Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Golden Tips
Tea Description:
An exquisite green tea from the coveted organic Avaata Tea Estate in the Nilgiris in southern India. The perfectly manufactured leaves boast of a light green texture combined with opulent long silver tips. The liquor has a very pale green appearance in the cup. The flavour is extremely smooth and fairly sharp typical of non-fermented green teas but without any hint of bitterness. A sensation of fruits and flowers flush your mouth with every sip of this certified organic green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’m sitting here sipping this tea, I find myself mesmerized by how good it is. I then decided to do a search to see if I’ve ever tried a Nilgiri Green tea. And as it turns out, I’ve tried two green Nilgiri teas, one of which was more of a smoky tea (reminiscent of a Chinese gunpowder) and one was the base for a Chai. Neither were like this tea.
The dry leaf looks very much like a white tea, except that these are greener in color than most white teas I’ve encountered. The dry leaf also has a stronger ‘green’/vegetal scent than most white teas I’ve encountered. But the shape of the leaves – the appearance of the leaves – reminds me of a very high quality Bai Mu Dan.
So as you can imagine, it was a little more difficult to measure these leaves into the basket of my Kati tumbler. Rather than attempt to measure the leaves using my bamboo scoop, I eyeballed a measurement in the palm of my hand. Then I added 12 ounces of water heated to 175°F and let it steep for 2 minutes.
Delightful! This is a wonderful green tea! It has a delicate quality to it that reminds me of the aforementioned Bai Mu Dan, but it isn’t quite that delicate. The flavor is a lot less vegetal than I would have expected after the aroma I experienced with the dry leaf. In fact, those that tend to shy away from green teas because of that strong vegetal tone would probably find this green to be very much to their liking.
It’s light and crisp and very refreshing. Sweet with almost a sugar-like flavor. The texture is light yet creamy. It has a nice softness to it. There is no bitterness, but there is some astringency to this that is experienced primarily in the aftertaste, I can feel a dry, puckery sensation on the inside of my cheeks at the very end of the sip and into the aftertaste.
This is very CREAMY tasting. I like that while it has that creamy taste and texture, it isn’t a super heavy texture and the astringency seems to cleanse the palate somewhat so that my palate doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the creaminess.
Truly, a delightful green tea. This is one that should be on every tea drinker’s list to try because it’s so different from the green teas you’re probably familiar with. It’s so lovely!
