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| The Subject: | Nepal SFTGFOP1 |
| Company: | Element Tea. [More info] |
About the new rating designation.
| Water temperature: | 212° F |
| Steeping time: | 4 mins. |
| Tea type: | Black |
| Dry leaves: | Broken leaf, dark-to-light green and copper color, fresh aroma |
| 1st Infusion: | |
| Aroma, plain — | Richly nutty |
| Taste, plain — | Light taste, slightly astringent |
| Color, plain — | Light amber |
| Taste, enhanced — | Sweetener tames astringency, more nutty |
| 2nd Infusion: | |
| Aroma, plain — | Lighter, still nutty |
| Taste, plain — | Light taste, slightly astringent as cools |
| Color, plain — | Light amber |
| Taste, enhanced — | Sweetener tames astringency |
Comments:
If you like your black tea without milk, here is another one to add to your list. A bit of sweetener may be needed to curb the slight astringency.
The SFTGFOP1 means Special (or Super) Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe of the first quality. (The numeral “1” gets added sometimes as almost an exclamation point, as in “This is really good tea!”) See more info on this labeling system.
The tea leaves get broken up a bit in the processing, but they don’t get ground to dust. After steeping them, you will see the stem and pieces clearly.
We found the first steeping to be a bit astringent and needing some sweetener, but it was too light for milk. Hubby experimented to confirm this. The second steeping was milder and only became a bit edgy as it cooled, as is often the case with black teas. A touch of sweetener solved the problem, though. One thing you might try is to do two steepings and combine them. Sure the first one will cool a bit, but it’ll warm up when added to the second one and then only need that touch of sweetener, or just have something sweet to eat with it.
Overall, this is another nice tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver. It deserved being sipped from one of our finer floral teacups.
Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.
It's appropriate to sample high-grown teas like this in the mile-high city!
ReplyDeleteI've had some teas from near-Darjeeling regions, like Nepal, which have this edgy quality but are too weak for milk. I find they can go either way. When they have more bitterness than astringency, I really like them: it gives them a unique freshness that is unlike teas I've tried from any other region (and can be bolder than most Darjeelings).
But when there's little bitterness and just an astringent feeling left in the mouth, I could do without them.