I finally got around to sampling the Nilgiri tea my partner purchased from Tao of Tea for the Holidays. The particular name of the tea is “Neela”, a black tea grown in the Nilgiri Mountains in South India and harvested in late winter. It is grown in high elevation at 6000 feet which gives it it’s characteristic floral, citrus aroma and subtle sweet flavor.
To brew this sample I used a clay Yixing teapot. The temperature required, which is a little different than traditional Nilgiri tea is 180 degrees. Also, it takes a shorter steeping time as well—the suggested is 3 minutes.
The first infusion of this sample yielded dark amber colored liquor with a light floral aroma. Tasting the liquor left my palette with a very bold citrus flavor of that of orange pekoe tea with lemon. Tasting it makes sense why it is recommended as a good tea to make sun tea with ice.
This particular sample stood up to three infusions, with the fourth, fifth and sixth still yielding a mild subtle citrus flavor -- mellowing more with each infusion. The color of the liquor, of course, lightened as well.
Post brewing, the steeped leaves left behind were large broken pieces. Observing this leaves one to conclude that this tea, although still of high quality tea, is a semi-full leaf variety known as Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP). BOP is characteristic of teas that are machine sorted with Orange Pekoe (OP) being hand sorted retrieving a higher price on the market
Overall, I would give "Neela" pretty high marks for flavor, aroma and number of flavorful infusions yielded. It is definitely a great tea to drink really any time of day. The sample I tried was in the evening after dinner, which made for a nice after dinner digestif.
The cost of the tea is $3.00 per ounce with a price of $10.00 per 3 ounce tin. It can be purchased on-line, at either of The Tao of Tea’s leaf rooms or at any distributor that may carry it.
Peace and Joy!
~Amadeus
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