An aromatic, zesty, brisk cup of tea good for a mid-morning cup.
The dry leaf has those musky, spicy and floral notes I associate with Nepali teas, along with dark chocolate, prune and some crispy autumn leaves.
Steeped for several minutes with my baseline 3g:300mL and with hot water from the dispenser at work, the tea is rather geranium floral with a peppery, woody zip. Youthful comes to mind.
Steeped longer, say 5-6 minutes, with the same ratio and at home where I can appreciate the tea more, I notice the aroma: it’s spicy like the taste but with mellowed notes of cherries, dark chocolate, orange blossom and hazelnut.
I expected the brisk quality to become even more pronounced but it ended up filling in quite a bit. The taste mostly reminds me of the dark tannins of rosewood and straw, smoothed over with rich tobacco, dark chocolate and a touch of malt. A cherry candy note never gets too high and a tangy gooseberry tone keeps it from going full-on woody or tobacco.
Nepali teas remain to be a favorite of mine, not often drank but when the mood strikes I hope to have one around. Like this tea, the blacks from Nepal seem to embrace characteristics of both neighboring Darjeeling and Assam to the east.
Thanks for the sample, A Thirst for Tea :)
Flavors: Brisk, Candy, Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Dry Leaves, Floral, Geranium, Gooseberry, Hazelnut, Malt, Musk, Orange Blossom, Pepper, Prune, Rosewood, Spicy, Straw, Tangy, Tannin, Woody
I shall send you a sample of Ilam Pathiwara to find out what do you think about it.
I’d love to try it, Martin.
A sample is packed for you among a few others. Tomorrow it will be posted.
Aw, thanks!