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“Cold Brew Sipdown (804)! I got a litre of fresh squeezed tangerine juice in my weekly Lufa Box a little while ago and I decided that I wanted to cold infuse some black tea into a portion of it...” Read full tasting note
“Another of the samples I purchased in the black tea sampler set from Vahdam Teas. Out of the bag, the dried leaves were a mixture of dark and light, but almost entirely full-leaf—very few broken...” Read full tasting note
Our maiden offering for 2017 is a specialty tea from the Glendale harvest. It has a rich flavour of sweet fruits with a citrusy hint and floral undertones that tingle the tastebuds. The twirly, long leaves provide a glowing cup of liquor. An exotic limited edition winter black tea, this harvest is manufactured on order at the scenic terrains of the Glendale plantations in southern India.
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Glendale Twirl Winter Nilgiri Black
TeaboxGlendale Exotic Twirl Nilgiri winter flush green tea
Vahdam Teas2014 Glendale Twirl (Spring) Nilgiri Black Tea
Teabox2015 Glendale Green Twirl Nilgiri Green Tea
Golden Tips Tea Co Pvt LtdAdderley Twirl Winter Nilgiri Black
TeaboxGlendale Estate Twirl Nilgiri
Capital Tea Ltd.Cold Brew Sipdown (804)!
I got a litre of fresh squeezed tangerine juice in my weekly Lufa Box a little while ago and I decided that I wanted to cold infuse some black tea into a portion of it because I’ve enjoyed that in the past – I picked this sample because it’s been neglected by me for a while now, and I didn’t love it in the past so I thought it was a great way to breath some new life into it!
As I’ve done in the past with cold infused juices, I left the tea leaf loose in a mason jar of juice in my fridge over night and let it infuse that way – straining afterwards to remove the tea. It came out really well; I’ve described the taste before with other teas but you’re basically adding malt and tannins to orange juice and that definitely sounds weird, but it works really well and adds an interesting nuance/character to the juice as well as cuts some of the natural sugary taste.
Another of the samples I purchased in the black tea sampler set from Vahdam Teas.
Out of the bag, the dried leaves were a mixture of dark and light, but almost entirely full-leaf—very few broken leaves. The tea appears much lighter than I expected.
I steeped the tea using 4 grams of dried leaves in 12 ounces of near boiling water for slightly longer than 4 minutes.
This tea was a complete surprise to me! I have never had a winter flush black tea nor a tea from a Nilgiri estate so I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, but I was nonetheless still thinking it would be a heavy, black tea—similar to a breakfast blend. There’s no reason for me to expect that, but that is what I had in mind when I saw the bag in my samples. What I got was something completely different!
The brewed tea started off with vegetal and floral notes in the aroma. It reminded me more of a Japanese green tea than a black tea. The freshly-brewed liquor had a light gold color, much like a light pilsner beer.
As I drank the tea throughout the morning, I was surprised at how the flavor, and the color, of the liquor changed! What started out as light golden in color changed to a slightly darker hue of yellowish-orange. The vegetal notes also lessened as the tea cooled, bringing forth flavors of apricot and even something like burned/melted table sugar. The floral notes stayed with the tea all morning, as did a slight astringency.
Overall, I think I would really enjoy this tea if I was in the mood for it. I wasn’t this morning, but I am not going to give the tea a bad rating because it wasn’t what I, in my ignorance to Nilgiri teas and/or winter flushes, expected. This would make a good afternoon tea or a tea for warm, summer days. I will definitely drink it again, knowing now what its character is, at a time when I am in the mood for it. It is a very refreshing drink—not something that beats you on the head like a hammer to wake you up first thing in the morning. Since the liquor began with the color of beer, I’ll will conclude with the summary that this tea is both “great taste and less filling.” ;)
NOTE: The sample I used showed a date of picking as 02 January 2017.
Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Burnt Sugar, Floral, Fruity, Vegetal
Is the Lufa Box like a CSA subscription?
I’m not sure what CSA is, but Lufa is a weekly food box where you can customize a box of fresh local produce/baking and other artisan or small business food and beverage to be delivered to you. I typically get my weekly fruit from Lufa, and like to use it to pick up interesting baking items as well as kombucha.
CSA is Community Supported Agriculture and with that you basically pay the farmer upfront for a share of the fruits and vegetables throughout the year in order to help them with costs during the growing season. Your box sounds pretty neat in that it seems like you get a wide variety of things, not just fruits and veg. We have one here that does cheese and eggs and flowers, things like that, but it’s really expensive. The one we signed up for runs from April thru November.