With a singular focus on harvesting only the highest quality black Orthodox teas, the produce of Sakhira is poised to give the vaunted Darjeeling teas a run for their money…this is according to Yatra Tea Company’s website and I have to say that it was quite reminiscent of some Darjeelings I have sipped on in the past.
This Sakhira Estate, Nepal, First Flush from Yatra Tea Company was harvested in April of 2017. It is a black tea from the Nepal region and is of the Tippy grade or SFTGFOP1. It’s golden-yellow liquor, fragrant aroma that is highlighted with pronounced floral notes, offers an incredibly smooth taste that I found myself craving long after the cup.
I adored this tea. But I also enjoyed learning more about where the tea leaves came from which was an area approximately 12 miles from the Ilam bazaar lies the Sakhira Garden which is named for its location (Sakhejung Hill Range). This estate is relatively young (founded in 2000 by the collective efforts of a group of small farmers). The production facilities reside at 4,000 feet while the plantations that provide tea to the factory are perched at an altitude of 6,000 feet.
I can just imagine looking out into these gardens while sipping on a delightful cup of this tea from Yatra Tea Co. Lovely!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Yatra Tea Company
Description
This tea doesn’t appear to be available currently but click below for teas that are!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Wild Black Tea-Dian Hong/Teabook. . . .
I have had this sample of Wild Black Tea/Dian Hong for quite some time now. I have taken it out to make it countless times and then got distracted by another tea and went that route instead.
Well, when I finally made it, I didn’t even drink it hot. My sister called to FaceTime me with her puppy and the call went for some time. The tea cooled. Yet when I did finally take my first sip, I quite liked it.
The tea is somehow both brisk and smooth at the same time. For me, briskness is usually synonymous with astringency but this tea managed to have one without the other. The good morning-pick-me-up without the bad bitterness. With that said, at times it can be drying but mostly it is a sweet honeyed malt.
Is this tea my favorite Dian Hong I have tried? No. But it is nice. A solid option.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teabook
Description
This tea is not listed on the site but click below to learn more about Teabook.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sun Moon Lake Black Tea #18/ Great Tea Road Co. . . . .
Do people get excited over coffee beans like tea drinkers do over beautiful tea leaves?
When I saw the sample for this tea while strolling though the farmers market I knew I had to try it. Long, black leaves twisted and curled slightly; an aroma of honey and cedar.
This is not a machine tea. Leaf perfection like this needs to be worked by hand.
The wet leaves become a chocolaty brown color and gives off a rather strange scent. It’s not bad, I’m just not quite sure of what to make of it. The liquor is silky smooth.
Nothing bitter to it.
Hits the palette just right with essences of honey, cedar, and forest floor.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Great Tea Road Co
Description:
Taiwan is an island near China. Although mountainous, its climate conditions make it ideal for farming. Many Taiwanese have either Chinese and/or original tribal heritage, and the countries main languages are Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese (Min). This tea is uniquely produced with a mixture of local Taiwanese tea cultivar and Burmese tea cultivar. The leaves were picked by hand. Its smell is like light lotus and cinnamon which is uniquely produced in Taiwan.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Wild Style Black Tea from Old Ways Tea. . . .
A telltale nagging in my throat tells me a cold is underway. So I needed the toughest, most bracing tea out there.
Enter: WILD STYLE BLACK TEA.
You know, a RUGGED, BUTCH, RICH tea that’ll sharply inform my immune system HOW IT IS DONE. No mix-ins. Just the STRAIGHT-UP REAL DEAL. The sort of situation that calls for the CAPS LOCK BUTTON
This tea has a thick and smooth flavor. It’s manly, but in a calming, non-smoky way. It tastes like berries, and growth, and getting a tan. It tastes like soil in softening in preparation for spring. It tastes like a cute man in leather winking at you. It tastes like a winding car ride on perfectly paved road.
It tastes like a glorious warrior defeating a sniveling cold.
I hope.
Fingers crossed.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Old Ways Tea
Description
This wild style black tea is from high mountains above Tongmu village located in the Wuyishan Biodiversity Protection area. A strong but clean floral fragrance is present. The tea is described as wild style due to the conditions in which the trees are allowed to grow. The trees are by no means wild, they are still intentionally grown from known cultivars, but are spaced more widely and allowed to grow more how they please. They are not forced into the neat rows that make cutting more efficient.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Have a Sweeter Breakfast Blend with Aso Black from Mellow Monk
Aso Black from Mellow Monk is technically a black tea but it is processed a little differently that most black teas. If I understood their description correctly, Aso Black tea is made from the tea leaves that would normally go into making sencha green tea. Picked in the mountains of Japan, these leaves are less processed and less fermented than traditional black tea. Aso Black is also called “kocha” or “crimson tea”, perhaps due to its medium level of oxidation. But I digress.
The leaves in my sample were small and flat, though very dark in color. As it brewed, the tea smelled distinctly starchy like oats or bread. It had none of the citrus brightness I associate with other black teas.
Mellow Monk recommends letting this tea cool slightly before drinking to let the flavors come forward, so I stepped away from my cup to let it cool down.
When I took my first sip of the tea, I was once again hit with the starchiness of the flavors, though this time it also had quite a bit of sweetness. In an abstract way, the tea reminded me of oatmeal raisin cookies if they could be turned into a breakfast tea.
In the aftertaste there is a vegetal note that I expect more often from green teas. It reminds me of the sweet and sour fermented green tea note that I often taste in kukicha green. With all the sweetness and smooth mouthfeel of the rest of the blend, the green tea aftertaste is less grassy and more fruity, complimenting the sweet oat flavors in the overall smell and taste.
This is a unique tea, worth a taste by black tea and green tea lovers alike. If you are tired of ceylon’s sharpness, or assam’s full fuzziness, try Aso Black for your next breakfast blend and maybe you’ll find it makes for a sweeter morning.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black and Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description:
How about a nice change of pace? Aso Black™ is black tea (kocha, or “crimson tea” in Japanese) made from the leaves of green tea varietals grown in the pristine foothills of Mt. Aso. Gently harvested leaves are only lightly fermented compared to conventional black tea, for a sweetness not found in ordinary black teas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
