Coonoor Estate Nilgiri

The leaves of this are long and whole with a slight twist. The color is very dark with a twinge of oxidized copper. The leaves brew up into perfect dark brown leaves around 1.5-2 inches long and the color of the tea is light but very red.

The tea tastes like I imagine cherry wood would taste and it ends dry finish. It’s the only nilgiri that I’ve found so far that I really enjoy hot. It’s flavorful but still has that smoothness that makes me think it would be a great crisp iced tea. I got three good steeps out of this before I was forced to abandon my leaves. I’ve got a jar of this cold brewing in my fridge right now so we’ll see how that turns out.

EDIT: Just drank the cold brew it was very lightly colored for the amount of leaf but excellent. It has a buttery finish now, and the large leaves are perfect for grandpa style.

Sample from kimquat I have to confess that i’ve been meaning to order from single origin teas since Nicole introduced them to me, but haven’t yet found the time in my tea ordering line up. I’ve had some amazing teas from them since, and a few less wonderful. This particular one for me, falls somewhere in the middle. There’s nothing here to really knock my socks off taste wise, but it is a smooth sort of cup that i’d welcome as an every day sort of tea. There’s a little drying to this one, but it’s not overwhelming so i don’t mind it. A good solid cup of tea to start the day earlier today.

From the unflavored TTB

Mmm, this is good! I had a hard time reading the handwriting on Single Origin Tea packages, so I thought this was an milgiri oolong, then whatever coonoon is.. a raccoon? Turns out Coonoor is the tea estate!

Anyways, pretty tasty tea! Sweet, little light for a black, bready, fruity grapey, dry, and a little caramelly. I’m not a fan of the dryness, but the flavor is pretty good.

Tea #7 from the (Mostly) Unflavored TTB

With Steepster being pretty much inaccessable and overall pretty dead, I’ve been slacking on logging my notes. Lol! I had another tea from the box day before yesterday, but I’ll have to log that one after this since I can’t remember offhand what that one was.
I kinda fudged it with the steeping parameters since I couldn’t really find them anywhere and I was overall too lazy to find and check the Single Origin Tea site.
Couldn’t get any sort of scent from the dry leaf since this was pretty much the end of the bag. I think there’s still another tsp or two left though.
Brewed this reminds me of a darjeeling to be honest. With that muscatel/fruity sort of scent to it. And that’s really the only taste I’m getting from it too. Fruity muscatel with a mild astringency.
I’m not sure if it’s just because the tea is now older from traveling in the box and/or it’s just evolved through to another tea. I’m pretty certain that this is the same tea that I’m drinking, but I can’t understand why I’d be getting such a different taste than what was originally tasted.

MzPriss’ Unflavored Tea Box – Tea #2
Oh if only this tea had the flavor notes for me like they did in Kimquat’s tasting note. I’m gonna just copy & paste them right here: “Flavors: Butter, Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Fruity, Jam, Malt, Sweet” That sounds like my favorite tea ever!! I was hoping some would be left when I got the tea box! Sadly, if only the tea had a deeper, darker flavor, it would been a better fit for me. The cup is actually the color of honeybush, so this is as light of a black tea that you can get. I even used two teaspoons. It’s probably the lightest black tea I’ve ever tried, except for some of those golden yunnans but these leaves aren’t gold, they are very dark. So disappointing. It was a sweet cup though, just not enough flavor for my tastebuds to distinguish. The second steep I filled half the mug at boiling and it had a similar flavor. I’m not sure if Kimquat and I were even drinking the same tea, but I sure wish I was!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 17 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 min?

In this day of political correctness, we aren’t supposed to have prejudice, but I have to confess that I have prejudice against certain teas, including Nilgiri. I’ve never had one that I thought was better than ordinary. Until this one.

This tea was really nice. The first Nilgiri that I’ve really enjoyed. It reminds me a bit of a Yunnan: earthy, with a hint of chocolate. The second steep was slightly bitter, but a third was smooth and enjoyable. Not great, but certainly rising above ordinary.

(From the Unflavored Traveling Tea Box)

I think this tea was too subtle for me. I kept thinking that maybe I taste lemon, or maybe there is some sweetness, or maybe a malty note. I had no trouble drinking it. It just didn’t impress me too much.

Quick review before bed! Another one from the UTTB.

(2 min)
It’s surprisingly jammy and fruity upon first sip. There’s also maltiness, notes of dark chocolate, and a lingering sweetness. It sits thickly on your tongue. There is a touch of bitterness that doesn’t detract from the other flavors at all; it comes with the impression of dark chocolate, simply adding to it.

(2min 35sec)
Very fruity and peppy with a heavy caramel sweetness. (It reminds me of a Yunnan tea—Zhu Rong. It’s certainly similar.) My favorite kind of black tea. (: It’s juicy and sweet and decadent. Simply delicious! Little to no bitterness in this cup either.

(3min 20sec)
More bright and fruity. The caramel is a little softer. A little buttery, even. Becomes more pronounced as it cools.

Overall a very lovely tea. I’m glad I got the chance to try it!