Here is yet another sipdown. I have been quite busy polishing off some of the black teas I purchased last year. I think I have also come to the conclusion that I am not much of a Nilgiri person. I tend to like Nilgiri teas relatively well iced, but they do not often do all that much for me when served hot. As Nilgiris go, I found this one to be quite nice, but I also did not find it to hold my attention all that much either.
I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.
Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted malty, woody aromas with hints of fruit, sorghum molasses, and flowers. After infusion, I detected more intense fruity and floral aromas underscored by a hint of what I can only describe as leafiness. In the mouth, I picked up a nice mix of toast, sweet potato, sorghum molasses, brown sugar, malt, wood, autumn leaves, roasted nuts (chestnut and walnut or something like that), red apple, sweet orange, fruit leather, and fresh flowers. I kept trying to come up with which flowers I was reminded of, but the closest I could get was a combination of rose, violet, and tea flower. Tealyra also insisted that there was a blackberry note to this tea, and while I did get some fleeting berry-like impressions, I found them to be more reminiscent of black raspberry than blackberry. The finish was smooth, offering lingering traces of sweet potato, toast, malt, nuts, sorghum, orange, and flowers.
Overall, this was a smooth, flavorful Nilgiri. There was nothing really wrong with it, it’s just that I have finally come to realize that Nilgiri teas are not my favorites. Nilgiri teas are often used in commercial tea blends, the sorts of blends I have had easy access to my entire life. When I drink Nilgiri teas, I almost always think of generic restaurant tea blends. That might not be entirely fair, but that’s what I think of when I drink Nilgiri teas. Again, as Nilgiri teas go, this one was far from bad. The problem is these sorts of teas just don’t excite me much.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Brown Sugar, Floral, Fruity, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Orange, Raspberry, Red Apple, Roasted Nuts, Rose, Sweet Potatoes, Tea, Violet, Wood
