Nepal Guranse Summer 'Tippy' Black Tea

I’ve had this tea for years, and am now just reviewing it. I had to remind myself I really don’t need more tea, and since I’m buying house, I have to actually go through my horde and manage my resources. I will still buy new tea, but I’m only going to pick teas that I know I really like as pure teas and some flavored ones from now on.

It’s a fruitier black tea that had a lot of similarities to white tea for me. It’s almost muscatel, but it’s more grapey and floral. I kept tasting apricot and geranium, with more herbal qualities that sometimes reminded me of sage. I guess that’s how the astringency of it hits me with the dry qualities that come up here and there. I’ve mostly done western and gong fu, but I slightly prefer a shorter western session of 2 minutes with a generous 2 teaspoons or less. I got more fruity qualities western than gong fu-gong fu was more herbaceous and floral. Sometimes, the astringency and bitterness would overwhelm me, so I’d have to take breaks from it. I think I could finish it off western easier, and might tumbler fuel it for work this week to sip it down.

Maybe I can save some for Leafhopper if she wants some.

Summer 2019 harvest.

Plowed through a 25g bag without taking notes. What do I remember? A light, nutty-buttery body that thickened into a creamier mouthfeel when the tea was left to sit in my thermos. Straw, sandalwood, geranium, rose, lemon zest and linens, a bit of a malty-toasty-apricot feeling, green bell peppers. A slight bite balanced the heavier mouthfeel. Cooling/warming camphor mouthfeel extends into chest. Good summer time tea.

This is another old review that has been sitting around unposted since either November or December. At the time I was working on this one, I only had a mini sample of this tea to work with, but I have since acquired a larger amount, so I will very likely be posting an updated review of this tea at some point in the next few months. My first impression of it was very good. I was obviously a huge fan of What-Cha’s previous Guranse offering, so my expectations of this tea were high, and fortunately for me, it did not disappoint.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in about 8 ounces of 195 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to infusion, and I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of pine, straw, hay, peanut, grass, chrysanthemum, dandelion, and rose. After infusion, new aromas of malt, butter, cream, apricot, toast, plum, orange blossom, and green bell pepper were apparent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, hay, straw, pine, grass, cream, butter, rose, toast, dandelion, apricot, pear, plum, orange blossom, chrysanthemum, violet, green apple, white grape, peanut, chestnut, hazelnut, lemon zest, and green bell pepper. The finish blended floral, vegetal, and nutty characteristics with subtle maltiness, mellow notes of butter and cream, clear and distinct impressions of lemon zest, white grape, green pine, and pear, moderate astringency, and some lingering apricot and plum hints that were most apparent after each swallow.

Overall, I found this to be a very nice Nepalese black tea. The liquor was a bit thinner than the previous Guranse offering that I tried, but that was ultimately a minor quibble. This was still a very complex, pleasant, and balanced tea. Fans of Nepalese black teas should get a lot out of it.