Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Looking for a flavourful green tea? This signature green tea of Nepali Tea Traders starts from tea bushes high in chlorophyll content, making the tea steeping in your cup a pleasing vibrant green (and an extra healthy brew!). This is a great example of a premium tea grown at high altitude. It’s smooth to sip and tastes fresh, lightly vegetal and sweet to finish.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea – Ana’s Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders – is the last tea left for me to try from Amoda Tea’s box for May. And I must say I’m really pleased with this tea! It’s quite lovely!
The flavor is light and refreshing. There is a delicate vegetal/grassy note reminiscent of lightly buttered green beans. It’s sweet but not overly so. It has a smooth character with a slightly tangy astringency toward the tail.
It’s a very invigorating cup of tea – I feel like I can feel the tension of the day melt away each time I take a sip and I start to feel my energy renew and I have an overall sense of calm as I continue to drink this tea.
And it’s good for a couple of infusions too! I steeped this tea three times and enjoyed each infusion to the last drop! I found that the later infusions were stronger in flavor than the first and there was a bit more astringency to the second cup compared to the first – but it was still quite enjoyable.
This is the kind of tea that you want to drink when you just want to sit back and forget about the stresses of the day and enjoy a delightfully good tea.
Everest Earl Grey from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This is perfect Spring afternoon Earl Grey. The black tea is light and works to create an elegant blend. With the added sweet orange peel, fragrant bergamot and a touch of Bourbon vanilla bean from Madagascar, this is delicious with or without milk or sugar.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
Yay! Earl Grey! I was so happy to find this Everest Earl Grey from Nepali Tea Traders in this month’s box from Amoda Tea because it’s a tea that I’ve wanted to try for a while now. I mean, hey, if it’s Earl Grey – you know I want to try it!
To steep this tea, I used my Kati Tumbler. At first, I was going to use my Breville One-Touch and use the entire contents of the sampler package that Amoda Tea sends in their monthly box, but, I decided that I wanted to have two separate occasions where I could enjoy this tea so I used my Kati Tumbler, measured a bamboo scoop of tea into the basket and poured 12 ounces of boiling water into the tumbler. Then I let it steep for 3 minutes.
One tip about this tea: let it cool a bit. I find that the flavors emerge when the tea has cooled a little – the tea isn’t cold, not even what I’d call lukewarm, but it’s not piping hot. It’s somewhere between the lukewarm and piping hot. Not quite “hot” … it’s a pleasantly drinkable temperature.
The first sip or two was a little less than what I wanted in terms of flavor, to be honest. Then I let it cool a bit. (Check out the previous paragraph!) Once the temperature dropped to the “pleasantly drinkable temperature” the flavors came forward.
The black tea is the strongest flavor I taste here – but it’s not a really powerful or aggressive tasting black tea. It’s on the mellow side. Smooth, rich but not overly robust. As the description above suggests, it makes a nice afternoon cuppa.
Then I taste orange and vanilla notes. Not bergamot orange, but orange. It’s bright and a really refreshing orange taste. The vanilla is soft and not quite as creamy as I expected it to be. It’s more like a sweet accent rather than the creamy accent that I usually experience from an “Earl Grey Creme” type of tea.
I pick up on the bergamot by mid-sip. It’s not quite as tangy as I normally experience from a bergamot flavored tea. At least, not until the aftertaste. In the aftertaste, I get that bergamot tangy note. During the sip, I notice a sweet, flavorful citrus-y note with a distinct “bergamot-y” type of flavor.
While the bergamot is ‘distinct’ – it’s not as profound a bergamot flavor as I have experienced with other Earl Grey teas. This is the Earl Grey tea for someone who typically finds a strong bergamot presence to be a bit too much for them, because this bergamot is rather subdued. Distinct but subtle in it’s approach.
Overall, this is a really tasty tea. Is it my favorite Earl Grey tea? No, not by a long shot and if I were rating it according to my Earl Grey standards, it would probably end up with one or two stars on a five star rating scale. But, I think that the tea itself is worthy of at least a couple stars on it’s own. This isn’t a tea that would be part of my Earl Grey collection – but I would definitely enjoy having it as part of my overall tea collection.
Jestha Jasmine Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Jestha Jasmine begins with Nepal’s premium Pokhara green, a light, clean and crisp tea with beautiful full leaves. To this is added fragrant jasmine blossoms and orange peel to create a very serene cup of tea. Jestha Jasmine tea is perfect for warm weather and makes a really nice iced tea!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
I was intrigued by this Jestha Jasmine Green Tea from Nepali Tea Traders. I’m usually not all that excited to try a non-Chinese jasmine tea because I’m usually disappointed by them, but, I can’t recall having been disappointed by any teas from Nepali Tea Traders so I decided to go into this experience with an open mind and who knows? I might actually find a jasmine tea not from China that I like!
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch. I usually steep jasmine teas in my gaiwan and then strain the tea into my Yi Xing mug that is designated for jasmine teas, but because this also has orange in it AND because I wasn’t so sure if I’d actually enjoy it and want the flavor to taint my jasmine mug, I decided to just use a ceramic mug and brew this tea in my Breville. I poured the entire contents of the sampler from Amoda Tea into the basket of the Breville and then added 500ml of water to the jug. Then I set the temperature to 175°F and the timer for 2 minutes.
Joy! This is the way that a jasmine tea that hasn’t been processed in China SHOULD taste. It doesn’t have that artificial jasmine flavor to it. I suspect this has a lot to do with the fact that the jasmine notes come from the addition of the jasmine blossoms rather than the use of jasmine oil. The jasmine tastes delicate and natural – not perfume-ish! It has a lovely floral essence without tasting like soap.
And I really like the touch of orange in this blend. It adds a pleasant juicy, citrus note that isn’t overwhelming and the orange and the jasmine complement each other very well.
The green tea base is quite enjoyable as well. It’s soft and has a hint of creaminess to it. I like the way the creaminess of the green tea plays to the other flavors in this tea. It softens the floral notes so they aren’t too sharp and adds a lovely sweetness to the tangy citrus flavor.
A really surprising Jasmine tea! I’m very picky about my jasmine – and I’m enjoying this. I’d recommend this to other jasmine tea drinkers too!
Himalayan Golden Black Tea from Nepali Tea Traders
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This award-winning tea is incredible and unique! Its distinct flavour begins with the soil this tea bush is grown in. In Sandakphu, the soil is golden red and absorbs up the monsoon rains. A mild and silky smooth black tea with flavours of stone fruits and honey.There’s an interesting balance here that is reminiscent of both a Chinese Yunnan and a fine Indian Darjeeling. A Must Try!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
25% of profits from our Nepal teas will be donated to the ‘Nepali Tea’ Restoration Fund for earthquake relief. Learn more here.
Taster’s Review:
I was really excited when I learned that Amoda Tea would be profiling Nepali Tea Traders with their May subscription box. And I’m thrilled to be trying this Himalayan Gold Tea!
As I’m sure that most of you are aware, in April of this year, Nepal was devastated by a major earthquake and a second major earthquake hit them again this month. Nepali Tea has created a ‘restoration fund’ to aid in the earthquake relief efforts and so I’m very pleased at the timeliness of this box! This is a tremendous opportunity for you to get some fantastic teas and also help out with the restoration efforts!
And I’ve always been pretty impressed with the teas that I’ve tried that were produced in Nepal. I can’t think of any teas from Nepal that I’ve not enjoyed, and Nepali Tea Traders are some of the best of the best that Nepal has to offer!
And of the teas that I’ve tried from Nepali Tea Traders, I think that this Himalayan Gold stands out. The above description suggests that it’s a mild tea, but I don’t know if I agree with that assessment. I do agree that it’s similar to a Yunnan. I get those spice notes that I might experience in a Yunnan, although I think that the spice notes here are even more profound than in the average Yunnan black tea.
This isn’t very similar to a Darjeeling in my opinion though, mostly because when I think of “Darjeeling” I think of a lighter, crisper type of black tea that is sometimes more similar to a green tea than a black tea. I think of the muscatel notes of a second flush when I think Darjeeling. This might be similar to a first flush Darjeeling, perhaps from the estate of Arya. It has a more pronounced flavor, with notes of raisin and stone fruit. I am even picking up on some faint notes of smoke in the distance.
This is more robust than mild, in my opinion. It’s not as robust as say, a sturdy Assam tea, although I am noticing some similarities to an Assam and this Himalayan Gold. For example, I taste hints of malty undertones and a slight caramel-y note that I’d enjoy with a good Assam.
Overall, I taste a lot of similar notes to many different teas from different regions – all in this one very delightful tea from Nepal. I like that I’m getting so many things to enjoy with one tea. This one deserves high praise – it’s a really, really good tea.
Nepali Oolong from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: The Tao of Tea
Tea Description:
From a small tea garden and farmer cooperative in the Dhankuta district of the eastern Himalayan region of Nepal. The co-op actively encourages small farmers to not only grow tea, but to bring bio-diversity into their land.
This leaf represents a new tradition and style of making tea in Nepal. The leaves are hand-rolled instead of large conventional mechanical rollers, then carefully roasted over low heat.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m revisiting this Nepali Oolong from The Tao of Tea because when I reviewed the tea, it was one of my favorite Oolong teas that I had tried up to that point and I’ve tried a lot of teas since then. Because my experience with the Napali Oolong was so memorable, I wanted to revisit it to find out if I still enjoyed it as much as I remember. I wanted to find out if it still deserves that place in my heart as one of my favorite Oolong teas.
In addition, since the time of writing that original review, I have come to learn the joy of brewing in a gaiwan and what a difference it makes when it comes to steeping an Oolong tea. Armed with that knowledge, I measured out a bamboo scoop of the tea leaves into my gaiwan, administered a 15 second rinse, and then steeped the tea for 1 minute at 180°F. I resteeped the leaves, adding 15 seconds onto the second infusion, and then I combined both infusions into one cup.
My first cup (infusions 1 & 2) is sweet and abundant with buttery flavor and there’s a buttery texture to go along with it. I’m tasting strong fruit notes -a note of peach that’s so delectable! This cup is smooth with very little astringency and no bitterness. The fruit notes provide quite a bit of the sweetness but I’m also tasting a honey note and sweet floral notes. It’s has a buttery taste and texture to it too.
So, very much like what my review suggests, although I think I’m tasting more fruit now than I did in my first infusion back then. I’m also tasting the honey flavors that I didn’t notice or recognize back then.
With my second cup (infusions 3 & 4), I noticed that the strong buttery presence has diminished somewhat. The texture is lighter and the flavor is a little less buttery – still there, certainly, just lighter. The honey notes are still strong and the peach notes are still just as strong (if not a tad bit stronger!) I’m also picking up on some notes of plum now – like a fully ripened, sweet plum that’s been dried to retain it’s sugary sweetness.
As I’ve already mentioned, the texture is lighter with this cup and because of that, I’m picking up on the slightest note of astringency. It’s still quite smooth, but this is a little more astringent than the first cup. Don’t let that sway you though, because the first cup wasn’t astringent at all – and now, just a slightly dry, tangy sensation at the tail.
My third cup was delightfully peachy-plumy-yummy! I don’t get much buttery flavor that I experienced with the previous two cups – but this tea is still worth the extra infusions because the sweet fruit notes are so amazing. A light honey note and a floral note begins to emerge, weaving its way in and out of the sip. This cup is more astringent than the second cup, but it’s still a rather light astringency.
A truly remarkable tea – definitely worth exploring – and re-exploring as I have done today. This tea is currently out of stock at The Tao of Tea but please keep your eyes peeled! I consider this tea a must try for all tea lovers!