Single Origin Teas, Jun Chiyabari Second Flush Nepal

Single Origin Teas Description:
Jun Chiyabari, a neighbor to the famous Darjeeling tea province, offers truly excellent tea.  Notes of maple and floral undertones of rose bring a unique touch.  One of the smaller tea estates at around 123 acres, and one of the youngest - planted in 2002! - Jun Chiyabari offers a delicious tea that highlights how high altitude growing can bring out delightful flavors if processed correctly.  

Produced in hand-rolled batches with an exemplary level of care, the leaves are nicely curled, and provide a prime example of how high quality tea is not limited to the Darjeeling gardens.

Sample provided by Single Origin Teas.

My Review:
Single Origin Teas is new to me, so I looked on their About Us page and grabbed this snippet: Single Origin Teas was founded on the hope of bringing some of this subtlety and diversity to our fellow tea lovers: thus we provide high quality teas from specific locations at a reasonable price. They are located in Texas and have a wide variety of offerings.

The sample came in a brown paper bag - with a window to view the leaf and twisty tabs at the top for resealing. It is unique and cute, but unless you store your teas away from light, you might need to move the leaf to a tin unless you will be using it quickly. Bonus, remove the foil twisty tie and the whole bag is said to be recyclable.

The bag has the company logo printed and the name of the tea. I went to the website and did not see brewing instructions.

The leaf is pretty colorful. More so than I think the picture reveals. There are silver leaves, green leaves, and varying shades of brown. I used about 2.5g of leaf and 8oz of water heated to under boiling. I would be more precise but I am still trying to figure out my new kettle. I steeped for 3 minutes.

 The brew is lighter than I expected in color. It is a golden bronze. The wet leaf aroma is maple, woods, and nuts. A good start.

The sip is sweet, malt, woods or nutty, and fruit. I read the company description. It could be subliminal or maybe reading it just made me notice it, but I do get the subtle floral notes of rose late in the sip.

I love Nepal tea. It similar to a Darjeeling but is not bitter or astringent. It is fruity and fragrant. It is also similar (sort of) to China Fujian black tea with its malt and nutty notes. As I think more on it this is also similar to a Formosa Oolong with woodsy flavors. It is just such an interesting combination.

This particular tea is a very reasonable $8 for two ounces.

My experience with Jun Chiyabari has made for a great first impression with Single Origin Teas. I look forward to trying more of their offerings.

Visit the Single Origin Teas website.