Nepal - Shangri-Lâ Temple

My first sip of this and not quite sure what to make of it.

I certainly love it better than the first Nepal black tea I ever had (from david´s tea, a Angrboda sample). This is just smoother, more elegant. But either Nepalese black tea is so different from the teas I usually have I am a bit baffled by them and can´t really judge yet. But will drink my cup with pleasure! And finish that David´s Tea sample (but for once, the one I had before is not the winner. This Shangri La is just better even to newbies like me).

I get the woody and hazelnut notes from the official description – as well as something raisin-esque. Very smooth with just a hint of astringency which IMO is part of the charm.

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This is a sample I grabbed from the EU TTB several years ago, and had labelled with only ‘Shangri La, treat like green tea’ so it took me quite a while to find which tea I had. This certainly is an odd tea! I can see why cteresa instructed to treat this as if it were a green tea – it has much more in common with a lot of greens I’ve tried than it does any black. It has a lot of astringency for a black with such a low brewing temperature, and a lot of Darjeeling-like floral notes. It has rather a light colour and a dry mouth-feel. It’s not a tea I would choose again, though I am glad to have experienced such an unusual and interesting tea.

I am so happy to have the chance to try this one thanks to cteresa. Obrigada :)

I probably brew it too hot (90°c instead of 85°c) but it is really pleasant this way.
Teresa you mentioned it is not really a black tea but to me it is really works as a black tea and even if a Theodor mentions Shangri Lâ Temple is as good as the best Darjeelings it is to me very different except maybe on the body of the tea.
The tea texture is mellow, I got some raisin notes, not the hazelnut promised but I’ll brew it colder next time.
I need to play more with that one and should thanks cteresa for having sent me a so generous sample.

So I continue to venture outside my tea comfort zone with this one. On the sample bag, as you EU-swappers will note, it says, ‘not a black tea’, but as cteresa points out in the forum thread, it is actually black, but should be treated as a green. Now, I’m someone who tends to slap her greens and call them names (deep down they like it), that is, brew them at 100C with a 1.5-minute steep – because I mostly drink Lupicia greens, and, before someone jumps down my throat concerning this very touchy subject – this is what Lupicia themselves recommend.

Either way, I went for some form of compromise – 90C at 2 minutes. The O Dor themselves recommend 85C for 3:45-4:30 (very specific, I like your OCD, Théodor mon chéri) but I didn’t feel like anything too strong.

In the bag, this had a somewhat minty tang to it, which was surprising. I assume this is just how the freshness of this leaf comes off to me scent wise, seeing as there’s not the slightest hint of anything minty in the brewed cup.

This is one of those blacks that work for me, especially lightly brewed as in this case. I definitely wouldn’t turn down a cup, but it’s not a tea I will crave or think about in the future.

Thanks to cteresa for adding this one to the box!

[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]