Nepal Golden Tips Black Tea

I’ve wanted to try this one for a while, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to get a small 25 grams or a sample from my last What-Cha order. This one could have been an easy daily drinker for me if I tried it sooner. I was surprised by how fruity it was-it reminds me distinctly of fruit loops or apple jacks cereal. It’s got all the trademarks of a Dianhong, and the leaves are thickly dense with golden trichomes. The malt is really nice, and the tea has some sweet-potato and cocoa notes, but then it leans heavily into the honey and fruit. I do get banana in the first two steeps western, but then orange later on. Reminds my a lot of the Kenyan White Rhino. More to come on this one.

May 2021 Harvest – First Flush

This was included as a free sample in my last What-Cha order. Thank you! I don’t think I’d tried teas from Nepal before checking out What-Cha; all the ones I’ve had so far have been pretty good – this one included!

Aroma: The dry leaf smells like some kind of funky tree trail mix, like nuts, something fruity (dried apricot?), floral, and “plant” (yes, tea is plant. I am very observant). The broth is nutty and fruity like orange zest and apricot.

To taste, there are some lovely purple fruit notes, like grapes and plums. The nuts from the aroma carry over and so does “plant” (it’s a tree!). There’s also a “starchy” flavour that is like banana and/or sweet potato. Banana/plantain really comes out in the finish as it cools. It’s nice.

Another good steep of this tea. I’m trying to drink through some of my many samples! The flavor is very light this time, so I think I might try it a tad longer next time. It reminds me a lot of other “golden” teas I’ve had, and the sweet taste has a lot in common with the Golden Buds tea from What-Cha, though this tea isn’t as rich.

Well, I am continuing to slog my way through all of the backlogged reviews I have accumulated since the start of the month. I finished a pouch of this tea a little over a week ago. I tend to be a big fan of the Nepalese black teas sourced by What-Cha and this tea was certainly no exception. I found it to be a smooth, remarkably flavorful black tea.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I attempted no additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of chocolate and herbs. After infusion, I noted aromas of chocolate, malt, herbs, orange, and flowers. In the mouth, I found a mellow blend of cream, malt, chocolate, wood, orange zest, and roasted nuts balanced by touches of honey, cherry, banana, black grape, herbs, and leather. Oddly, I could find no floral notes in the mouth. The finish was somewhat dry, yet not astringent. It offered lingering touches of malt, roasted nuts, chocolate, and black grape. What-Cha swore there was a note of nectarine in there somewhere, but I never found it.

This was a very smooth, mellow, approachable black tea with a nice body and just enough depth and complexity. Thankfully, it also did not come off as a clone of a second flush Darjeeling either. If you are a fan of malty, flavorful black teas, then this one would likely be for you.

So the tea I’m reviewing is labelled “Nepal Golden Tippy Black Tea” and I think its just this year’s version of the same tea.

To be honest I just had it for the second time and I’ve delayed posting a note because I’ve been lacking the vocabulary to describe this one. There is a smell, from the dry leaf in a warm pot, and a flavour from the tea, that I couldn’t quite place.

Most other reviews mention fruity, which I don’t get. However, someone mentioned french toast which might be close to the smell I pick up. The tea is smooth as described, but the malt is much weaker than I expected. There is an after taste that is difficult to place, a pleasant one. Overall a good tea but doesn’t really stand out for me. For smoother teas I prefer the Georgian ones carried by the same vendor, and for more malt I look to yunnan blacks.

I may try this with a longer infusion time, maybe 5 minutes.

The dry leaf smells like sweet milk chocolate and is made up mostly of fuzzy pale golden buds. In a warm gaiwan, the leaf smells intensely of chocolate and then fruits. Kind of a fruity trail mix sort of thing.

Starting with a 10 second steep, the tea is lightly sweet and the primary flavor is malt. I push the tea a little harder on the second steep and am rewarded with some of the chocolate I noticed in the dry leaf and decent thickness.

I’m met with some bitterness and astringency in later steeps but the overall profile remains much the same. This tea is fine but unfortunately I think it smells better than it tastes in the cup.

A pretty great tea with an amazing smell of tropical fruits. The flavor is quite malty and sits nicely in the mouth.

Rich malt with a brisk edge and a fruity note that expands on the palate, developing a very light sweetness in the finish. This tea is quite enjoyable and most resembles a Yunnan Dian Hong.

I’m not sure what I did wrong on this one but it just didn’t pop for me. I followed the suggested steeping directions. 185 for 3 minutes with 2 heaping tsp in 8oz. Both the first steep and the second at 4min30sec just were very watery and flat to me.

I will try to up the water temp and see if that changes anything here and update as needed but for now, it was very watery and lacked flavor.

Sipdown!

I took my entire sample — about 6 grams — and brewed it in a small teapot with 85°C water for 1 minute. I could have done it in a gaiwan, but eh, I was lazy.

The brewed tea was dark brown and had a cool undertone to it. It smelled sweet, malty, and slightly sour. Overall, the whole thing reminded me of wet hay.

Down the hatch, I got a similar taste of wet hay, sweet potato, and something sour I couldn’t quite put my finger on. As the tea cooled, a bitter undertone developed underneath. It wasn’t sharp, but I still didn’t like it, because it wasn’t a pleasant bitterness, but one that felt kind of old and reminiscent of plastic.

The second steep, also for 1 minute, was very similar. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it and had trouble finishing the second steep.

Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2016/01/what-cha-nepal-second-flush-golden-tips-black-tea-plus-toronto-tea-festival/