Organic Nepal Green Tea

This tea is...well, it's like Nepal, actually: kinda rough and magical. If you're looking for delicate sweet perfume with hints of kumquats, this probably won't float your boat (consider Silver Needles, for that kind of wonderland). But if you appreciate a robust, rough-and-ready workhorse -- with some unique psychological properties when you dig into it -- this is pretty cool stuff. Has some of that "nutty" aroma, too. A nice accompaniment to tsampa. Pile it on for a hefty, long-term buzz. It's interesting to compare this with Arbor's Ceylon green tea, which provides similar lift, but is more citrusy. I much prefer the Nepal green to the black, from the same estate, which seems to be a bit of a work-in-progress. A pu'erh drinker will have no problem with the "bitterness" of this tea. When you've got a lot of work, you know what you're about, but you're flagging and want to throw a twist on it...this is the tea for that. And other things.

For a couple of years, I have been an armchair tea traveler, trying green teas from a different country each year. This year, I chose Nepal (Thank you, AT, for details regarding the geography and estate!). My reaction to the first sip was, "that is strong!", but every few days I find myself reaching for my tin of Nepal green, and especially enjoy it when traveling because the gentler flavor of other greens can be lost in the busyness of hotel rooms or camper life. To my senses, Arbor Tea's Nepal has a smoky aroma and smooth mouthfeel. I find it has a steamed vegetal taste and medium body. I prefer for a shorter steep time (1m 45s) compared to other greens (2-3min) for my first infusion, but can reuse the leaves for 1 or 2 more cups. While not my everyday green preference, I plan to buy again.

This Nepal Green tea isn't bad, but it isn't great either. It has a strong drying astringency almost like after using mouthwash. That's not my thing as I prefer something smoother but I know some people desire that feeling. I managed to tone that down a bit with cooler water and a shorter steep which makes it drinkable for me. The flavor is light, mildly green and vegetal and a touch grassy. I definitely like the Nepal Black far more but that's just personal preference. I'll finish off my sample but I wouldn't buy a full bag as Arbor has other greens I enjoy.

I brewed this tea just as suggested, 185º and 3 minutes, and it was perfect. I don't see changing time/temp for further brews. It has the classic, but more subtle grassy taste, but a thicker mouthfeel, if that makes sense. A lot of green tea is just warm water to me. This one was actually satisfying.

The fact that this is a green tea hailing from Nepal left me intrigued and I ordered a sample. Now, this is not a bad tea at all and there is nothing wrong with it but I didn’t detect a special or unique flavor. This tea would do well if you want a standard, unassuming green tea.

When I originally brewed this tea at 180F for 2.5 minutes, I would give it just 3 stars. However, when I changed to 170F and 70 seconds, I changed my opinion to 5 stars. I use a heaping tbsp for a 20oz pot. When I wake up, I look forward to my dogs greeting me, then having this tea.

This tea is a classic. Light grassy notes with a bang to wake you up in the morning.

But I eventually started to like this tea. I had to reduce the brewing temperature and times to get the astringency down to a level where it was drinkable. I find that this tea prefers a shorter brew time (around 90 seconds for my 720ml pot for the first brew and an additional 10 seconds each brew after that), at a lower temperature (around 75C as opposed to 80C most green teas take). Once one learns the quirks of this tea, and how to brew a pot of it that doesn't have the astringency of a cleaning product it can be rather pleasant. Overall the dry leaf smells of hay or dried cut grass. The wet leaf smells of wet hay to me. The flavor profile of the liquor can be described as very dry (and unpleasantly astringent if brewed for too long, or at too high a temperature, or worse both) with hay like, grassy notes; not particularly green tasting over all and I picked up a very mineral-ly quality to the brew. Overall the impression I got was that the tea was like a green version of an Indian tea. I like Indian teas--particularly black ones--but they are not my go to beverage. I typically like Japanese style green teas as my go to. I'm giving this tea 3 out of 5 (though I'd really like to give it a 3.5) because I would probably buy this tea again so as to have something different from my usual brew.

Very pleasing flavor. Not bitter at all. Can be re-steeped once or twice and tastes as good as the first steeping.

I really wanted to like this tea. It has an alluring pedigree...exotic Nepal, solid AT staff field report, organic, comparison to silver tips, etc. But alas, it failed to deliver. There just isn't a distinct flavor or even a solid green tea flavor. This may be a tea for those who enjoy searching out the fleeting nuances of "delicate" (read...weak) green tea, but it isn't for me. Then again, I like Lapsang Souchong & Csar Nicholas, so I admit that I favor robust flavors. In place of this Nepal tea I recommend the Ceylon...a very nice green tea.

I wanted to adore this tea. It's not a bad tea by any means but it just didn't make me go "wow!" It reminds me of an oolong. This tea has a drier flavor to it, like an oolong or darjeeling.

And really difficult to describe. It's got some nice richness and umami on the front end, along with some mildly sweet and vegetal fruitiness (if that makes sense) in the finish. On top of all that, you get some vaguely earthy flavors that I only associate with Darjeelings. The bit of the description about this tea being a "buttery, stone-fruit version" of a nice Darjeeling is actually pretty accurate. It's really solid stuff. I found that this one didn't need much time to steep. I did maybe 35 - 40 seconds at 170 - 175 degrees for the first cup, and then maybe 50 - 60 seconds for the second. To me, steeping this tea for more than 50 or 60 seconds on the front end brought out a fair amount of bitterness and astringency.

This tea is absolutely delicious! To me, it has a very fruity, slightly sweet taste and a wonderful smell! Very grateful for this tea!!!

Quite a few years ago, a local tea store sold a green tea from Nepal. I loved it, but the store closed. I was pleased to find a Nepal green on the Arbor Tea website. The leaves closely resembled the tea I used to buy, so I ordered a sample. This tea is very close to the Nepal green I used to get. If you combine all the reviews of this tea on the Arbor website, they sum up this tea. What stand out for me are the smoothness/lack of bitterness, yet slightly earthy taste, and the Darjeeling-like undertone of slight sweetness. For me this is the perfect green tea. I placed a bulk order today.

caveat - we only tried iced but even with reducing the time (a lot), it still comes out too bitter for my tastes.

I'm in the habit of crushing all my teas now. And I stopped using the infuser, I just let the leaves sink to the bottom of the slurry. Even just 1 minute steeping, because of crushing into smaller particles, this one becomes a little bitterer, but fuller and richer too. It goes from being like oolong to being something of a hybrid between sencha, bancha, and dragonwell. And it's really a strong tea, lots of caffeine! Feels stronger than some of their senchas. Affordable too. Good everyday drink.

This tea is terrific! I think it would be a good one for black tea drinkers to try if they are interested in adding green teas to their diet because it is full-bodied. I definitely get darjeeling undertones. Very smooth and flavorful over multiple brewings. You can drink this all day!

This tea won me over at the first sip. If it were possible to take the emotions of gaiety, cheerfulness, and glee, and distill their essence into a flavor, it probably would taste very much like this tea. For a green tea, it has an astonishingly fruity flavor. I agree with Aubrey's remark about this tea being like a very lightly oxidized oolong. Aside from the fruity notes, there is also a delightful aftertaste that lingers on the tongue, which is another characteristic of an oolong. Upon examining the steeped leaves, I noticed that some of the leaves had a slight copper color around the edges, much like you would see in a lightly oxidized oolong. The aroma of the moist, steamy leaves inside the teapot is also very fruity. Even though green tea is not typically suitable for gung fu brewing, this particular green certainly is in my opinion, because it keeps on putting out flavors even after a few steepings.

I was a bit concerned by other reviews that compared this to an oolong, which is not my favorite. Be assured, this is a green tea! It has all the light freshness that a green has, but is very smooth, with an aftertaste hinting at an oolong or a white. Very nice.

I really like this green tea. It has a delicate nutty and malty aroma and taste. I also detect the subtle fruitiness to which other reviewers refer. The first time I tried it, it was good, but rather weak, as I neglected to read one teaspoon per 8oz cup (I was using a 16 oz mug). The only green tea I drink regularly is gunpowder, but I like this tea more.

This is a lovely tea. Earthy and comforting without bitterness or a harsh vegetal taste.

This tea combines elemental purity and smooth, rich taste, with no sharp edges. I've been drinking this tea first thing every morning since discovering it in 2012. Pleasantly energizing, subtly fruity, different from any green I've ever tried. Great find!

This tea has a nice mineral spiciness to it accompanied with floral, vegetal and undergrowth aromas. A modest astringency well balances this and pleasantly lingers. Just don't steep at too high a temperature or for too long. I've been using 165 degree water for about 3 minutes. I can usually get two full bodied infusions out of a pot.

Green teas tend to have too much of a vegetal taste for me, but this one is almost void of that taste. The flavor is pretty bold for a green tea, and it has a nice subtle fruitiness to it. I've even tried it with a couple drops of honey, which adds a nice sweetness to it. Very nice green!

This green tea has, as others have mentioned, a really tasty fruity hint to it, something that no other green tea has. It's not overpowering to the point of being too much though- it's just enough so that you notice and appreciate it. Also, whereas others are more astringent, this tea is completely devoid of any bitterness. It's delicious, unique, a great change-up from the usual Chinese greens, and I highly recommend it.

This tea has found a place amongst my favorite green teas, so glad i tried it. Bright, fruity and energetic. Honestly i was pleasantly surprised as soon as i tasted it. It's not a tea i will drink everyday; i like to mix my flavors or i get bored. Definitely recommend this one to somebody looking for a light, bright flavorful green tea.

I love this stuff! I agree with the reviewer who mentioned the unique fruit-like flavor in this tea; it's subtle and kind of hard to place, but really nice. (This coming from someone who is not usually a fan of teas with fruit/fruit flavors added.) No bitterness, mildly astringent, and no harsh vegetal taste or scent. Yay, Nepal! :)

This is a really nice green tea with a lot of character and very little bitterness. I drink my tea almost exclusively iced and this makes an excellent iced tea (really nice with a wedge of lime btw). This is going to be my ʺgo toʺ green from now on.

Unique and delicious! Very smooth with undertones of a Darjeeling black tea.

I just tried this tea since it is from himalayan region after my 5th cup i fell in love with this tea. This is very unique green tea somewhat closer to oolong but still different. I loved it so much that i gave this tea some of my tea lovers friends and they love it . It is just as pure as mount everest very refreshing as well.

I ordered a sample and I'm now back for a bigger supply. This one might be my new favorite! It's funny to see Aubrey's review that it is oolong-esque. I do love oolong and I do love this tea. It has a complex and full body a little less tinny/astringent than some green teas I've tried. Perfect for a cool and rainy spring morning (like this morning).

It was not until my third or fourth cup that I truly appreciated this tea. It brews to that beautiful copper/bronze color of an oolong. It has a smooth feel and fascinating flavors. Today I picked up a flavor that hinted of a cherry cordial--a hint of fruity sweetness. This is the perfect tea for an oolong lover who believes that green is healthier! If you want a collection that includes a sample from each flavor arena you need this one--it is out there by itself.