Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Tea Description:
One of the very few green teas from Sri Lanka. This tea is harvested from China Jat leaves in the high elevation region of Nuwara Eliya. The dried leaves are large and well twisted and capable of multiple infusions. Liquor is flavorful because of the elevation.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really like Mao Feng teas, and this Mao Feng from the Oliphant Estate is spectacular.
There is virtually no vegetative taste to this whatsoever (there is just a slight hint of vegetative taste … ever so slight!) and that means none of that grassy undertone that is often part of the flavor profile of a green tea. Instead, this has that sweet, smooth taste that is easily recognizable as a green tea without the grassiness.
Instead, this tastes of sweet cream, fresh mountain air, fruit and flower. These individual notes create a very seamless flavor that entices the taste buds and keep me sipping.
This is the kind of green tea I’d recommend to someone who is new to green tea and has found the vegetative/grassy tones of other green teas to be somewhat off-putting. This one is sure to win them over!
Organic Idulgashinna Estate Ceylon Green Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
A balanced cup for all green tea drinkers, our organic and Fair Trade Certified green tea from the Idulgashinna Estate in Sri Lanka is not too vegetal and not too fruity. Manufactured in the Uva region in eastern Sri Lanka (east of the other well known regions such as Nuwara Eliya and Dimbulla), this tea is from one of the well-known Staasen group of plantations, about 3300 – 6500 feet in elevation. It withstands multiple infusions quite well and has a pleasant sweet note with a clean finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love Arbor Teas, they are one of my favorite companies. They are very earth-friendly with their compostable packaging, their products are organic and Fair Trade Certified, and they work hard to minimize their carbon footprint. These things are not only important to the world we live in but to me, personally, as a consumer.
That being said, even though they are an environmentally friendly company, if I didn’t like their tea, I wouldn’t do business with them. Fortunately, they also have top-notch tea! And WOW! I’m loving this one!
The flavor is very smooth and even-tempered, much like I’d expect from a black Ceylon, but with a fresher, green tea kind of flavor that is not too grassy or vegetative. While there are some grassy tones to this, it’s really a smoother grassy flavor than you might expect from a green tea.
It has a sweetness to it that is very green tea-ish, a very mellow kind of sweetness that tastes faintly of honey. It also has a mild fruity sweetness that melds beautifully with the honey-esque tones.
This is the kind of green tea that you’d be proud to serve to guests, it has a very palatable flavor that I think everyone can appreciate, even those who don’t care for green tea would probably enjoy this one!
Organic Korakundah Estate Nilgiri FOP Black Tea from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Product Description:
This very fine black tea is produced at the Korakundah estate in the Nilgiri region of southern India, surrounded by pristine streams and virgin forests and nearly crowning the Nilgiri ranges at 8,000 feet above sea level. This organic and Fair Trade Certified tea is composed of twisted leaves of uniform size and deep brown color. As is typical of high-quality Nilgiris, the infusion offers a straightforward but delicate flavor, floral and brisk.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a delicious Nilgiri.
It brews to a beautiful coppery color, and the flavor is bright. I would classify it as a full-flavored tea that falls somewhere between a Ceylon and an Assam: not quite as bold as an Assam, but with a bit more gusto than a typical Ceylon. It has some of those deep, baked-bread kind of flavors that I would typically taste in an Assam, as well as a crispness (briskness?) that reminds me a bit of a Ceylon.
There is also a fantastic floral note in the background. Not overly floral, but, it certainly evokes thoughts of a flowery meadow growing somewhere near the tea estate, gently weaving hints of flavor into the breeze that then lightly caress the tea leaves.
Something I did not know, but, learned today as I visited the Arbor Teas website to read more about this tea, is that Nilgiri tea is an ideal tea to prepare as an iced tea as it is less prone to cloud. Interesting! This would taste great iced, too, as I find the flavor tends to smooth out as it cools … this is even tastier chilled than it is hot. It would be lovely with a thin slice of lemon or lime!
Assam Sessa Hajua Estate from Tea Licious
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Licious LLC
Tea Description:
Our finest Assam estate black tea. Winey and malty.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a very interesting Assam. I don’t think I recall having a strong wine-like character in an Assam prior to tasting this one. It’s quite surprising … but a wonderful surprise!
Of course, this has other characteristics that I would expect from an Assam: a deep, rich flavor and color, a malty tone and a sweet caramel-like undertone, as well as that sort of freshly baked bread kind of flavor in the background that peeks its way into the foreground every now and then.
It is pleasantly full-bodied, and because of the wine-like flavor there it adds smoothness to the cup, and the transition to the astringency toward the tail seems less harsh. The finish is sweet with a tangy note that tastes a bit like black currant, and this flavor lingers into the aftertaste.
Truly a unique Assam, one I’d recommend to Assam fans out there – this one’s quite unusual but delightful in its own way! I think that this would also be a good Assam for those who may have found other Assam teas to be a bit too much for them … this may be the Assam that turns them around!
Giddapahar China Delight First Flush Darjeeling from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Product Description:
The Giddapahar Tea Estate is a small, family-owned Darjeeling tea estate and is also known as ‘Eagles Cliff’. The slopes are shrouded in mist most of the time, giving the Chinese tea bushes just the conditions they need to produce wonderfully fragrant leaves. Once they have been skilfully processed according to age-old methods, the Giddapahar China Delight Darjeeling is one of the very best teas available of this grade with wonderfully sweet, mildly nutty, complex characteristics.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is such an interesting Darjeeling. Usually, one of the first things that becomes apparent to me when I sip a Darjeeling is the grape-y, wine-like flavor to it … the muscatel. But here, I noticed first a warm, toasty nut flavor. It tastes sweet, like almonds.
That is not to say that the muscatel is not there … it is. But, it is presented differently. Instead of a straight-forward muscat grape flavor, I notice this almond with mere hints of the muscat. Toward the finish, I notice a slight black currant flavor peeking its way through.
It is a light tasting tea, as is usually the case with a Darjeeling, and this lightness allows for the lovely complexity of the tea to shine through. It begins sweet and crisp, with the aforementioned almond taste, by mid-sip, I notice hints of musty wood … again, mere whispers of flavor, and the fruit-like tones begin to reveal themselves as the sip nears the finish.
There is a fair amount of astringency that arrives toward the end of the sip … but, even as astringency is generally expected with a Darjeeling, I am noticing that the astringency here is a bit softer than in other Darjeeling teas. It finishes sweet with a lingering nutty tone in the aftertaste.
A deliciously intriguing Darjeeling, one deserving of the time to contemplate it’s many layers of flavor.