To begin describing this one…is a bit of a challenge. I’ll try my best anyway.
Starting off with borrowing Brenden’s apt naming, nectar is a good place to begin The dryleaf is leathery, but the tea is fruity, having an aroma close to apricots, stonefruit, berries, and something tropical, like mango. More so mango and apricot than anything else. Whatever kind of fruity the tea resembles, it made me think of the nectar cups that you serve to birds in Bush Garden’s bird exhibit. So the Mountain Nectar tastes like….nectar.
Here’s the other pretentious things I get out of the tea. The texture is creamy and thick, and the flavors fluctuate gong fu or western. Heavier leaves gives you a hint of the cocoa note that many look for in their blacks, and this tea does have a little bit of malt to it, but retains its voluptuous creamy texture and fruity notes. I got a little bit of spice in the hints, but something soft like nutmeg, and there was a nuttiness that was not apparent like almond. The fruity notes combined with the creamy ones reminded me of marzipan for some reason. Brenden described buttery croissant, and maybe that’s what I’m getting in the savory background. That thought could just be a throwaway one. Oh well. Hopefully someone else will do a better job describing this one.
The tea is very durable, and can last all styles of brewing. It even lasted seven brews western and keeps on yielding with close to five grams. Anyway, this tea is definitely a favorite in my collection right now. It is very similar to the Wild Mountain one, but this tea has more tropical and orange colored fruits in the tastes, whereas the other one has more blue and purple fruits like blackberry and its special spicy kick. It can have a little bit of a rise in my tastebuds that’s almost cooling, and then warming again. I have no idea how else to write about it yet. This one is hands down smooth.
Not sure what to rate it, other than in the 90’s with a huge recommendation. The price is a little up, but I actually think you pay what you get for this one.
Flavors: Almond, Cocoa, Creamy, Fruity, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Nectar, Smooth, Sweet