I finished this one last night, which was a terrible decision. I had way too much tea yesterday and ended up not falling asleep until around 3:00 A.M. as a result. I didn’t get up this morning until somewhere around 10:00 A.M. I may have put myself through hell, but at least the teas I drank yesterday were good. This one was no exception, and for me, that’s saying something because I’m still not totally sold on Nilgiri teas.
I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.
Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted a fairly powerful bouquet that presented a blend of honey, flowers, grass, and fruit. After infusion, I detected pronounced scents of honey, violet, grass, rose, and mango. In the mouth, I detected honey and flowers up front. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of floral impressions I was getting. At the time, I pegged it as a mixture of chrysanthemum, rose, tea flower, and violet. With the exception of the violet, I’m still not confident that my description would strike anyone else as being remotely accurate. Just beneath the honey and floral notes, I detected impressions of grass, straw, malt, herbs, mango, and nectarine underscored by a touch of smoke. The finish was sweet with a nice mix of floral, fruity, and honeyed tones.
This was an interesting and satisfying black tea. I was pretty much firing in all directions simultaneously when I attempted to log this, so I have no idea if my description of this tea even approaches adequacy, but I can confirm that it was a nice drinking experience. Again, I’m still not the hugest fan of Nilgiris, but I thought this one was quite good. I imagine that those who have more interest in teas of this type would get considerably more out of it than someone like me.
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Grass, Herbs, Honey, Malt, Mango, Rose, Smoke, Straw, Violet
