Organic Arya Diamond Second Flush Darjeeling

Thank you Roughage for this wonderful tea sample!

I haven’t written in a few days with all the excitement of Christmas.
I must write about it, I am after all a grandmother and it’s in my grandmother disposition to do so.

Christmas Eve:
The Weather Man predicted SNOW! I had finished the last of giftwrapping (some small Skylander Giants for 3 small grandsons), then stopped by the grocery to get sausage for gumbo.
I was already dressed in Black Christmas Velvet, pretty Snow Boots and a Handmade Red Sweater from Sweden with Black Fur Collar.
Granddaughter Schey called to meet for tea before Happy Lucky’s Closed. When I arrived, the Servers were drinking an Oolong that I had gifted them and they treated Schey and I to a pot of tea.

Church was early (4pm).
After the service, we sang Carols…and various members of the choir sang solo’s. A man from Georgia (former U.S.S.R.), someone from Germany. (We sing in English, sometimes Greek, but the tunes of the Church are ancient Byzantine and beautiful)

Driving home, the snow began and continued all night. A rare White Christmas even for this part of the Country. I loved it…exciting even at my age to feel like a child with snow on Christmas!

Christmas: http://flic.kr/p/dEPKHb
I got up at 6AM to make Gumbo…rushing off as soon as I was done to my daughter’s home so that the 8 grandkids could open presents.
Half the kids had the flu! Grandma (ME)…had her flu shot this year!!!

We had a great time, opening gifts and Skyping with my son in San Francisco. I got a Kindle Fire HD so that I can keep up with my Tea Peeps anywhere I go!!! Nice gift!!!

We ate ribs, made lots of noise and bonded the way families should.

One other thing happened this Christmas…something that I have no words to express!

A Steepster sent me a Yixing Teapot (My First One Ever!), another sent me some Stamps so that I could send out samples to people, and I received tea samples, and Scot’s Shortbread and tea samples all the way from England!

If this isn’t enough to make a grown grandma cry…well..I’d have to be the grinch!

I could not believe it! Shock, real shock! The loving care of people who I’ve never met in person…who have no idea what I’m going through right now…and are so nice!

I feel like I got propelled into a movie with Jimmy Stewart…“It’s a Wonderful Life, Bonnie Johnstone!”

You know how thankful I am for all of you who over the past year have slipped me some tea as a surprise. Sometimes I don’t mention much because maybe you can’t do that all the time for everyone.
I know I can’t either.
Much of the tea I have is only a tablespoon of this and that.

A BIG THANK YOU

Reviewing This Tea:
I decided to begin with this new Christmas Gift Tea from Roughage…
and right off, I have to admit my experience with Darjeelings is still pretty limited.
When I read Darjeeling reviews it seems that there are references to muscat, muscat, muscat. I’ve had California muscat desert wines which were very good from Sonoma and Murphy’s.
In season I love eating the pale pink small grapes which are fragile, sticky with natural sugars and super sweet. Delicious and warm in the mouth (like apricots)!
When I started sipping this tea, I forgot all about the muscat references to Darjeelings. I had just eaten a Scots Shortbread cookie…buttery and sweet. (Very rich too)

The tea was clean but not astringent, and reminded me of an Earl Grey without the Bergamot.
The fragrance has a slight musky fruitiness like an empty dry wine barrel with floral which I think is the way I’d like men to smell. (Roughage has just fallen off his chair laughing)
I didn’t find anything acidic about the tea. It’s sweet enough, no nonsense and perfect for concentration. You can begin the day or a meeting with a tea like this one.

Very good Mr. R !

Tea ordered on Sunday night and arrived Tuesday morning. The service I have had from Canton Tea Co. has been superlative throughout my dalliance with them and their products. So, what does one do when the tea arrives so quickly? The answer has to be “drink it.” Given my predilection for Darjeelings and my dearth of same over the past few months, there was clearly only one choice for my first taste of this new batch of teas: Arya Diamond. I have tried and enjoyed all the other Arya jewel teas, so I was particularly excited about this one.

The newly opened packet did not disappoint. An earthy, floral aroma wafted out and got my taste buds tingling. The leaves I deposited in my teapot reminded me of an autumn forest: light greens, russets, dark browns. The colour was delightful. Then I brewed it. the leaves all turned a mid-reddish brown. If only I had my Munsell chart, I could have given you an exact colour match. The tea itself has the taste of Autumn too. It is fruity with a slightly heavy muscatel feel to it and there is a nuttiness behind all that. Probably not enough nuttiness to persuade my beloved to ignore the floral elements, but it does provide a beautiful contrast. As it cools, an astringent note creeps in, but nothing too distracting. The aftertaste is lovely too. I feel like my breath is now all sweet plums and red grapes. Yes, I like this tea and think it belongs near the top of the list of my favourite Darjeelings. It’s tough to say which is my absolute favourite though. I think I need to go back and taste them all in rapid succession. Now, where did I put my credit card?

It’s been a s**t day.

I had a second “interview” with a temp agency. I put that word in quotes because they brought me in long enough to say, “Oh, we don’t have anything you qualify for…yet.” Only with prettier words. One of these days, I’ll have a marketable skillset. Like, uh, sniper or something.

On the brightside, I received this beauty in the mail via the Canton Tea Club. It was another Arya “Jewel Tea”, which means I only have one left to mark off, "Huzzah!

The smell of the dry leaves was nothing too spectacular – woody, slightly malty, but no spicy muscatel goodness to speak of. Still a wonderful aroma, though. The leave palette was gorgeous, though.

I will totally confess that I accidentally over-brewed this. When I put the leaves to the steep, I was in the middle of trying to get my computer to work. (Seriously, it’s like defibrillating a homeless person.)So, it was more like a four-minute infusion than the recommended two-minutes.

Even then this turned out quite wonderfully. It reminded me of the Castleton Moonlight second flush mixed with an autumnal. Burly and oolongy. What a weird juxtaposition. I’m not sure if I like it better than the Arya Ruby, but it is still up there.

For more information, go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/canton-tea-club-week-4-arya-diamond/

I received this tea early from my tea club so I thought I would be cheeky and review it early too :)

As I opened the bag I was greeted by some lovely dark and medium brown leaves with silver and gold tips. They are somewhat chunky (mostly) and smell very fresh with floral with astringent highlights.

Once brewed this forms a golden brown colour and smells pleasantly floral.I usually prefer second flush Darjeeling to first flush as I admire the strength and uniqueness of the flavour. If you are after a nice Darjeeling then this does not disappoint. It has that wonderful unique muscatel grape fruitiness with hints of floralness that make it very refreshing.

Each sip continues to impress and I am lovingly savouring each flavour. Half way down the cup it takes on a gentle perfume taste that lasts in the after taste.

I can’t help but be reminded of a gentle pu erh with the earthy astringencies in this Darjeeling (which I am loving).

Overall I think this is a good quality tea and I look forward to finishing the rest of the bag. :)