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“2023 sipdown no. 66 I forgot to add this to my cupboard, so sadly no satisfaction from watching my cupboard number drop. I don’t really order green tea (though always happy to try it in swaps), but...” Read full tasting note
“Gongfu! I was craving something a little bit more green and bean-y today, so I pulled out this tea for an early afternoon tea session. In addition to really prominent soybean notes, this Bhutanese...” Read full tasting note
“I placed a small order with Camellia Sinensis because I was interested in some of their herbals, namely Wintergreen, Labrador Tea and Taïga Sauvage. Following a wake-up, chest-clearing mug of...” Read full tasting note
Amateurs of oddities will be served with this rare green tea from Bhutan.
Even more than served. In Samcholing village, 43 acres of land were dedicated to tea farming and a micro-factory was put in place to produce an average of 600 kg of fresh leaves each year. The only tea production in the country.
The project, led by an all-women cooperative, represent a serious accomplishment on both socio-cultural and agricultural levels. Bringing dignity and financial stability to the 27 families living there, the tea fields, sitting at 1800m high, produce one of the finest raw material on the planet.
Taste wise, this tea defines itself by its unique origin. Nothing closely resembles it. No parallel can be adequately drawn.
A definite rusticity in character opposes a smooth texture and aromatic complexity, pointing towards refinement. Notes of butter-fried vegetables, seashells and straw all melt into a vibrant finish, loaded with spicy touches.
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2023 sipdown no. 66
I forgot to add this to my cupboard, so sadly no satisfaction from watching my cupboard number drop. I don’t really order green tea (though always happy to try it in swaps), but this one was so intriguing being the only tea production in Bhutan, and from an all-women cooperative!
There’s a definite seaweed-esque smell once steeped. However, this fades away in the taste, which has a vegetal flavour, with very subtle hints of sweetness and an edge of bitterness (that may have some from the water temperature, because in previous cups it hasn’t been as prominent).
The second steep is also tasty, with perhaps an edge more bitterness, but also more sweetness at the end of the sip.
Gongfu!
I was craving something a little bit more green and bean-y today, so I pulled out this tea for an early afternoon tea session. In addition to really prominent soybean notes, this Bhutanese green tea is warm and very buttery with a very gentle toasty nuttiness to it. As the session progressed, the finish began to take on more sweetness – like a cross between sweet corn and peach skins. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but every now and then it’s nice to switch things up!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1aDRGBuZht/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTT89txRUeI
I placed a small order with Camellia Sinensis because I was interested in some of their herbals, namely Wintergreen, Labrador Tea and Taïga Sauvage.
Following a wake-up, chest-clearing mug of Juniper Ridge’s Yerba Santa, I had time for only 1 steep of this tea from Bhutan. According to Camellia Sinensis, this tea comes from the only tea production in Bhutan which is led by an all-women cooperative. Always keeping my eye out for unique teas, I couldn’t resist ordering a sample of the July 2020 harvest.
I prepared the tea close to package directions, using more tea than 2 teaspoons because the leaves do not rest uniformly in a teaspoon. I went for my standard-as-of-late measurement of 1g/100mL for green, white, and black teas prepared western style.
The tea is very clean and smooth. It sits well in my empty stomach. The taste evokes lightly buttered sauteed sweet green cabbage. There is an interesting minerality which Camellia Sinensis refers to as seashells and I think I can agree with that — calcium. A vague feeling, not taste, of smokey, earthy bitterness sits deep within the liquor. A spicy feeling sits only in the chest, something I could equate to the warmth of Saigon cinnamon, but like the smokey bitterness, it’s not a taste. A second steep when I came home for lunch brought forward lime-like and bright green olive impressions.
Overall, this is an exceptionally smooth green tea with an interesting profile that reminds me of sheng puerh. It covers a satisfying and nuanced range of flavors and impressions between sweet, vegetal, umami, mineral, citrus, bitter-smoke and warming spice. As I was just now browsing to purchase a larger quantity, the tea is now out of stock only 2 weeks after placing my order.
