This is another tea that I have been putting off reviewing for a couple of days. I finished the last of it first thing this morning. That was not a great decision, as I found this tea to be far too light to function as a breakfast tea. I feel that it would, however, work fairly well as an afternoon or early evening tea.
I prepared this tea Western style. I used the exceptionally basic one step infusion process I favor for black tea blends and many non-Chinese black teas. I steeped a teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. There were obviously no subsequent infusions.
Prior to infusion, I did not pick up much of an aroma from the dry tea leaves. After infusion, the copper tea liquor produced mild aromas of grapes, herbs, malt, toast, dried flowers, and some kind of fruit. In the mouth, I picked up smooth, subtle notes of malt, toast, herbs, grapes, nutmeg, and citrus. It was almost like a mix of lemon and tangerine. There were also hints of apricot and dried flowers toward the finish.
After finishing the last of this tea, I could see why people often compare it to any number of Darjeelings. I noticed, however, that there was not as much separation among the individual flavor components compared to many of the Darjeelings I have tried. Overall, this tea was very pleasant, but it also came off as being very light and I tend to favor more robust black teas these days. It’s definitely one to try though, as it bridges the gap between orthodox Darjeelings and many contemporary Nepalese black teas. Just don’t drink it in the morning. Treat it as a mild, pleasant afternoon or early evening tea.
Flavors: Apricot, Citrus, Flowers, Grapes, Herbs, Lemon, Malt, Nutmeg
