Hey there Teacups! I’m back today with a new Lets Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Udyan Tea’s – Kashmiri Saffron Kahwa. If you’ve read any of my past posts featuring Udyan Tea you’ll know that I’ve tried a few of their blends now and I’ve enjoyed them all so far. So when it came to doing this tasting session I was really excited to see if this blend was going to be just as amazing, and whether or not I was going to end the tasting session with another blend on my ”to buy” list from Udyan Tea. This isn’t a blend I wouldn’t have picked up at all if I had seen it in a shop so I’m really glad that Udyan Tea included it in the package they sent so I could try something that was well and truly out of my comfort zone.
Here’s what Udyan Tea have to say about this blend over on their website: “Calling all passionate tea lovers! This popular tea is one thing you don’t wanna miss out. Kahwa is a traditional green tea preparation consumed in the Kashmir Valley. It is a popular breakfast beverage among Kashmiris. This exotic blend is made using fine green tea leaves and spices like almonds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and rose petals. It has a spicy flavour and wonderful aroma that can refresh your mind. It is also helpful in relieving headaches. A recommended drink for cold winter mornings!”
Ingredients: Green Tea, Saffron, Almonds, Green Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves and Rose Petals.
Tea Tasting Notes
Like I said earlier in this post because of the green tea base paired with the spices this is not a blend that I would never normally pick for myself had I been shopping for teas. I love the elements separately but I’ve never really tried them together so I was worried that I wasn’t going to be a fan of this blend at all. So when it came to trying this blend for the first time I was well an truly pushed out of my tea comfort zone and was ready for this blend not to be my ‘cup of tea’ at all. However, I was well an truly wrong and I actually ended up loving this blend. I think for the most part I loved it because it was something completely new to me and the flavour profile that this blend has is unlike any blend I have tasted before.
That doesn’t happen a lot with me anymore because I have tried so many different teas so when it does happen it’s always an absolute pleasure and reminds me of when I first started this blog and was just starting my loose leaf tea journey. While steeping the cup had the most beautiful aroma, mostly rose with an underpinning of cinnamon, cloves and an ever so slight almond. I was sure it was going to let me down when it came to taste but it did nothing of the sort and delivered just as much in taste as it did in aroma if not more. This is for the most part a green tea based chai and for that reason I love it and the added rose and almond just top it all of perfectly. You all know that I’m always looks for chai with a twist and this is that and more.
I was slightly worried that the green tea was too subtle of a base tea for this blend and be overpowered completely by the strong additional flavours like cinnamon, cloves, rose and almond but that wasn’t the case at all. They actually paired perfectly together and created such a delicious flavour profile. The green tea grounded the sweeter notes and added a nice vegetal base that the spices, the rose and the almond all paired with it perfectly. All of the spices are blended perfectly and they all come through which I didn’t expect; I expected the cinnamon and the cloves to be all I could taste but that was not the case at all. I actually think the green tea seems to calm down the spices a little bit which worked perfectly for this blend.
The rose adds not only a delicate floral note but also a nice natural sweetness which adds a whole new layer of depth to this blend. The almond came through mostly in the aftertaste for me but it was perfect that way and it rounded each mouthful off with a nice sweet nutty note that I think this blend would be incomplete without. This blend pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m glad that it did because it’s definitely inspired me to try more green tea based chai blends during 2020. A huge thank you to the team at Udyan Tea for creating yet another delicious blend. I can’t wait to hopefully try some more of your teas this year.
Overall Teacup Rating: 5/5
If you want to find out more about Udyan Tea and purchase some of this blend for yourself, you can do both here. As always if have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.
Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley
*The tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for.*
Kimberley's Kyusu 
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