Nepal Breakfast Tea

My fixation on reducing the number of samples in my possession continues. I finished the last of this tea early yesterday afternoon, and quite frankly, it was one I was glad to see go. A blend of 2017 second flush teas from a number of Nepalese tea estates, I found this blend to be more awkward and dull than anything. Teabox described it as being a tea they enjoy more for texture than for flavor notes. I could definitely see that.

I prepared this tea in the Western fashion. I steeped 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. Teabox recommended a steep time of 4 minutes, but I don’t mind tannic character or astringency all that much, thus opting to steep for 5 minutes instead. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced somewhat woody, toasty, malty aromas. After infusion, I found scents of orange, wood, toast, and cream. The liquor offered brisk, rather muddled notes of roasted almond, orange, wood, toast, malt, and cream balanced by hints of butter, cashew, blackberry, roasted peanut, and lime. The finish was quite tannic and astringent, though I could detect lingering notes of citrus, cream, and roasted nuts in the background.

Not all that complex of a blend and lacking in the depth department, this ended up being the sort of unflavored black tea bend that does not excite me all that much. Fans of breakfast tea blends may get more out of it than I did, but this is one I would not return to if given the option. At this point, I should mention that I tried it with cream and that smoothed out some of its rough edges, but unfortunately, I am not the sort of person who enjoys tea with additives. Honestly, I think I’m beginning to get the impression that Teabox’s single estate teas are better and more consistent than their blends.