Presenting our second tea from the Manipur summer harvest, the 2021 Summer Wild Black Tea! Grown in Pangen Village, this was produced during peak summer days of June. The artisans who process this tea believe in a clean cup and the liquor reflects that from the first sip. They consume the same tea, after smoking it most of the times. This is yet another region specific Manipur black tea which wowed us with its uniqueness and that makes it the fourth black tea from the region this year to be listed on the site, with one more to come at least!
The dry leaf has sweet notes of dry fruits like dates and golden raisins. When placed on the heated ware, the golden raisin notes shine with a background of dried fruits like oranges and apricots. The first infusion is thick with notes of dried oranges and a mineral rich base. The second one has the same dry fruits notes like the leaf aroma with red apple and orange notes. There is also a baked flour note which resembles a lot of Indian sweets like atta halwa when being cooked. The third infusion is sweeter with notes of honey and jaggery with raisins and Indian raw but sweet jujube on the finish. The fourth one has a dark fruit note of sundried mango fruit leather, called aam papad in Hindi. The fifth one was a simply sweet infusion with notes of brown sugar and jaggery at the front. After this, for the sixth and further infusions, the tea takes a foray into the woody zone, with notes of cedarwood and agarwood shining through. There are some floral hints of jasmine as well as a tulsi like minty feel on the finish. Describing this tea has been difficult with the amount of complexity the tea presents. The defining features according to us would be the thick liquor with dry fruits and dried fruit notes.
Appearance : Dark Orange
Taste : Dates, golden raisins, oranges, dried oranges, mango fruit leather, jaggery, honey, cedarwood, jasmine
Steeping Time : 3-4 minutes western style, 25 seconds gongfu style adding 5 seconds every subsequent steep
Leaf to water ratio : 1 gram per 100ml for western style, 3.5 grams per 100ml for gongfu style
Recommended Steeping Temperature : 90°C
Recommended Steeping Method : Works better gongfu style
