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“I just reviewed this recently so please read my previous tasting note. I got a whole 2 oz. bag of the tea and I was surprised at how big the bag is, but the leaves are huge and fluffy! This is a...” Read full tasting note
“Pleasant. A very earthy and roasted flavor with the sweetness of raisins. The aroma was mostly raisin with a hint of sweetness. It had a malty freshness that I enjoyed.” Read full tasting note
“First of all, this tea is listed as a black tea, but I’m not 100% sure that it is. Granted, I don’t know a lot about tea, but it looks, tastes, and smells like an oolong to me. I don’t know if...” Read full tasting note
DRY LEAF: A gorgeous tea with leaves well-rolled and redolent of raisins, earth, dry forest foliage and pepper. A abundance of silver tips adorn this tea.
INFUSION: The leaves turn olive green with brown streaks and yield a nose of fruitiness that is grapey, nutty and an undertone of pepper. There is a bright healthy radiance to the leaves.
CUP: The golden liquor bears a lovely floral and fruity bouquet. The mouth feel is elegant as the tea rolls smoothly and sweetly over your palate. In this beautiful tea there is also an almond nuttiness found in the rich clonal flavor of Darjeelings.
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Autumn Bouquet #153. Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. Organic Autumn 2014
Happy Earth TeaNepal Jun Chiyabari 'Himalayan Bouquet' Oolong Tea
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The Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar2014 Autumn Doke Black Fusion Hand Made Organic
TealuxI just reviewed this recently so please read my previous tasting note. I got a whole 2 oz. bag of the tea and I was surprised at how big the bag is, but the leaves are huge and fluffy! This is a great mid-morning tea and perfect for work as it is non-fussy and needs no sugar or milk. just yum! Floral-olive-nutty goodness.
p.s. Steepster seems really like a graveyard lately, I think a lot of people stopped posting after the site functionality issues which is too bad. I’m also on Insta under the name of: TeaBrat if you want to follow me there.
Pleasant. A very earthy and roasted flavor with the sweetness of raisins. The aroma was mostly raisin with a hint of sweetness. It had a malty freshness that I enjoyed.
Flavors: Earth, Raisins, Roasted, Sweet
First of all, this tea is listed as a black tea, but I’m not 100% sure that it is. Granted, I don’t know a lot about tea, but it looks, tastes, and smells like an oolong to me. I don’t know if someone can tell by the pictures on their site, but if anyone could educate me, that would be wonderful :)
http://happyearthtea.com/collections/black-tea/products/himalayan-autumn-bouquet-153-jun-chiyabari-nepal-organic-autumn-2014
Now, to tasting.. Rather, smelling first! This tea is gorgeous and smells like a fresh raisin nut cake – very pleasing aroma. The steeping instructions say to use 1 TABLESPOON of leaves per 8oz! Wow, that seems like a lot to me! The brew (3 minutes) comes out as a dark amber/gold and still has the scent of raisins. I don’t know about anyone else, but I love the smell of raisins – I tend to put my nose in the box and smell the dried grape-y goodness :)
The brewed leaves are a mixture of green and copper colors (http://imgur.com/oz2Lbbo). The taste is complex and soothing. I can taste the faint raisin flavor along with a nutty flavor (maybe like a walnut, but I don’t typically eat or like nuts). But wait.. it has a very oolong-y finish! Yet another reason why I’m confused as to the category in which this tea belongs. It tastes earthy and roasted on the back end.
The second steep (added 30 seconds) brings out even more sweetness and emphasizes the earthy flavor of the tea. Personally, I love it :) That’s two good, two bad, and one middle of the road tea from my Happy Earth Tea samples. One more to try!
Flavors: Earth, Nuts, Raisins, Roasted
A lot of teas from darjeeling and Himalayas are pretty light, even thought they are classified as black teas. But technically they aren’t oolongs either I guess.
I’ve found that a lot of Darjeeling and Nepalese teas that are classified as black teas look like they are only partially oxidized, and have a lot of qualities that are similar to green or oolong teas. I’m guessing the classification is based on the processing. This chart is helpful. http://www.worldoftea.org/tea-classification/
Interesting.. Thanks for the information :) I guess since it’s not fully oxidized, that’s why it tastes like an oolong, but I wonder how they stop the oxidation process? Since traditional blacks don’t have the “heating” step (kill-green/steaming/etc.), I wouldn’t think that the leaves would still be so green/copper.
Drying will also stop oxidation.
Hello Keiblera! I am the owner-operator of Happy Earth Tea. Thank you once again for ordering tea from us and we are even more thankful for sharing your experience of it here.
You are right about this tea being oolong because it is semi-oxidized. However the reason why we have it in the black tea category is keeping with the traditional categorization done at the place of origin.
Oolong is not a familiar tradition in tea producing nations outside of China and Taiwan. Although places like India and Nepal have been making semi-oxidized (or fermented, as they still prefer to describe it) for a while, they still prefer to call it black tea. (Cultural differences make for interesting situations. For instance, the Chinese are still perplexed why we call red tea black. By the way, in local lingo Darjeeling and Nepali refer to their black tea as red tea. But while talking in English they will switch to calling it black tea!)
Anyhow because of the Darjeeling and Nepali tradition of describing their semi-oxidized teas as black tea for the market, a lot of long-standing drinkers of Darjeeling and Nepal also refer to them as black. So in line with that we have categorized these teas as black. Not to say that a tradition cannot be revised.
To answer your other question the semi-oxidation is achieved by a very gentle rolling of the green leaf where the leaves are only partially bruised. In black tea the leaves have to be fully bruised, which is achieved by a much heavier rolling, and which sets off a total oxidation.
Thank you again and happy sipping!
Thank you for all the information, Niraj :) I figured it had to be the classification of the tea in the area. I prefer oolongs anyway :) No matter what it’s called, it’s a delicious tea!
i think its summer. hot and many ppl on vacation. i have to try this tea, i have a sample. pretty sure i will like it too
boychik – you should!
I’ve been wondering why so few people are posting. I hope it’s attributable to summer. I’ve started following more people so I can get some new posts!
@Doug F – I think a lot of people are spending time on Insta too
I haven’t been posting b/c I’m not drinking anything new. Plus, I have to cut down a bit on the caffeine for awhile to see what happens with some health issues. So, one cup a day, pretty much. Sad but hopefully not forever. :)