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Niroulla Darjeeling left, Ketlee Manipur black right |
I won't add much intro about these; they're smoked Indian black teas, provided by the Lochans for tasting (the Niroulla) and also by Susmit of Ketlee. Many thanks to them! To me warm toned teas are a nice winter theme, so I guess this relates to observing winter, even though the weather here isn't on that page.
It's been in the low 30s lately / low 90s F, so summer weather everywhere else, even though it's supposedly the end of our cool season, or maybe the start of the hot season now, not that it matters. It feels cool to me anyway because it's breezy and not humid; I went to a water park with the kids yesterday and it felt a little cool out, at roughly that same temperature.
Niroulla's Smoky Wonder Black Tea (a Tea Swan outlet link, to a 2020 2nd flush version, with this 2021)
This hand-picked fresh leaves from the terrain of Darjeeling during the second flush is a wonder wrapped in your cup! The tea leaves are processed through the pine smoke chamber to get the smoky aroma and flavour. Having the air-filled around you with the aroma of delicate fruity notes, Niroula’s Smoky Wonder black tea tastes smoky and fresh!
Orthodox Village Style Smoked Black tea from Manipur. [I think it's that]
Processing : This tea is handpicked, withered, hand-rolled, oxidised, sundried and then smoked in forest firewood. The rolled leaf will not be fully sun dried and the complete drying will take place on top of the kitchen fireplace for several days until the desired smokiness level is achieved...
Taste : Smoke, muscatel, raisins, peppermint...
Grade : Wild Gushu Spring Harvest 2019
I always take gushu (plant age) claims with a grain of salt, but if old plant forest based sources are used some would be older, or maybe all the material could be. I suppose it's possible that this is a related version from a different harvest, or it could be something else, but it's probably close to that. If it's a similar but different version the description probably wouldn't match.
Review:
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Niroulla left; it came across as much lighter, matching the color difference |
Niroulla Darjeeling: not all that smoky; in general I expected the opposite concern, although the smoke scent is a lot weaker in this dry tea version than the other. It would be possible to miss that this is even a smoked tea. The overall experience is pleasant, and positive, just not overwhelmingly so related to complexity and balance of the tea. Quality seems generally good; not much for flaws stands out either. There is just a lack of distinctness to the experience, not much jumps out at you beyond a general earthiness.
Sweetness level is ok, and flavors that are present are fine. For a breakfast tea this would be fine, well above average. I think sometimes a lot can get missed related to the range within which I'm evaluating teas. Compared to a loose Twinings English Breakfast tea this is on another level, that much more positive, complex, and refined. I suppose comparing it to a Twinings Lapsang Souchong might make sense, but it's not as if I have either profile in mind, so I can contrast or match up aspects. I've not drank Twinings teas in a few years, and don't plan on resolving that to re-establish a baseline.
Some general fruitiness stands out beyond the very light smoke input. It's not exactly clearly in any one range, a bit non-distinct, but towards citrus or maybe dried fruit, or maybe both. For "dried fruit" maybe dried cherry and tamarind, so including some complexity. Really that description as an aspect list sounds good, and the tea is pleasant, it's just limited in how it all comes together and comes across.
For sounding a little negative about it I should clarify that I'd describing it using really exceptional Indian and Chinese black teas as a baseline threshold. This is better than a generic Darjeeling tea bag tea, for sure, but really good versions of better Darjeeling (or Assam, or from elsewhere) are two full levels beyond that. This doesn't quite make it to that highest level, the range where very positive aspects stand out, and overall complexity, and refinement is great, all experienced without notable flaws. This lacks the flaws, and complexity isn't bad, a good start. A touch more smoke really would've blotted out experiencing the rest, so that would be a significant trade-off, but it would match my expectations better. Of course one infusion in is too early for a final judgment.
Ketlee Manipur: there's that punch of smoke. For people not into smoked teas it would be just awful, like leaning over a campfire, but for people on that page it's never clearly enough until it's too much, and this isn't there yet, not too much. I think they nailed it for smoke input level. It's not like I'm a smoke expert but at a guess this is pine smoke; it has that nice sharp edge to it. I suppose other tree wood could also lend that. My grandfather smoked a lot of food and he would never use pine, instead maple, cherry, or hickory, and those all provide really nice range for smoking foods, and would've worked well for tea.
It's going to be harder to identify what is going on beyond the smoke, which is fine for me, since it's kind of the part of the experience I'm signed on for. My impression is that the tea base is good, that they didn't cut any corners on what they used, although to an extent they could've and it wouldn't change much. No flaws stand out, no noteworthy astringency, or thinness of body, or off flavor aspect. Richness and depth is good.
Flavor range seems to add more of a warm mineral and toffee note than for the other, which is lighter and more into fruit. Feel is definitely fuller, but it might give up a bit of sharp feel edge, a light astringency dryness in the other. The other is so soft and balanced it's wrong to say that without adding context; I'm still talking about the range of very good tea, not how chopped leaf versions come across, and that astringency level and version is positive. It doesn't cross my mind to see if a splash of milk will counter that aspect in the other, because it lends a fullness and structure to the tea, not a harsh edge.
Kind of a strange idea I've been encountering these days, mixing these two teas they might be better than either alone. Ordinarily I love the distinctness of narrow aspect types of teas, for better and worse for balancing a broad range of aspect inputs, but the smoke and richness in the second version and light edge and fruit in the first might work together. Oddly the second is just as sweet, not a direct match to other descriptions, but it's easy to miss that for how the heavier savory smoke input shifts interpretation.
I just did try mixing them; in terms of balance and complexity it's better, but it does come across as muddled for blending too much range together. In a sense that failure to be better is comforting, reassuring a general perspective about teas I most typically only hold as an assumption, even though I've been discussing it a lot lately, about blends versus narrower origin and aspect versions. I suppose them mixed together is more like what any tin of smoked black tea would be like.
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Niroulla left |
Niroulla, second round: the smoke is essentially gone, not that it was so clear that it was present initially. This tea is better this round; the fruit really shines through. Citrus might have picked up a bit in the balance of the fruit. Astringency edge is just different, not more or less, and a touch of woodiness enters in, but the overall balance is nice. Judged as a smoked tea it's just not like that this round, but it's quite good. This would be especially good as a tea type to have with food, the way that fruit and sweetness could link up with a food input, or counter it, with the light astringency edge just perfect to clear your palate.
Tea and food pairing isn't necessarily one of my things but I just tried an orange cake (like plain cake with marmalade on it; kind of odd but nice) along with a Shui Xian, an inexpensive version from that one local Chinatown shop I always go to, Jip Eu, and both were fantastic together, much better than either alone. I think that worked much better for the tea containing no citrus trace, just countering it well, with the overlap between this Darjeeling and that marmalade probably not working out as well. With this being so sweet it might pair well with something that's not quite as sweet.
Ketlee Manipur: it's cool how the smoke effect shifted in this, but it didn't really diminish. If anything it's slightly stronger, reminding me of the scent of coal or charcoal. The balance is still ok, with a lighter, twangier smoke edge replaced by this deeper smoke range, just with less coming through from the tea. Back to the pairing idea, this would be perfect with something sweet, for adding contrast, maybe something like a chocolate cake with a creamy frosting, or a raisin danish. I think the connection between that wuyi yancha oolong and the orange flavored cake related to the inky mineral tone pairing really well with citrus sweetness, and that this probably wouldn't offset that orange cake in a comparable way.
Conclusions:
Both nice, both very different. I'm wondering where these stand in relation to a smoked Gopaldhara Darjeeling I tried half a year ago, but of course I don't have the memory to place that. At a guess that was closer to this Darjeeling version but with slightly heavier smoke. I never did get much of a read on the tea input for the Ketlee Manipur version, but again for liking smoked teas with smoke a bit heavy that seemed fine. That's what they're about. If it's too strong aftertaste gets to be a bit too much, and this Manipur version didn't go that far.
Judged as a fruity, balanced Darjeeling version the Niroulla works better, versus representing a typical smoked tea. It may be that they intentionally backed off the smoke level to allow that tea quality and character to shine through, which makes sense, given how good the tea was, and for it being a bit on the delicate side (or refined, to add a more positive framing). It balanced.
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