Description: Rich and complex, this blend is specially selected from the season’s best estate offerings, then carefully blended to ensure the perfect balance of flavours. Its aromatic woodsy leaves steep into a clear, golden and satisfyingly astringent liquor, while unique and refreshing mountain air notes mingle with a rich muscatel flavour. Enjoy the taste of the Himalayas at their peak… .
Ingredients: Estate black teas from the Highlands of Nepal and Darjeeling, India.
Caffeine Rating: 2
(From David's Tea: Himalayan Blend)
Steph's Thoughts:
This is the second cup of "straight tea" from David's Tea. It was one of the teas recommended to me by Chris, who is one of the Grant Park store's TeaPeople. (I don't think they're called baristas.... what do you call them? Tea-ple?) His first recommendation was the Jasmine Pearls one, but I'm not a giant fan of jasmine (too perfume-y), so he recommended two others - the Second Flush Darjeeling, which I've already tried, and this one.
I chose this one over the Second Flush, partially because I'd already tried the Second Flush, but also because this one smelled sweeter. It's still definitely a straight black tea, which is more bitter than herbal blends, or even flavoured blacks. But on the smelling scale of EW to YUM, I'd definitely put this closer to YUM. For some reason, I smelled a hint of coconut, but maybe that's just because I had the smell in my nostrils from the Stormy Night I'd just smelled. And maybe because in my head, Himalayas = exotic, coconut = exotic, therefore Himalayas = coconut. I think my brain's gone wonky because there's definitely no coconut in here.
I had this tea served with a bit of milk and some agave. Unfortunately, it was still too hot to drink on my lunch break, so I had to wait until after work to drink it. It tastes alright cold, though warmer is better, in my opinion.
Surprisingly, this tea tastes just as good microwaved, so I could drink it warm for my review. HUZZAH! I did have to add a little more sweetener, as I'm not a fan of bitter tea, and straight black tea is bitter.
Also. With black tea, seriously, pay attention to the steep time. Maybe let it steep a little bit longer, but not all afternoon, or all evening.... Because then you're left with incredibly bitter tea. And the last sip is just BRUTAL. Which is why I took the teabag out of this tea after about 15 minutes. Maybe a little less - however long it took me to get my tea, get back to work, have a few quick sips and put it in my locker. It has made all the difference, though.
I don't know how to describe the flavour.... I mean, woodsy and earthy definitely come to mind. But maybe that's because those are the words in the description. It reminds me of going hiking in the forest.... and then coming home and drinking tea out of china cups to warm up. Or sitting outside by the lake at sunset on a fall evening, air crisp and cool, but not so chilly that you want to go inside. You watch the geese fly in and land on the lake, settling in for the night as the leaves, gold, red, and orange (and brown, if you're in Manitoba) fall from the trees. I think this is the kind of tea you'd drink on an evening like that.
Oooh...this tea sounds yummy! I'm not much for the really perfume-y teas, but this sounds really yummy. I, however, am so bad about watching my steep time (with bagged tea, but...). I get distracted because I -am- Madame Distract-o and suddenly twenty minutes have gone by and my tea bag is still in the cup -_-''
ReplyDeleteI need a timer for tea.
Ash - Try using your microwave timer, or a cell-phone timer.
DeleteSome teas are fine if you leave them in twenty minutes. Others, not so much. (Sometimes, it's trial and error. I only figured out RECENTLY that black tea tastes awful when overbrewed.)