Neela from The Tao of Tea

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  The Tao of Tea

Product Description:

Delicious green herbal, floral and citrus aromas. Full, smooth taste with a subtle turbinado sweetness.

Taster’s Review:

I had to check out this tea before I brewed it, because the leaves are so large that they almost resemble a dark Oolong.  But these large, twisted leaves are indeed black tea from the Nilgiri Mountains in South India.

Wow!  Just when you think you know what to expect from a tea … I mean, this is a Nilgiri black, but it tastes quite unlike any Nilgiri tea I’ve ever tasted … or any black tea I’ve tasted, for that matter.  This is incredibly smooth and has a lightness to it.  The body and texture remind me a bit of a dark Oolong.  It has that very soft, silken kind of mouthfeel to it.

I don’t know that I would describe this as a full-flavored black tea as mentioned in the above description.  It has a lot of flavor and a complexity to it, but, I don’t know that this is what I think of when I think “full-flavor.”  However, I do agree that there is a turbinado sugar sweetness to this… when I first tasted it (without any sweetener), I thought I might have absent-mindedly added a spoonful of turbinado sugar to the cup.  But I didn’t.  That flavor is a natural characteristic of this tea!  Amazing!

While I really enjoyed this, I would suggest keeping this tea for an afternoon black, rather than something you enjoy earlier in the day when you need a jump start.  I don’t think that this tea really has it in it to deliver a jump start, but, it does deliver a really smooth, calming cuppa.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea

1 thought on “Neela from The Tao of Tea”

  1. The main subject up for discussion at last week’s online Tea Geek Tea Salon* was teas that have surprised us in some way — way better than we expected, way worse, way more interesting backstory… This fits in perfectly!

    I also really like, and was really struck by, the Tao’s Neela. Your description matches with my experience very well; it’s almost like the lightness of the leaves themselves is directly reflected in the lightness of the flavor. I think I’ll have some this afternoon!

    * If you’re interested in the tea salon, talk to Michael J. Coffey: https://plus.google.com/110623869766834238082/posts

    Reply

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