This Nepali Black Tea Tastes Like Honey
Nestled in the Himalayas an 11-hour drive from Kathmandu is Jun Chiyabari, an organic Nepali tea garden reaching elevations nearing 7,000 feet above sea level. The garden was built up from scratch in 2000 by two brothers, Lochan and Bachan Gyawali, whose plots feature a unique blend of cultivars from Darjeeling, Taiwan, China, and Japan.
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(Tea garden images courtesy of Jun Chiyabari. Teacup images top left and side left © Evelyn Reid, all rights reserved, may not be used without explicit written permission). Note that this post contains affiliate links, recommendations made independently of any third party.
I haven’t had a chance to try their white, green, and oolongs, but I got my hands on their imperial black tea a couple of years back and it’s been on regular morning rotation since. It’s reminiscent of the Fujian Province’s prized golden monkey brew (jin hou) though stronger, little darker and not quite as nuanced as its Chinese counterpart. Honey and cocoa notes tease the tongue with next to no astringency. A delightful cup even when accidentally over-steeped.
The perfect cup is brewed at 96 °C (wait for one minute after boiling the water) and steeped for 5 to 7 minutes, an easy and forgiving tea to make on groggy mornings. Try it plain or with a dab of honey or maple syrup. Given how young the company is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this tea increase in complexity and improve with every year.
Jun Chiyabari tea is not too difficult to find online. Its black tea is sold on Amazon here and here.
DAVIDsTEA carries the imperial black as well.
Camellia Sinensis also carries different Jun Chiyabari flushes and ships internationally.
This Nepali Black Tea Tastes Like Honey
Nestled in the Himalayas an 11-hour drive from Kathmandu is Jun Chiyabari, an organic Nepali tea garden reaching elevations nearing 7,000 feet above sea level. The garden was built up from scratch in 2000 by two brothers, Lochan and Bachan Gyawali, whose plots feature a unique blend of cultivars from Darjeeling, Taiwan, China, and Japan.
I haven’t had a chance to try their white, green, and oolongs, but I got my hands on their imperial black tea a couple of years back and it’s been on regular morning rotation since. It’s reminiscent of the Fujian Province’s prized golden monkey brew (jin hou) though stronger, little darker and not quite as nuanced as its Chinese counterpart. Honey and cocoa notes tease the tongue with next to no astringency. A delightful cup even when accidentally over-steeped.
The perfect cup is brewed at 96 °C (wait for one minute after boiling the water) and steeped for 5 to 7 minutes, an easy and forgiving tea to make on groggy mornings. Try it plain or with a dab of honey or maple syrup.
Given how young the company is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this tea increase in complexity and improve with every year.
Jun Chiyabari tea is not too difficult to find online. Its black tea is sold on Amazon here and here.
DAVIDsTEA carries the imperial black as well.
Camellia Sinensis also carries different Jun Chiyabari flushes and ships internationally.
(Image courtesy of Jun Chiyabari) Note that this post contains affiliate links, recommendations made independently of any third party.
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