Blue Mountain Nilgiri

I’m finally getting moving! I’ve been on a late night jag for a few weeks now, but that means I don’t get up until the morning is half over.
Last nights concert was beautiful! My guitar player/composer friend put together some really interesting music, with influences of classical Indian (he studied with Imrat Khan, who is the ultimate master of raga style music, sitar, etc. If you have never heard of him, just know that he is a legend!). Other influences: Astor Piazolla, rock, folk, & jazz!
I played on a duet for guitar & harp. I also played in an ensemble with guitar, bass, cello, violin, 2 percussion players (one on set & one on hand stuff:mallets, shakers, etc), & 2 female vocalists (no words, just syllables). Anyway, it was fun to be part of, but after the concert I hung out with the band, then came home & played my harp til 3am, working on some other things. It’s just really hard to stop, once I get started!

The tea? Oh yeah, the TEA! First cup of the day.
Not as fragrant as I like, it’s got that ‘tea’ taste that I tend to associate with the iced teas of my youth. There was a nice base note, a deep blackberry-like aroma, & a high citrusy edge, very bright, but maybe not so much in between, if you know what I mean. Still, not a bad cup of tea! No astringency, & a good start to my morning.

hahaha i’m so glad you drank this today terri! Funnily enough it’s what i had first thing this morning but couldn’t find it in my cupboard – somehow missed adding this one. Couldn’t remember who the vendor was so until you posted this i couldn’t log it.

I enjoyed this one this morning but it wasn’t anything to knock my socks off. It was a good bold black to kick my morning off with no astringency. Thanks for the share Terri!

This is another one of the teas I got from TeaEqualsBliss in a trade.

I don’t know much about Nilgiri tea apart from the fact that it supposedly has a bit of a citrusiness and that 52Teas uses it as the base for their black tea blends. The dry leaves are so small that at first I thought they were CTC, but on closer inspection they’re just small leaf pieces. It doesn’t seem to have much of a scent, either dry or while steeping. I stood there for like a minute sniffing the tea and probably looking quite silly, but all I could pick up was a bit of a faint, sweet and slightly woodsey scent.

The brewed tea looks very red in my white ceramic mug; it’s a lovely deep shade that reminds me of red wine. The taste is fairly light for a black tea, with the start of each sip reminding me a bit of Darjeeling tea -but not as astringent. Then it turns slightly toasty before ending with an almost fruity note.

Very nice. Pretty pure amber color. I can taste the blackberry, though this is not a sweet tea at all. No dryness in the mouth, but somewhat in the throat.

Remarkably similar to a darjeeling.

I also love the way this is packaged. A double sealed tin. I wish some others I have purchased recently had packaging half as good.

A beautiful tea, almost midnight blue and organic. Very pleasant, almost sweet

Burgundy is right! Nice color! Not much for scent, tho. It’s a flatter type taste. A little woodsy. VERY slight berry-type taste. This is an OK tea.

I’m not sure how I rate this tea. I like some flavor to my tea. I’ve been a chai drinker for too long and I’m trying to expand my pallet. Any suggestions on blending with this tea?