Today's Tea: Nepal Black

Nepal Black Tea from DAVIDsTEA

Description: There are good things brewing in the Highlands of Nepal. Like this hand-made black tea, from a small family-owned tea garden named Jun Chiyabari. From the first sip you’ll notice its rich, sweet, honey-like flavour. What doesn’t come through in the cup is how much good this little tea garden does. They’ve set up a ton of amazing community programs to benefit local schools, underprivileged families, and the elderly. This particular tea is a DAVIDsTEA exclusive – now that’s a good thing. 

Ingredients: Black tea from Nepal

Caffeine: 2 (medium)

(From DAVIDsTEA: Nepal Black)

Steph's Thoughts:

I went to DAVIDsTEA at Grant Park to try the Cherry Blossom White for Kaseteufel, but it seems it's an online exclusive (boo). I asked the Tea Guides what they recommended and Laura (I'm working on learning all their names, because they are the awesomest ever) suggested this one.

She also told me that DAVIDsTEA has bought all the stock from this particular tea farm, so this particular tea is a DT exclusive. She was super-excited about all the good things they (DT and Jun Chiabari) are doing in Nepal, and I think she's passed it on!

I'm not usually a fan of straight black tea - I like my flavours. But HOLY CRAP. Laura, THANK YOU.

The tea is on the sweeter side of black tea. I was pleasantly surprised by the sweetness, actually. I didn't get a whole lot of sweetener in, because I wanted to try it as straight as possible. I was afraid it would be bitter or very strong, so wanted to temper it with a little agave, and when it's so hot, it's hard to tell what it needs. I didn't need a lot to bring it up to my desired sweetness.

It does have a little bit of a honey taste to it. It's not bitter, and it's a lovely dark amber colour.

This tastes lovely with gingersnaps - it's a great complement, actually. The smoothness of tea goes well with the - ahaha- snappy ginger cookie, and the flavours lend themselves well to the pairing.

I would recommend drinking this tea while it's hot. However, in my life, tea seems to have two temperatures - too hot, and not hot enough. You wait and wait and wait for the tea to NOT be too hot, and by the time you get to "not hot" you have about thirty seconds to gulp down the whole cup before it becomes "not hot enough." And this tea is just too good to guzzle.

It is a black tea, which means it has a caffeine kick. I think this might be a good mid-afternoon tea. Right when you need a cup of coffee to wake you up, pick up this tea instead. I would love to have a tin of this, because as far as plain tea goes, this is THE BEST EVER. Seriously, of all the plain, unflavoured teas, this is my new absolute favourite ever.

Seriously, if you like plain tea, THIS IS YOUR TEA.

Thank you, Laura!! You rock my socks like crazy.


Verdict: Tea Win!!