Updated 14 Mar 2023 by derk
Our second year offering this tea, we’re happy to have sourced this exquisite batch from the last week of January 2023! This tea is slightly more oxidised than our Nilgiri Highland Black and as the name suggests, it has golden tips in it. We are surprised with new teas from Nilgiri almost every season and we wish it stays like that! Although the main objective of the winter harvest is to preserve the freshness of the juicy leaf, the slight oxidation in this version has made for a delicious and interesting result.
The dry leaf this time smells sugary sweet with an undertone of spice. When placed on the heated ware, it gives a very interesting note which is of an Indian sweet called mohan thal. It can be roughly translated to be a gram flour fudge made from gram flour, ghee, sugar and sometimes saffron. We liked this tea for its saffron note last year and that finds its way in this batch as well. The aroma on heated ware is also very creamy which slowly transitions into this confectionery we talked about. It becomes a little fruity as well, although hard to pinpoint. Btw, have we ever talked about heated ware aroma for this long? Probably not and it goes to show how complex and enjoyable this tea is even before we start to brew it! Coming to the taste finally, the first sip is sweet like vanilla wafers and has hints of saffron in its background. The mohan thal note shines even more in the liquor and also has a cardamom note to it. The vanilla wafer sweetness transitions into caramel when it cools down and makes the whole experience sweeter. The saffron note is present in every sip and steep and we love that about this tea. The whole experience is very similar to having a bite of Indian confectionery, rich, creamy and full of exquisite flavours! We hope you enjoy this beautiful tea as much as us!
Appearance : Bright orange
Taste : Saffon, mohan thal, creamy, cardamom, vanilla wafers, caramel
Steeping Time : 3.5 minutes western style, 25 seconds gongfu style adding 10 seconds every subsequent steep
Leaf to water ratio : 1 gram per 100ml for western style, 3.5 grams per 100ml for gongfu style
Recommended Steeping Temperature : 85°C
Recommended Steeping Method : Works good both ways
Harvest Season : Winter 2022-23, plucked in the last week of January 2023
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Excited to start 2022 by introducing a new tea from Nilgiri winter harvest! This tea is slightly more oxidised than our Nilgiri Highland Black and as the name suggests, it has golden tips in it. We are surprised with new teas from Nilgiri almost every season and we wish it stays like that! Although the main objective of the winter harvest is to preserve the freshness of the juicy leaf, the slight oxidation in this version has made for a delicious and interesting result.
The dry leaf has hints of fruit and honey with a spicy undertone. When placed on the heated ware, you get a fresh floral aroma along with a prominent caramel note. The liquor has a sweet notes of honey and caramel with a hint of ripe fruits. There is a floral attribute which resembles saffron flowers. As the liquor cools down, you can taste some woody and earthy tones, present but not overpowering. There are some interesting spice notes present as well, mostly dominant in saffron, cinnamon and elaichi(cardamom). There is a pleasant astringency when the liquor cools down even further, making sure the last few sips are as refreshing as it can be. When brewed gong fu style, the progression is interesting(read : opposite) with spice notes presenting theselves along with a creamy finish on the first few infusions and the fruity and floral notes presenting on the later brews.
Appearance : Golden
Taste : Caramel, honey, saffron, cardamom, cinnamon, creamy, wet forest, woody
Steeping Time : 3 minutes western style, 15 seconds gongfu style adding 10 seconds every subsequent steep
Leaf to water ratio : 0.8 gram per 100ml for western style, 2.8 grams per 100ml for gongfu style
Recommended Steeping Temperature : 85°C
Recommended Steeping Method : Works well with all styles
Something that good that can be steeped with work water? Sounds perfect!
Sounds like a lovely tea, and your description of it is poetic! Even better that it’s not fussy to steep.
It is a little fussy with steep time but does well with whatever water temp the dispenser is set at.