded me strongly of something but it was so fleeting that I can’t put my finger on what that something was at all. I think it was some sort of food. It was there again on the second sip, but less fleeting and I know what it was now. Persimmons. I’ve never tasted that in a tea before, but that’s exactly what it reminded me of. Possibly because I bought some last week and have been enjoying them. It’s been a long time since I last had persimmons, so I’m extra-aware of their flavour right now. There are other fruits involved here. I’m thinking mainly of things like grapes and possibly plums, but for me it’s large just persimmons.

When I first saw that this was a high grown tea I was instantly worried about the floral aspect, especially what with how floral the aroma was, but I needed not fear. The floral notes, while very much present, are actually quite controlled and there’s no hint of that slightly sour grassy note that I also tend to associate somewhat with high grown. Darjeeling tend to have that note in spades, and I’ve noticed it in many of the high grown Ceylons I’ve tried as well. This makes me wonder if this particular tea is actually closer to mid-elevation than I thought. In my book it would only be a plus if it were.

I found a small amount of malt and sort of brown sugar-y notes at the very bottom of it, but they were really not coming through much at all, so it was mostly the fruity notes with a highlight of floral for me.

This is actually a pretty good tea, and I hope whoever tries it next will enjoy it as well. I will let it remain a ‘try’ rather than a ‘take’, though. Unless I find it difficult to control myself when adding things from my shelves to the box. I was considering earlier what I could put in and it became clear that I would have to either take some more things out of the box or resist sharing some of my things. As I would prefer to share… I shall have to drink some more ‘tries’. :)

Project Ceylon reference map: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211803378882467968316.0004d6ff92c6d663176b9&msa=0&ll=6.956929,81.038246&spn=0.135296,0.1478

(Husband says it reminds him of tomato soup… I don’t know, guys. I really don’t know.)