This grey, windy weather has been driving me mad! 😦 Recently I’ve found myself staring sadly out the window as if it was Christmas time I was waiting for Santa come- but it’s summer I crave! Spirit of Summer, I beg you ride your fiery chariot of sunshine and blisteringly hot weather across my sky sometime soon! PLS!! D:

Anyway, I’ve been keeping company with many a cup of green tea as of late, wildly daydreaming of warmer days. As such, today’s review will be on What-Cha’s Nepal 2nd Flush 2014 Dew Drops Green Tea. Cue the sexy tea photos!!

As you can see, this tea clearly lives up to it’s “dew drops” name. The shape of each leaf is gorgeous, and really has me wishing I had a glass gaiwan to watch them unfurl in (I’ve lost the lid from the one I’ve used previously) 😦 . Ali Express, here I come!

WhatCha suggests to brew the tea at 75 C- since my teapot will only heat up in increments of 10 degrees, I decided it would be best to try one infusion at 70 degrees, and the next at 80. For science!

1st Infusion

Brewing Temperature: 70 C

Leaf Amount/Steep Time: 1 tbsp per 400 mL of water/1.5 minutes

The resulting brew has a soft green and amber color, the perfect dreamy shade I had hoped for. The taste is perfectly simple- fresh and grassy with almost no aftertaste. The flavor is so sweet and refreshing.. it literally reminds me of the Windows XP default desktop from back in the day. 😀

I’ll be honest, if I had enough of this loose leaf to make a whoppin’ pitcher of iced tea- I would probably be a jerk about it and not share it with anyone.

2nd Infusion

Brewing Temperature: 80 C

Leaf Amount/Steep Time: 1 tbsp per 400 mL of water/2 minutes

Decided to up the steep time slightly to allow the leaves to fully unfurl. The scent wafting off the brew was noticeably toasty and vegetal, and the tea’s flavors were much stronger than the first infusion with a slightly astringent aftertaste. It was still delicious, but I loved the clean taste of the first steep far more.

Thoughts

When in doubt, definitely stick with a cooler brewing temperature! I found Nepal 2014 Dew Drops to be a deliciously sweet and mild grassy brew- exactly what I want in a summery green tea. No frills and no fuss here, just simple and fantastic flavour. 🙂 I hope you’ll give it a go!

If you’re interested in trying this tea (it is on sale right now!), I urge you to order it from What-Cha within the next month. To quote What-Cha’s website:

“A devastating earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, killing over 4,500 at the current count. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and in desperate need of aid to help the injured and rebuild the country.

What-Cha has a close connection to Nepal as one of the first countries we sourced our tea from and we want to do our part to help Nepal by pledging to donate 50% all Nepali tea revenue for the rest of April and May, to the British Red Cross Nepal Earthquake Appeal.”

Enjoy great tea at an awesome price, and help give aid to those in Nepal who most desperately need our support. It’s a win-win!

Check out Nepal 2014 Dew Drops Green Tea here!