It goes without saying that a big part of drinking tea is the smell and taste of a good brew, but sometimes the presentation and design of the product can be a nice diversion. This tea from Nunshen arrived in a sleek, modern, well-designed packet. The bilingual instructions come with plenty of stylish symbols alongside the English and French, describing the temperature, brew times, leaf type, and the mood of the tea (Chai du Kerala is marked as, “relaxing”). The muslin teabag adds a soft, handmade touch to the whole experience.
The dry tea and the brew both smell strongly of natural cinnamon sticks, warming up the whole room. It’s a chai tea, and it has the expected heat and spice without being too cluttered. This tea is deceptively fragrant, following me around the house from the kettle to my chair in wafting waves of cinnamon. There is not too much ginger, just enough to add dimension to the cinnamon flavor, and both spices meld well with the earthy, malty, black tea base.
The tea’s package even numbers the blend, like a perfume or a vintage. Chai du Kerala is no. 91 in the flavor listing from Nunshen. With a sleek design and quality tea, I can’t way to try all the other numbered flavors!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Nunshen
Description: Love, healing and happiness go hand in hand as you sip on this unique blend. Hints of citrus and earthy tones will recover peace of mind and restore your well being.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Huang Shan Hair Tip from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
Our organic Huang Shan Hair Tip Green Tea (also known as Huang Shan Mao Feng) is grown in the mountainous regions of China’s Anhui province, in the vicinity of the picturesque Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan). This tea is one of the top ten most legendary teas in all of China. Mao Feng teas are usually plucked when the buds are swollen from rain but still young and tender. The medium-green leaf sets yield a pale, straw-colored infusion with light body and a smooth, somewhat sweet and lightly vegetal flavor reminding of fresh garden zucchini.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I like to taste the tea – drink about half the cup – before I start my reviews, so that I can get a good idea of what I want to say about it. I also like to drink about half the cup before I start writing the review because, I like to wait before I read the description of the tea from the vendor so that I can formulate my own opinion about the tea without the influence of the purveyor’s description.
So, when I did get around to reading the above description, I have to say YES! That’s what I’m tasting. Especially when I got around to the zucchini comparison. This tastes very much like zucchini: mild tasting, and with a hint of butter, as if the zucchini has been either lightly sauteed in butter or perhaps steamed and then lightly buttered. There are also notes of hay and some very faint fruit tones to the cup, somewhat apple-esque.
When I took my first couple of sips, I could have sworn I was sipping on a yellow tea … because it has some similarities in taste to my beloved yellow teas too, although I must say that this is definitely more green tea tasting than yellow tea. But, it was quite nice to discover some yellow-ish taste to this!
Overall, I’m really loving this tea… certainly a good one. But, as I’ve gotten to know Arbor Teas over the past couple of years, it’s become somewhat expected! They have some of the best teas available anywhere online! I highly recommend them!
