Himalayan Gold

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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.