Nepali Tea Traders

We’re having muffins this morning. Gloriously fluffy muffins, each with a large crumb and a dusting of cinnamon sugar covering its inflated top. Or at least that’s what we are supposed to be having. Instead, somewhere between the creaming of the butter and their rise in the oven something went terribly, terribly wrong. No sweet and gently spiced aromas permeating my kitchen this morning, only the curious almost-burnt stink that I noticed a few minutes too late. Apparently, my oven temperature jumped 25 degrees after the muffins went in and ruined everything. They didn’t rise after the first few minutes and so they came out looking like dark, greasy pucks. I tried passing a couple off to my sweet husband who innocently enough thought they were some sort of high-fiber bran muffin. They’re not.

As disappointed as I am with these wannabe muffins, I’m still sitting here eating one with a steaming cup of spiced black tea on the side. This tea, the last of a generous sample from Nepali Tea Traders, is just barely spiced. It’s a whisper of spice really so I wouldn’t consider it a chai blend at all. I’m very glad it wasn’t described as such or I might have been a bit let down. Since it wasn’t, I’m not. A very nice breakfast cup.

I’m searching now for seeds to plant in our tiny backyard garden. I don’t think I’ve ever been so ready for spring.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 195 degrees + 18 minutes

This isn’t as flavorful as the first cup, even with the longer steep. The spice is mostly gone, and the black tea itself is weak. Best to stick to a single serving of this one.

Thank you to Nepali Tea Traders for this generous sample! They included two sachets of this tea as well as a sample of loose leaf tea in their package. I’m very glad to be able to try both of these.

This tea came in a sachet, but I think I read on their website that it is sold as loose leaf. The dry tea in the sachet is broken into smaller pieces but once steeped they are larger and fill the pouch a little more. This blend is lightly spiced just as the description says. It lingers after each sip.

I haven’t had white tea in a really long time. It usually tastes like hay to me. Not this one! I have to agree that this is not just any old white tea. This is like drinking summer! YUM! Notes of melon, citrus, butter, and yes, hay.

I just might have to add a couple of whites to my stash. Thank you TheLastDodo for including this in the package!

Oolong isn’t my first choice, but I can appreciate why some enjoy it so much. After having an oolong from Verdant yesterday, I feel better able to give a note on this tea. Between the two, Verdant is the clear winner for me. In comparison, this oolong, while enjoyable, has something of a muted flavor. The roasted qualities are there, but they are off in the background. Perhaps this was the intention. It tastes fruity once it cools to room temperature so I think I would like this one better as a cold brew.

Thank you to Nepali Tea Traders for including this beautiful tea with the sample of Masala Chai they sent to me last month. Looking at this tea, the dry leaves are long and curled. When I drop them into the steaming water they move and twirl like a nest of lazing snakes. The smell is clean and airy like a cool spring afternoon with the windows thrown open. After steeping, the leaves have opened just a bit but are still somewhat curled into each other. Both the leaves and the liquid have taken on a roasted quality which I’m greatly enjoying.

The sample I received since I’d asked for black tea. I really like the colour of the leaves. There is a nice, light floral scent. It has a bit of a floral flavour as well, with some fruit.

Since today was my day off, I decided to have some loose leaf tea again. That is kinda hard to do at my work, especially since there is no tea kettle (yet). So I am glad to try this sample. This is also my 500th tasting note. Whooo!

Water: 8oz

Leaves: medium leaves/ Triangle tea bag

Steep: 3m,4m

Aroma: Spice

Color: Golden brown

Taste: Feeling a bit under the weather i decided to go with something really quick & simple for today. Going with a tea bag, but this bag was different from all the others I have had in the past, i found it cool how it had no string. therefor i could just toss it in my mug & be good to go! The bag was a very fine mesh like material with plenty of space for tea to float around. When brewing not only could you see the black tea leaves but also flecks of green. The aroma of various spices filled my cup as i brew for 3~4 minutes a slightly lighter shade than other back tea I’ve had in the past, with great clarity no cloudiness at all as I’ve experienced with other traditional tea bags. When drinking i found this to have a nice smoothness with a light spice flavor.

*Update: This tea stopped my runny nose! I was even able to brew 16oz for 8m and it was still good! I say 4 steeps max for now. I’m surprised i was able to fall asleep normally due to the tea having high caffeine amount.

Finally got time to try the sample from Nepali Tea Traders! I brewed this at work and almost completely forgot when I got caught up doing something else. thank goodness I was able to save it from oversteeped hell just in time. I was nervous at the first sip and was bracing myself for a bitter brew, but thankfully only sweet, sweet smooth masala was there to comfort me. This was a great sample, with all the right spice, sweetness and bread-like malty qualities I like in a chai. It packs the beast ratio of chai ‘punch’. I actually like the sachet it came in. it’s a convenient way for me to make a good cuppa at work without the fuss.

I appreciate the free sample!

I took this without milk or sugar both times. A gentle masala chai overall. The liquor sweetly smells of cardamon and cinnamon, and tastes mildly spicy (the ginger is most prominent), which doesn’t linger in the aftertaste and allows the base tea – malty, bread-like – to take over.

This masala chai blend would be perfect to have in mid-autumn.

I love Masala Chai, and this version is a wonderfully light version that allows the tea to shine through and not be overwhelmed by the spices. I steeped for a bit more than 3 minutes which yielded a light/medium orange brew with an excellent flavor and aroma. Nothing added, just enjoyed it in it’s natural state. Excellent.

I received two pyramid tea bags/sachets from Nepali Tea Traders, and both were gone and brewed the day they arrived. Nice flavor, spicy aroma and a tea I could drink all day long. Thank you to Nepali Tea Traders, I look forward to ordering more tea from you soon.

Received a loose leaf sample of this wonderful tea direct from Nepali Tea Traders, and was very pleased. It is a Darjeeling oolong, partially oxidized, that brews up a lovely medium orange brew. The flavor is a remarkable combination of spiciness and muscatel, yielding multiple steeps that has a very pleasant mouth feel or texture. Highly recommended.

I don’t see this currently listed on their site, but I think I might try one of the other Darjeeling oolongs listed. They are a wonderfully different breed from the Chinese and Taiwanese oolongs that I love.

Good — but not great — black tea. More like Chinese blacks I’ve had than South Asian ones, nutty and malty. Smells similar to Whistpering Pines’ Golden Snail tea, but not nearly as strong or robust — or as interesting. I appreciate the sample, but I’m not likely to buy it as it’s pretty expensive for a Nepali tea. It would be a nice everyday tea, but I wouldn’t pay a premium for it.

This is a milder chai with a nice powder coating to it. The taste could be stronger and still keep the black tea taste as well. This was just a bit dry and weak for my taste, however it is quite smooth which is nice.

Thank you Napali Tea Trader’s for this sample. This tea is quite tasty. It is not really puerh even thyough I don’t doubt it’s fermented. It is a delicious, malty black tea. Definitely get hints of dry grapes as another reviewer suggested. The malt is not overpowering. It reminds me a lot of a breakfast tea but is more mild than one from Sri Lanka. If I ever get around to an order from Nepali Tea Traders and they are on my list, I will buy this tea.

I steeped this tea twice in a 8oz glass teapot with the entire sample, 1.7g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 3 min and 4 min.

This was pretty good – if I didn’t have a similar black that I like better before it I might say really good. It has a slight sweetness, tastes mostly like bread and malt, with a hint of grape. A good morning tea.

This tea smells a lot like Darjeeling in the package which is interesting. The taste is rather mild for what would be expected when you look at the liquor and smell the tea. This tea is great for some calm sipping, but I would like something a bit stronger.

Thanks again to Nepali Tea Traders for the sample! I know sachets are problematic, but I quite like them for the convenience without sacrificing the pleasure of loose leaf. This is so yums. The brew is a medium orange. It’s sweet and malty. The cinnamon was actually more prominent when I made this in a travel mug versus the regular mug I’m using now. The spice here is more abstractly warming than dominantly flavorful. I got a solid second steep out of this bag. A level tablespoon of manuka honey added some sweetness but wasn’t really necessary. I wouldn’t recommend this iced though. It just… doesn’t work.

Overall, I’m not running to buy more right this second but would definitely consider buying this in the future. Sipdown!

Thank you to Nepali Tea Traders for sending me a sample of this! I appreciate that the sample consists of two sachets, which gives me some room to play around. I used the first sachet in my travel mug for breakfast tea this morning.

I’m glad I checked out LiberTEAS ‘s note before trying this tea. I would have added rice milk before trying it and I think that would have been a mistake. This is a very gentle chai. Cinnamon is prominent here but not sharp. The base tea is malty but not heavy. I’m looking forward to trying this in a regular mug so I can experience it more fully.

The scent is malty, dry, fresh, with a finish of caramel. The taste is surprisingly sweet, astringent, but in a refreshing way. Caramel, hints of cocoa, a little earthy and at times reminds me of a pu-erh. As it cools, the astringency increases and it has almost a “chewy” finish with hints of grain. The nots of grain increase and remind me of barley tea or fresh corn.

The scent is buttery, grassy, and sweet. The beginning of the aroma smells like green tea but finishes closer to an oolong. I really like the flavor of this tea because it is sweet and floral, reminding me of blooming jasmine teas, but it is grounded and well balanced.

Backlog: I finished this cup up yesterday, and quite enjoyed it, even though I rarely crave white teas. This one was a bit more flavourful than I remember other whites – it had a thicker mouthfeel and made me think of bark, but without that being unpleasant? It was slightly nutty and a little sweet too. Fantastic! Thanks VariaTEA for sharing this with me!

I’m admittedly usually more of a fan of green teas but this one might just convert me. First off the smell, it’s like nothing I’ve ever smelled from a tea before. There are somewhat malty/bready type hints mixed with a unique earthy quality. As far as taste goes, again it’s not like anything I’ve tried before. There’s a definite malt/bread quality to the tast, and there’s some additional grape hints to it. I did not detect any bitterness at all in this tea. Honestly it’s one of the smoother teas I’ve ever tried. I would highly recommend this tea to anyone. It’s definitely of quality.

Steeped up my sample from Nepali Tea Traders this morning!

So, I decidedly love chai – the strong robust flavors, spicing hitting you from every direction.. Not so in this cup! This is a very mild black tea base with a subtle and non-bitter taste. The chai spices of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove come through just as gently, creating a full experience without the “in your face” impact of a typical chai.

I think the tea smells like a spiced hong cha, very gentle in the base tea. I brewed one of the pyramid bags in the sample in 16oz of 200 degree water for 3 minutes. The resulting brew color is a dark amber. The taste is strangely spicy with a certain sweetness on the back. The flavor does not cling to the tongue, creating a smooth finish with no lingering bitterness or astringency. Definitely an enjoyable and unique blend!