Spring Darjeeling

One of my favorites. It has a lively “bite” and sparkling character.

Just checked Spring Darjeeling from MARIAGE FRÈRES. 30,00 € Hmmm … I’ll stick with Adagio for now.

I’ve been waiting for nearly three days for this tea to arrive and nearly a lifetime(not really) to actually taste genuine Darj! Its a welcome relief from the tasteless and tannin knock-offs or the “quality” and pricey Darj sold in a nearby Teavana. Yup! Those days are over and I could of wish I stuck with Adagio than Teavana… Anyways the tea has much of the floral and grassy smell and taste normally associated with Darj, yet this tea has a vegetal quality like steamed vegetables and a hint of citrus blossoms. In retrospect….its eerily similar to the Darj found in them wicked Teavana stores but without the tannin and the vague origin of the tea itself(which to my conclusion is a blend from different estates). A nice tea overall!

In character I agree with another taster that this is much more like an oolong than a black tea. The leaves are greenish, the scent in the leaf is light and citrusy, the brew is darkish golden and smells almost more richly flowery than my favorite Tie Kuan Yin, if maybe a different type of flower (orange? Hard to pin it down)! The taste reveals a slight darkness, though, that I wouldn’t know what to do with in an oolong. (Perhaps this is a function of the 3-min. steep?) And this isn’t as sweet on the tongue as an oolong would be. But otherwise? It’s light with a buttery quality, slightly vegetal, richly flavored, and yes, very floral. If you don’t like black tea, don’t worry, this really doesn’t resemble black tea in any substantial way. If you like less-fermented oolongs or flowery greens, you’ll like this one!

Adagio doesn’t specify what grade this tea is but from what I can see it is full-leaf Darjeeling. It has some broken leaves and stems mixed in but for the most part the leaves are intact.

My sample is at least a few months old so it obviously lost some of the freshness but the tea is still great. It fresh, floral, slightly astringent and a little sweet. I usually don’t care for sweetness in Darjeelings but here it doesn’t bother me at all.

The flavor and taste are not particularly memorable but every note is well-rounded and very pleasant. It would work great as an everyday Darjeeling, I can see myself drinking it even in the evening because it is so smooth and relaxing.

Photo-report: http://tiny.cc/CdncR

I can’t say enough good things about this tea. It’s great!

I got my mother a sample of this tea for Christmas. She loves Twining’s Darjeeling teabags so I decided to see if I could upgrade her taste buds.

She brewed a pot and claims it was only 2 minutes, but I’m pretty sure it was longer than that, at least 4 minutes. She remarked that the color wasn’t very dark… She tends to steep by color than tasting it (She hates green tea, I wonder why lol) and the tea turned out bitter. I’m pretty sure if it had a shorter steep time (a real 2 minutes instead of 4+) and maybe a lower temperature it would have come out better. I don’t think the tea was that bad, though over-steeped and slightly bitter. When I’m in the mood for a Darjeeling I’ll try it again, I don’t think my mother would mind me drinking her Christmas present, she got two boxes of Twining Darjeeling from me too.

This now, is the second half of the portions pouch I started on 2 d ago. No food yet this morning, though I just finished sipping a slightly brutal 20 yr old raw pu-erh, and this Darjeeling in contrast is striking! It feels in my mouth like a balm to sore taste buds. The gentle spring flower aroma, the sweet liquor with flavor notes of honey and a long finish of molasses, the hint of malt and dandelion flower, and a smoothness in the back of my throat. Light but refreshing, and I’m raising my rating to 79. Sometimes deprivation helps one appreciate what can be had. Darjeelings are redeemed.

Slightly floral. Slight muscatel flavor. A bit muddy and an unidentifiable mix of flavors. A touch astringent.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 30th, 2023

The last one! \o/

Not the biggest fan of first flush Darjeeling in general, but this is nice enough. It definitely has the floral and fruity notes that I would expect, and then the foundation is a somewhat musty hay flavor. Overall, it’s a bit too floral for me, and there’s a hint of bitterness that sort of accentuates the sharpness of the floral notes.

But yay, I finished the month! It was interesting to try, not something I would do in the future. I wish they included more custom blends as I feel like that would be more interesting.

Darjeeling really is the oolong of India. I should look into how it’s made. Got this with the black tea sample pack. Has a very strong fruity/grape flavor that adds to the pleasant astringency. The sweetness is balanced by said astringency as well. Later sips provide a woody, slightly spicy flavor. I got a few good steepings out of this so far adding to my mug, so it doesn’t loose flavor too quick.

Overall its a pleasant tea. This would be great for spring when you want the caffeine kick of black tea, but something less heavy and malty.