Mountain Nectar

Sip down!

Just made my last pitcher of cold brew with this. Cold brew really tamed down the florals and it was much more pleasant for me to drink than hot or iced.

Will not revisit, but I’m glad I was able to get use out of it.

This morning I felt like having some nice black tea and the choice came down to Mountain Nectar – one of my favourites – that I’ve only had twice thus far. Despite that, the unique profile and unparalleled complexity stuck in my mind.

Dry leaves exude an aroma that’s a blend of cookies, fruits (apricot) and flowers (black locust). In a preheated teapot, this changes to fermented fruits, stewed fresh tomatoes and mango. Yet again, the smell of wet leaves is very different, but beautiful. It has notes of massage lotion, eucalyptus, carrot cake, and forest.

The taste profile is mildly sweet and fruity, with a nutty spiciness, some inexplicable herbaceous quality, and woody finish. Few of the flavours I detected are nutmeg, butter, brown sugar, orange, tomato vine, and marjoram. Second infusion also has notes of roasted hazelnuts and toffee. When brewed more aggressively, the tea displays more of a malty quality too. Aftertaste starts with a quinine-like bitterness, but evolves into an enduring sweetness soon. Further flavours that emerge in the aftertaste include likes of licorice root, burnt food, and spinach.

The texture of the liquor is extremely soft, velvety, and creamy, with a medium body. After swallowing, I get a drying sensation in the throat rather than the mouth and a sandpaper-like mouthfeel.

To begin describing this one…is a bit of a challenge. I’ll try my best anyway.

Starting off with borrowing Brenden’s apt naming, nectar is a good place to begin The dryleaf is leathery, but the tea is fruity, having an aroma close to apricots, stonefruit, berries, and something tropical, like mango. More so mango and apricot than anything else. Whatever kind of fruity the tea resembles, it made me think of the nectar cups that you serve to birds in Bush Garden’s bird exhibit. So the Mountain Nectar tastes like….nectar.

Here’s the other pretentious things I get out of the tea. The texture is creamy and thick, and the flavors fluctuate gong fu or western. Heavier leaves gives you a hint of the cocoa note that many look for in their blacks, and this tea does have a little bit of malt to it, but retains its voluptuous creamy texture and fruity notes. I got a little bit of spice in the hints, but something soft like nutmeg, and there was a nuttiness that was not apparent like almond. The fruity notes combined with the creamy ones reminded me of marzipan for some reason. Brenden described buttery croissant, and maybe that’s what I’m getting in the savory background. That thought could just be a throwaway one. Oh well. Hopefully someone else will do a better job describing this one.

The tea is very durable, and can last all styles of brewing. It even lasted seven brews western and keeps on yielding with close to five grams. Anyway, this tea is definitely a favorite in my collection right now. It is very similar to the Wild Mountain one, but this tea has more tropical and orange colored fruits in the tastes, whereas the other one has more blue and purple fruits like blackberry and its special spicy kick. It can have a little bit of a rise in my tastebuds that’s almost cooling, and then warming again. I have no idea how else to write about it yet. This one is hands down smooth.

Not sure what to rate it, other than in the 90’s with a huge recommendation. The price is a little up, but I actually think you pay what you get for this one.