Three more teas to talk about today which will actually get us to just outside India, in the Nepal region. Although I had ambitions of tasting the entire selection our teas in sequence I find that new teas or seasonal teas crop up that require tasting so for the next two updates I’ll be sharing my notes on our seasonal Valentine’s Day teas and on a batch of remarkable oolong samples my friend Josh has just put in the mail for me.

And now for the last two India teas and into Nepal.

The Iyerpadi estate is located in the Ghat hills of Southern India in a region called “The Hill of Elephants”. The estate produces both conventional and organic teas and we stock an Iyerpadi BOP, organic. As we’ve already discussed BOP stands for Broken Orange Pekoe, which signifies smaller, quick brewing leaves.

Steeping 3-4 minutes at 212 ^oF the tea liquors a clear, reddish cup with a clean, bright, medium to light bodied taste. Pleasant with no lingering flavour. A dash of milk immediately turned this into airline food; curiously devoid of any flavour component. At this point I have to say that this has been Tea and Chi’s favourite tea for “Southern” iced tea and the base for many of our flavoured black teas that are suitable for icing so I proceeded to ice some of it. The iced cup of tea was clear, with a clean, bright refreshing flavour. In short, it was everything one could want from an iced cup of tea.

Sikkim TGFOP-1, Temi: Sikkim is one of the least populated states in India’s Himalayan range bordering Nepal. The Temi estate, a 435 acre tea garden, was established in 1965 and is famous for its aromatic, high quality teas. Our Tippy, Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe from the Temi estate has a smallish, elegant leaf with few tips. It was brewed for 3 minutes at 195 ^oF, producing a light, golden, aromatic cup. Sweet, floral with a hint of spice and a dry end note I found this to be a very enjoyable, medium bodied tea. Skip the milk. It really dampens the flavours and makes the tea look terrible.

Golden Nepal: Grown in the foothills of the Himalayas across the border from India this tea has a longish, twisted leaf with a spicy aroma. It steeps a coppery red and has a stronger body than the Darjeelings and a mild astringency.  I found that a splash of milk rounded off the edges and still retained a good tea flavour.

Next update on the Valentine’s teas will include a coupon so visit again and please leave a comment if you read this. It helps with our web ratings.