Since I spent my afternoon with this Nepalese black tea, I figured I should probably go ahead and post a review. I do not really want the backlog building up and I also want to make sure that I don’t misinterpret my admittedly fragmentary notes. I found this to be a perfectly solid black tea. It was not one of the most striking I have ever tried, but it was a very likable black tea of high quality.
I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.
Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted malty, toasty aromas with hints of floral character. After infusion, I detected aromas of almond, chocolate, and citrus. In the mouth, I mostly picked up on chocolate, brown toast, malt, cream, butter, roasted almond, lemon zest, and bitter orange peel notes balanced by a melange of floral impressions that reminded me of a mixture of dandelion, chrysanthemum, and marigold. In the background, I could pick up fleeting impressions of wood, brown sugar, raisins, prunes, nutmeg, and pungent mountain herbs. The finish was malty and toasty with fairly pronounced chocolate, roasted almond, citrus, and fresh flower notes providing lasting depth after the swallow.
Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company compared this to a Darjeeling, but I am not certain I agree all that much with that comparison. This tea was much toastier, maltier, and more citrusy. It also featured a much more pronounced presence of chocolate on the nose and in the mouth. It reminded me a little of the Nepal Jun Chiyabari ‘Himalayan Imperial’ Black Tea from What-Cha that I tried recently, except this tea was not quite as chocolaty. I liked it, but it struck me as being a little too heavy to be a regular cup.
Flavors: Almond, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Butter, Chocolate, Cream, Dandelion, Dried Fruit, Floral, Herbs, Lemon Zest, Malt, Nutmeg, Orange, Raisins, Wood
