It's a beautiful day in our neighborhood, with the mist finally lifting, the sun shining and all the kitties running out to greet the catch of the day.
My tea catch of the day is from samples I bought from Culinary Teas, those folks who make such good Lady Londonderry. I was going to have their Prince of Wales, but I couldn't stand the smell so early in the morning, so I am trying Nilgiri Nonsuch BOP. The Nilgiri mountains are in the very south of India, straddling the Tamil Nadu border with Kerala.
In English, they would be the "blue mountains". BOP stands for Broken Orange Pekoe. Orange Pekoe is not a flavor, it refers to leaf size - large. Broken means just that, a semi full-leaf and the leaves are smallish, dark and crinkly, smelling wonderfully of raisins, flowers and grain.
I brewed it for 4 minutes with boiling water and it continued to exude a dark warm, sweet aroma, laden with chocolate as well. Nonsuch is a good name, for all the different components. The tea was smooth, dark and heavy with a bright, almost edgy bit of harshness to it., quite improved by cream, which did away with the edges leaving the pleasant sweetness. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were stronger, so next time I will add a bit more.
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