Hm. Can’t find a website for The Crumpet Shop in Pike Place Market, Seattle. Can’t find this tea by this name anywhere else in a quick search. The best I can find is that Tiger Hill is the highest spot in the Darjeeling district as well as one of the better tea estates in the region. I see it listed as a Nilgiri in a couple of places.
Maybe this was an old batch that wasn’t stored well. I get nothing out of this besides dusty tea. This cup I am reviewing is my 5th attempt at getting a good cup. I’ve tried different temperature water, rinsing the leaves before steeping, different steep times… This one is drinkable but nothing special. It still tastes somewhat dusty and old. I think I can discern some faint muscatel notes underneath… It’s always possible that my tastebuds just have no idea what they have here, too. Maybe this is a very high quality Darjeeling (though it was a medium price) and I just don’t know it. Maybe other, more discerning palates will find this more appealing than I do.
It’s definitely better cold than it is hot, even though when cold some bitterness comes out. I’ll keep it for a cold tea, but chances are good it may be rehomed to try and find a better taster for it than I am. :)
