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Review of Shanti: an Indian green tea from The Simple Leaf
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Last week I did an interview with Nikhil Roychowdhury, founder of Chicago-based tea company The Simple Leaf. When I asked him about his favorite teas, he confessed that he had recently been drinking "pots and pots" of "Shanti", a green tea from Arunchal Pradesh in India.
I decided to follow Nikhil's lead and infused a pot of Shanti for myself. Here is my review:
Name: Shanti
Brand: The Simple Leaf
Type: Indian Green Tea
Form: Loose Leaf
Cost: 1 oz sample is $4.95, quantity discounts are available.
Review: The dry leaf is beautiful: Long and twisty, the dark green leaves are peppered with silvery tips. The nose is pungent, sweet, spicy, with a bit of plum. Once Shanti infuses to its gorgeous bright orange color, the fruit/spice nose becomes more vegetal, resembling steamed sweet green bell pepper.
The taste is both intriguing and delightful: This tea is moderately astringent, and its astringency is notable on the palate throughout drinking. This isn't a bad thing, though, as it makes the tea quite refreshing, particularly considering its strongly vegetal profile. The first infusion of this tea shows the sweet green bell pepper, sugar snap peas, along with a bit of fruit. The second infusion is less sweet, with the tea taking on the character of steamed green beans. Delicious.
Recommendation: This is a lovely alternative to the more well-known Chinese and Japanese green teas. I have found that one can use more tea leaf than recommended by The Simple Leaf for a more intense flavor, which is a good thing. What is not a good thing is to let this tea steep too long, as this will result in an overly astringent brew.
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