Himalayan Traveller's Tea (organic)

Well, I’m still terrible at distinguishing aspects of black teas, but this is just mostly mild for me right now. It has a very nice smoothness, and a mild black tea flavour. I prefer this to the Davids Tea English Breakfast I had yesterday, but for it’s price point ($8/50g) this just does not cut the mustard. I’m not picking out any special notes…I think my breakfast of buttered toast is overpowering the tea.

This is the sort of black tea that requires no additions (though I don’t add anything to my tea anyway) and that I think even bagged tea drinkers could have no objection to, other than cost. I’m not getting any bitterness or astringency, but I always steep my blacks a bit on the lighter side. Nice to have tried, but I want something more distinctive and affordable to have on hand regularly. Why are Davids’ unflavoured black teas so pricey? Gah.

This tea is similar to Darjeeling, which is not too surprising as it is also grown in the Himalayas and only about 100km away across the border in Nepal.

The main difference I notice in the flavour is that it doesn’t have the muscatel like Darjeeling but it does have kind of a fruity taste. I sometimes even detected a sweet caramelly aftertaste. Like Darjeeling, this tea has some astringency and I would be careful not to steep it too long if you don’t that aspect to be overpowering.

I’m not really sure if this one is just too close to the darjeeling for my liking, but I was not a fan. I usually prefer my black teas to have a bit more body, so this one felt like it was a little ‘empty’. Definitely on the mild side, this one would be good as an afternoon black, or perhaps even early evening. I did play around a little with the steep times and additives, but this one was just too light for my liking. It also tended to ward the astringent side at times. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Wanted to try this for a while. Was surprised to find it such a smooth, mild black tea. I drink my blacks, well, black, and I think any cream or sugar would have wiped out the natural sweetness of the tea. Very drinkable.

A bit grassy and certainly for those who appreciate a lighter black tea. Best without milk, but fabulous with a small dash. A new (absolute) favourite.

This tea first enticed me at the David’s Tea store in Vancouver, Canada. Its light grassy aroma is quite unique. The quality of the tea is good, and has subtle musky aftertones. Overall I would say this is a fantastic tea with great body and texture. I would recommend to steep without milk, as that would destroy its natural flavor. It is a delicate tea and flavor, so steep for 2-3 minutes maximum, and you will have a fantastic tea experience.

If I was being snobby, I’d call this a Darjeeling wannabe. But it deserves a little more respect than that. It’s got similar tasting notes to Darjeeling, being grown at a hgh elevation in Nepal, but seems a big fruiter to me. I didn’t find it any more energizing than any other black tea, incidentally. Milk might overwhelm this one.

This tea has two wonderful qualities: it carries darjeeling & black tea characteristics. I am very impressed with this tea and I love the fact it’s organic plus comes from a cooperative of farmers.

Made the first cup too bitter after steeping too long.

I think I’m going to like it though. I love the large pieces of tea leaves, and it smells very nice.

It’s liquer is very green for a black tea.

This is a favorite of mine! And by favorite, I might mean addiction. When I first tried it in the David’s Tea in London, ON, I had still been drinking regular bagged tea for my daily fall-back and saving the DT for special occasions, but this was the one to push me to go all loose-leaf! It’s delicious, and has a fantastic natural flavor that doesn’t need anything added. I drink a cup of it first thing every morning before yoga.

When I first bought this tea it was earthy and strong, like a china black, but this second time I’ve purchased it, it is closer to a fruity light black tea, like darjeeling. I’m starting to wonder why the variability…