I’ve only had Darjeeling once before in a tea room, so I’m not sure I’ll know what I should be looking for in this, a tea that is said to be similar to a Darjeeling. But in any case, here’s what I found.
I used 2.3g for 200ml of boiling water and did steeps of 2, 3 and 4 minutes. And I’m not feeling very inspired at the moment, so this note will more than likely be a simple blow-by-blow commentary.
1st steep: There was a fair range of color in the dry leaf, from creamy buds and tiny light green leaves to the red- and greasy-brown twists that made up the great majority of this tea. The scents were of bright grape and malt with a background of straw. In the cup it was a light honey color and quite astringent with a slight bitterness. There were flavors of rosy florals and ripe fruit (whether grapes or stone fruit, I couldn’t tell) with a gentle matinees.
2nd steep: I had this with lunch, a creamy chicken salad sandwich, so the astringency of this cut through that nicely. A good pairing. But prior to that, when pouring into my cup I was struck with a scent of peach that made me happy. That the color this time was more peachy was a nice coincidence. I felt the same astringency and bitterness, but since I was eating at the same time, I didn’t get anything new in this cup that wasn’t in the first.
3rd steep: The color is more orange now, and the astringency takes a couple of sips to be noticeable. I could taste fruits and florals, but overall quite weak on flavor.
These must be the most boring notes I’ve written yet about a new tea, so if you’ve got this far, good on you. Going to start a new pot of something else now.
