Himalayan Gold

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea
Flavors
Bread, Malt, Nutty, Peanut, Grapes, Wet Earth
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by mlebeau
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 45 sec 2 g 7 oz / 207 ml

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12 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I tried this tea once before when Nepali Tea Traders had an evening tasting when the tea’s were introduced at Happy Lucky’s Tea House. It was a stormy Winter evening (snow!) but nearly 50 people...” Read full tasting note
  • “Tea of the afternoon – what I really need is a nap but I’m afraid I won’t be sleeping for a while. This tea is intriguing. It’s very aromatic and as I was holding the cup up to my nose I was trying...” Read full tasting note
  • “Wow, I can’t believe that I’m the first person to review this tea. I found this company indirectly via Bonnie, since she always has the best stories centered arround Happy Lucky’s Tea house that I...” Read full tasting note
    94
  • “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...” Read full tasting note
    92

From Nepali Tea Traders

A Sandakphu tea, our signature Himalayan Golden provides a rich, mellow cup of tea with a beautiful golden color and a smooth, buttery finish. Himalayan Gold is a complex, flavorful tea because it is fully oxidized, naturally dried and fired. Full-leaf, loose tea.

NepaliTeaTraders.com

About Nepali Tea Traders View company

Company description not available.

12 Tasting Notes

676 tasting notes

I tried this tea once before when Nepali Tea Traders had an evening tasting when the tea’s were introduced at Happy Lucky’s Tea House.
It was a stormy Winter evening (snow!) but nearly 50 people braved the cold for a chance to taste these special tea’s!

The farm that produces this tea is in the Southeastern part of Nepal, closer to Darjeeling (India). During times of unrest, it wasn’t uncommon for Nepalese tea to end up over the border in Darjeeling sold for very little, mixed with other tea and sold at a high price as Darjeeling Tea.

The comments about Nepalese tea tasting like Darjeelings tea’s is in some ways understandable. I find the references to Chinese tea just as true. It seems like the ‘tea trail’ from China and all points between… were channeled to Nepalese tea.

Review
Himalayan Gold is a proper name for this shimmering, topaz tea. It is sweet, clover honey…thick like fruit leather.

A black tea without muscatel, lush in the mouth grain honey… smooth and rich.

I noticed citrus orange which isn’t very distinct but did define the floral note in the honey aroma.

None of the above matters more than the experience. The luxury of the tea.

My mind and body feel swept up into the wind drifts of tea farms tucked in warm valleys along stony mountain paths. This is something I see where I live also, and explains why many Nepalese live in the familiar high altitudes of Colorado, refugees from recent wars. I imagine the spirit of the tea in the wind wrapping around me with golden arms, candlelight that does not burn. I know this. It isn’t man-made.

The tea warms my whole body, so sweet that I would rest on that gentle nectar satisfied.

Of all the Nepali Tea’s, this is truly Golden. This one whips the wind in the flags up on the high mountain.

Ze_Teamaker

Is it weird that I am now imagining someone wearing a leather jacket made out of thick fruit skin? Like a leather jacket made from Mango skins.

Bonnie

Cool…I’ve lived in the tropics and there are mangos that you never see in the U.S. Scents and flavors that amaze! Sure…why not a fruit leather jacket…warming…honey scented.

Terri HarpLady

This sounds wonderful!

Bonnie

I see you Terri with the jacket on riding her cycle high up in the Rockies…mountain mama!

Terri HarpLady

You know, I’ve never actually taken my Harley on road trip! My schedule is so crazy all the time that the best I can do is cruise around town running errands on it, LOL. Occasionally Tony & I get to take a ride an hour or so out into the country (those are my favorite rides), stop somewhere for a bite to eat, & then ride back. But those trips have become ever more rare as it seems like my weekends are full (which is a GOOD thing, since I have bills to pay), & on the rare weekends when I’m not playing somewhere, it always rains, or is really HOT (no fun). We’ve actually been talking about selling our bikes… :(

Bonnie

We could use some rain…none so far. The rest of the Country gets the bad weather. It’s like I live on a ledge at the edge of the high mountains and the weather goes overhead and hits later on the plains or further out in the Midwest or East Coast. No humidity either. I’m not complaining, and it’s sort of hot but not terrible. Denver is out on the plains further so they get more snow, rain, wind and can get tornado’s (rare). Not my town though. Too close to the hills! I like being safe! I understand about the bikes. Guess you could rent some if you HAD to do a road trip in the future.

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2816 tasting notes

Tea of the afternoon – what I really need is a nap but I’m afraid I won’t be sleeping for a while.

This tea is intriguing. It’s very aromatic and as I was holding the cup up to my nose I was trying to place the smell. It reminds me a bit of pastries baking but it’s also… floral.

The flavor is interesting as well, there is something sweet and bready about it, but also malty and fruity. Geoffrey mentioned grape and I can taste some of that as well. When I first sipped this I thought it was a bit on the bitter side, but as the cup cools down its definitely calmed down a bit.

Reminds me a bit of a Chinese Yunnan crossed with a SF Darjeeling. I am enjoying it but I think I accidentally made my leaf to water ratio too strong by dumping in more tea than I needed. I think I’ll wait to give this a rating until I’ve tried it again.

I am convinced I will like any tea from Sandakphu, there is something about them that has always captivated me (and continues to do so).

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
CHAroma

Hmm, sounds really interesting!

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94
250 tasting notes

Wow, I can’t believe that I’m the first person to review this tea. I found this company indirectly via Bonnie, since she always has the best stories centered arround Happy Lucky’s Tea house that I decided to check them out. I was on their site, and I saw that they were having an event with Nepali Tea Traders to promote their teas, and I ended up with six sample after checking out the website.

When I opened the bag I was initially very surprised as to how much like a Darjeeling that the tea smelled, with very interesting fruity notes bieiung the main thing that stood out to me. The leaves are of similar coloration to a Darjeeling, but a bit smaller than Darjeelings, and there is a fine golden dust on the leaves similar to Verdnat Tea’s wild-picked Jin Jun Mei.

I brewed the first infusion in a cast-iroin teapot with a generous helping of leaves and near-boiling water. I decided to ignore the directions on the back of the package, and I did a 15-second infusion. The result is a clear golden tea with a smoothness that is not quite creamy enough to be butter, but at the same time it’s not the mineral smoothness of a yancha. The tea is also surprisingly sweet, a bit like raw sugar but more subdued. finally, the aftertaste is a light tingling on the tongue that last for about a minute. All in all, it’s a very nice start for this tea, and I can’t wait to see how it develops.

For the second infusion, I followed some advice from Bonnie and let my water boil and then sit for about six minutes before making the tea. I let the leaves steep for 10 seconds, and then started drinking. The result is a bit fruitier than before, yet still sweet and clear. The smooth texture is also a bit more of a silky smooth as well, which is a delightful surprise, since I figured that it would fade a lot more. All in all, this tea is turning out to be a very interesting experience.

Okay, the third infusino happened last night, but I could not get the website to work, so here it is: I used cooler water again for this infusion, but I let is sit for about 25 seconds while steeping. The result is a very smooth and lightly fruity tea, which was a nice balance between the two previous steeps. It has just the right balance between the sweetness and the complex flavors that have yet to reveal themselves. Unfortunately,I need to stop, or I’ll never fall asleep, but this was a very nice tea, and I’m very glad that I got to try it.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Bonnie

I’m so glad you tracked them down! They give all their profit to charity and that’s what the appeal was for the owner of Happy Lucky’s besides the fine taste of the tea’s. Through several tastings, we discovered that playing around with temperature changed the flavor, so you might try that too. Nepali Tea explained that Darjeeling can command higher prices for tea, but many Nepalese tea’s are still unknown to the world and are grown next door to the Darjeeling tea’s but command a lower price. I’m thrilled that this company is helping farmers in a similar way to Verdant and Laoshan Village.

Joshua Smith

I know, it’s a really awesome idea to put your profits back into helping your partners improve their livelihoods and craft. Also, about the prices, that is always the thing that bothers me about Darjeeling, especially after buying a few teas from Rare Tea Republic. I had a sample from Nepal, and it was an amazing tea, yet I remember that the per-counce price was much less than the Darjeelings that I got from the same place.

Frinally, I’m testing the tea at a lower temperature now, ’ll get bakc with the results shortly.

Kashyap

I sent my reviews directly to them and will be posted them soon…glad you started the ball rolling

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92
54 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 45 sec
Bonnie

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.

Kashyap

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

Bonnie

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)

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92
348 tasting notes

This little treasure was a surprise. Well, I knew I was going to like it since it had the word “Gold” in the title, and the fact that it had a lot of tippy leaves in the mix. Okay, sure, I’ve heard that such a presence doesn’t affect the taste any…but I like shiny things. So, shush.

This tasted like a cross between a tippy Dian Hong and a 2nd flush Darjeeling – Arya Ruby or Giddapahar clonal, to be precise. There were shades of malt, honey, cedar, peppers and grapes – all juggling at once. I’ve had a few Nepalese blacks in my time, but not one that actually tasted like something from China. I just dug the fact that it was so smooth and – for all intents and purposes – on the far side of unique.

(In case you haven’t guessed by now, “unique” is my thing.)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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6444 tasting notes

Apparently I forgot to log this so I am back to 99 teas but still under 100. Yay! This is a smooth tea with a dash of malt and some baked bread notes. It’s a little bit brisk but not overly so. Alright, but nothing special.

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97
226 tasting notes

I bought this tea for two reasons: I wanted to support the company’s efforts (in a somewhat indirect way) to do their part to help rebuild Nepal, as they have pledged to do with their profits for the next year, and I wanted to try the tea that won the North American Tea Championship in 2014 in the black tea category. The reviews looked very promising, so I went ahead an ordered the 1.6-oz. package. The tea is very reminiscent of a Yunnan golden tips, but with a slight smoky/bitter edge to it, somewhat reminiscent of the flavor of a pecan, or like a single leaf of lapsang souchong snuck its way into the steeper. It’s deeply malty, but also smooth, like someone took my favorite beer and made it into a tea. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although next time I might try steeping it for less time, just to see. :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70
71 tasting notes

Good — but not great — black tea. More like Chinese blacks I’ve had than South Asian ones, nutty and malty. Smells similar to Whistpering Pines’ Golden Snail tea, but not nearly as strong or robust — or as interesting. I appreciate the sample, but I’m not likely to buy it as it’s pretty expensive for a Nepali tea. It would be a nice everyday tea, but I wouldn’t pay a premium for it.

Flavors: Bread, Malt, Nutty, Peanut

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78
630 tasting notes

This was pretty good – if I didn’t have a similar black that I like better before it I might say really good. It has a slight sweetness, tastes mostly like bread and malt, with a hint of grape. A good morning tea.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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88
36 tasting notes

I’m admittedly usually more of a fan of green teas but this one might just convert me. First off the smell, it’s like nothing I’ve ever smelled from a tea before. There are somewhat malty/bready type hints mixed with a unique earthy quality. As far as taste goes, again it’s not like anything I’ve tried before. There’s a definite malt/bread quality to the tast, and there’s some additional grape hints to it. I did not detect any bitterness at all in this tea. Honestly it’s one of the smoother teas I’ve ever tried. I would highly recommend this tea to anyone. It’s definitely of quality.

Flavors: Bread, Grapes, Malt, Wet Earth

Preparation
3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
DeliriumsFrogs

Oh, this sounds really lovely! :D

masked185

It was, it really really was.

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