Turmeric is a polarizing flavor. I’m in the love camp but don’t let my bias discourage you from reading further. If you 100% hate it, consider moving on.
I started off my morning with this tea and some toasted steiner bread topped with fried eggs. I felt like I could conquer whatever came my way after that.
Gone western. 2tsp, 195F, 8oz, 2/5/20m while I showered.
The base of this tea is the India Nilgiri First Flush Black which I reviewed some time in the past month since I’ve been here. I found it to be a very fragrant, clean and refreshing tea.
Mixed in with the black tea are chunks of turmeric root. The tea leaves are covered in powder but I don’t think it’s turmeric powder added separately but just what has rubbed off of the pieces. The scent of the dry leaf is pure turmeric. Not some ancient grocery store yellow turmeric powder but powerful, bright orange, warm, medicinal, spicy, earthy. It’s crazy strong!
All three brews were fairly similar to each other in aroma, taste, color and texture – mostly tasting of that awesome turmeric. The black tea served as a great base, yielding nicely to the spice. If you read the review for the India Nilgiri First Flush Black, you can see how the tastes I picked up on work well with the turmeric. There were no interfering flavors between the two ingredients. In terms of texture, the turmeric chunks did not disintegrate and the powder did not create a grainy mouthfeel at all which is appreciated. This tea remained as smooth as it’s counterpart black. No bitterness and the slight astringency I picked up on in its counterpart was masked by the turmeric. It was a very clean and warming cup.
If you’ve had a bad experience with turmeric but are still curious, I’d recommend you give this a try. It’s completely different from the typical bagged turmeric blends. Much more assertive and a taste that is true to the freshly ground root. I’m not going to claim any medicinal benefits, but I will keep this around for when I’m bound to catch a cold later this year and need a moderate dose of caffeine. It just feels right for that occasion. I think I might like the blend better than the black tea alone.
