One of the teas that Camellia Sinensis has included as a free sample in one of my various orders from them; can’t remember which one or exactly how old the tea itself is though…
I’m drinking this Western because it’s a rainy/dreary day and I just wanted something black to drink on the balcony and rain watch with. Looking at the dry leaf as I was measuring I was a tiny bit surprised just how green the leaf looked through. Akin to a lot of Darjeeling teas, this demonstrates a WIDE range of colour in the leaf appearance. That doesn’t especially surprise me given that it’s an Indian black tea, but I wish that CS’s website offered more information about this varietal. Currently it offers none…
The flavour is pretty nice; it’s definitely a medium bodied tea which personally are the kinds of blacks that I find most perfect for every day drinking or really thoughtless drinking where you just want to experience the warmth of the tea without really putting a lot of energy into dissecting the flavour. Is there a way to say that it’s the perfect “mindless” tea without that sounding condescending? Because it’s not BAD; it’s just kind of… Well, you know.
As far as flavour notes go this had a range, with none of them really being extraordinarily weak or dominant. Just kind of a mix of all the following: floral, smoke, muscatel, malty, honey, and raisins. Given some of the comparisons I’ve already made to Darjeeling teas, this profile doesn’t exactly surprise me. In fact, maybe I appreciate it a little more so because I’m experiencing it without any harsh astringency or bitterness. I like it! I doubt I’d have picked it for myself either, so I’m happy to have received a sample of it.
EDIT: I was curious, so I’ve looked up the region a little more. Sikkim is a tea growing region very near in proximity to Darjeeling and so it is often marketed as “Darjeeling Style” tea given the similarity in terroir. The Temi Tea Garden is actually the only tea garden in Sikkim as well. Very interesting!
I love learning new tea things.
