Another one from Sips By. Clearly they really wanted me to try some Indian black teas… XD
I actually steeped this one twice, the first time with a conservative time of 2.5 minutes. It came out quite bland, so I steeped a second cup for 4 minutes. I tend to err on the side of shorter steeps with Indian black teas, but maybe that’s not necessary for Nilgiri?
Anyway, it’s still rather lightly flavored. There is zero bitterness or astringency, which is rather shocking to me. Mostly there are soft notes of hay, malt, a bit of wood and earth near the end of the sip. Perhaps some tobacco and leather in there as well, and a hint of dark raisin. It reminds me a bit of a cross between Assam and a Chinese black tea?
Nothing spectacular, but very drinkable.
Flavors: Earth, Hay, Leather, Malt, Raisins, Smooth, Tobacco, Wood