Himalayan Golden– Nepali Tea Traders
Dry: Floral, spicy, Mexican oregano, Muscatel
Wet: Rich floral- spice note that is soft and delicate
Leaf: Gorgeous long, narrow twisted leaves, dark umber hued, woven with golden fuzzy threads and the occasional dark-brick red leaf.
Cup: Bright, brassy-orange hued liquor, emanating gently muscatel aroma. Clean, lively front notes and extremely smooth, with a blushing floral-spicy flavor that fades into a mineral finish that is extremely crisp. Floral pollen notes hang on the finish and render a summery, Yhen Zhen Silver Needle feel to the palate which grips the edges of the tongue and hangs at the back of the throat. Refreshing, delicate and complex with a similarity to 3rd flush Darjeeling teas.
Directions: Used 3.5 g in 8oz of 203 degree water steeped for 3-4 minute and poured on high to aerate.
Notes: Reminiscent of Golden Darjeeling from Tao of Tea, but with a more assertive spice note that springs from dry Mexican oregano to grape vine. Very clean and smooth.
Wrote this a few weeks ago and it was shared with the crew at Nepali Tea Traders…not a very ‘story-like’ rendering, but I cupped this along with many other of their teas within a few days time and there were distinctive moments and then cups that resonated and completed the bridge with others. The Himalayan gold shares a characteristic that is indeed a defining bridge to a common flavor that could be defined as a regional terrior. If you listen to each of the regions teas, you can hear it…a silken thread of flavor that snakes through them all and speaks the language of the mountains and hints at the crush of continents and the thunder of captured clouds.
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Poetic. Interesting grape vine/oregano (I only use Greek oregano so my flavor imagination is less musky). Wondering how much you played with the temperature’s on the Nepali Tea’s? The group of us here found the suggested timing not useful.
I play with the time and temp often…when I am cupping at work I often use a temp that is between 190-200 with standard 3g per 6oz….Mexican oregano has a distinctly more spicy/floral note and is less sweet than Greek oregano….and when you say ‘suggested’ you mean the timing that was provided by the company? I wouldn’t be surprised by that as they are much more about the humanitarian aspect and are newer to the tea community…hence their use of ‘pu-erh’ and ‘sencha’ terms when really the teas should be classified differently as both of those terms are regionally and culturally specific…I would imagine that time/temp considerations are also potentially harvested from ‘suggested’ standards….it would be I think more interesting to find out how they prefer to brew it in Nepal and what considerations are made on the altitude and water
OK, not Italian Oregano (which is what I think of as more musty and dark). I have the same impression about humanitarian vs newer to tea community and I don’t in any way look down my nose at that. I admire such courage! The Napali map I saw placed the tea farms at the lower right-hand side of Nepal not far from Darjeeling. (I’d like to get a copy of the map or see it on the website)
Poetic. Interesting grape vine/oregano (I only use Greek oregano so my flavor imagination is less musky). Wondering how much you played with the temperature’s on the Nepali Tea’s? The group of us here found the suggested timing not useful.
I play with the time and temp often…when I am cupping at work I often use a temp that is between 190-200 with standard 3g per 6oz….Mexican oregano has a distinctly more spicy/floral note and is less sweet than Greek oregano….and when you say ‘suggested’ you mean the timing that was provided by the company? I wouldn’t be surprised by that as they are much more about the humanitarian aspect and are newer to the tea community…hence their use of ‘pu-erh’ and ‘sencha’ terms when really the teas should be classified differently as both of those terms are regionally and culturally specific…I would imagine that time/temp considerations are also potentially harvested from ‘suggested’ standards….it would be I think more interesting to find out how they prefer to brew it in Nepal and what considerations are made on the altitude and water
OK, not Italian Oregano (which is what I think of as more musty and dark). I have the same impression about humanitarian vs newer to tea community and I don’t in any way look down my nose at that. I admire such courage! The Napali map I saw placed the tea farms at the lower right-hand side of Nepal not far from Darjeeling. (I’d like to get a copy of the map or see it on the website)