Arunachal Handmade Black Tea

Another day, another new Arunachal tea! This seems to have become our motto these days! This comes from Autumn 2021 season and we got it along with the Purple Leaf Oolong and Arunachal Golden Bud Black Tea. This is the first batch which is closer to the processing style Indian Black Teas are famous for, low oxidation to preserve the delicate flavours the beautiful tea plants have to offer.

The extraordinarily beautiful leaves of this batch have a floral and chocolaty aroma to them. When placed on a heated ware, it gives a dominantly milk chocolate and vanilla wafer aroma. The first steep has notes of milk chocolate, vanilla cake and a hint of flowers to it. The leaves after first steep have a divine aroma, with notes of ripe banana and pears with a herbal and floral undertone. This translates well into the second brew, which has notes of rose and milk chocolate. The third brew is more complex on the herbal and floral part, with the floral part resembling chrysanthemum, lavender and marigold. There is still a faint hint of white chocolate, which lingers till the last brew ultimately resulting in a caramel like final brew, when you push the tea to longer steeps. All this description is based on our gong fu tasting, and it is a completely different tea, albeit with the same notes but a stark difference in intensity when brewed western style. Also, we end up saying this for almost every Arunachal tea but trust us on it, this too is one of the most interesting finds from the region and we hope you explore it to the fullest!

Appearance : Light Orange

Taste : Milk chocolate, vanilla cake, vanilla wafer, marigold, chrysanthemum, lavender, caramel

Steeping Time : 3.5 minutes western style, 25 seconds gongfu style adding 5 seconds every subsequent steep

Leaf to water ratio : 0.7 gram per 100ml for western style, 3.4 grams per 100ml for gongfu style

Recommended Steeping Temperature : 90°C

Recommended Steeping Method : Works great both ways