Another of the samples I purchased in the black tea sampler set from Vahdam Teas.
Out of the bag, the dried leaves were a mixture of dark and light, but almost entirely full-leaf—very few broken leaves. The tea appears much lighter than I expected.
I steeped the tea using 4 grams of dried leaves in 12 ounces of near boiling water for slightly longer than 4 minutes.
This tea was a complete surprise to me! I have never had a winter flush black tea nor a tea from a Nilgiri estate so I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, but I was nonetheless still thinking it would be a heavy, black tea—similar to a breakfast blend. There’s no reason for me to expect that, but that is what I had in mind when I saw the bag in my samples. What I got was something completely different!
The brewed tea started off with vegetal and floral notes in the aroma. It reminded me more of a Japanese green tea than a black tea. The freshly-brewed liquor had a light gold color, much like a light pilsner beer.
As I drank the tea throughout the morning, I was surprised at how the flavor, and the color, of the liquor changed! What started out as light golden in color changed to a slightly darker hue of yellowish-orange. The vegetal notes also lessened as the tea cooled, bringing forth flavors of apricot and even something like burned/melted table sugar. The floral notes stayed with the tea all morning, as did a slight astringency.
Overall, I think I would really enjoy this tea if I was in the mood for it. I wasn’t this morning, but I am not going to give the tea a bad rating because it wasn’t what I, in my ignorance to Nilgiri teas and/or winter flushes, expected. This would make a good afternoon tea or a tea for warm, summer days. I will definitely drink it again, knowing now what its character is, at a time when I am in the mood for it. It is a very refreshing drink—not something that beats you on the head like a hammer to wake you up first thing in the morning. Since the liquor began with the color of beer, I’ll will conclude with the summary that this tea is both “great taste and less filling.” ;)
NOTE: The sample I used showed a date of picking as 02 January 2017.
Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Burnt Sugar, Floral, Fruity, Vegetal
