Some of the best teas that I’ve tried, I’ve stumbled upon accidentally. Hampstead’s Darjeeling is another nice surprise that I just happened to notice on the shelf at our local Earth Fare market.
I steeped this tea at 212 degrees for three minutes. A reddish orange brew was the result.
There was no aroma to speak of so I didn’t have my hopes up for an explosion of flavor. However, at first sip, I was instantly struck by the mild but very pleasant and sweet taste of this blend.
Although the flavor is a tad lighter than I prefer my black teas to have in the morning, this blend left a delightful sweet and almost fruity taste on my tongue. Bitterness was nowhere to be found. It was also a perfect partner to chase down a couple of Scottish oatcakes.
I’ve only tried one other Darjeeling tea and that was in bagged form. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t pack enough punch for me to seek out other variations of the same theme. Now that I’ve tasted one of the finer loose leaf blends, I’m looking forward to the next Darjeeling discovery!
