Margaret's Hope 2nd Flush FTGFOP Darjeeling from Culinary Teas

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83/100

Margaret's Hope 2nd Flush FTGFOP Darjeeling

Country of Origin: India
Region: Darjeeling – Northern India
Shipping Port: Calcutta/Haldia
Grade: TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flavoury Orange Pekoe)
Altitude: 6800 feet above sea level
Manufacture Type: Orthodox
Cup Characteristics: A delicate tending astringent cup with the distinctive ‘Muscatel’ character. Hints of currant create an almost wine-like taste.
Infusion: Bright tending light

Information:

During the 1930’s the garden was owned by Mr. Bagdon who lived in London but visited the tea garden regularly. He had two daughters. The younger daughter named Margaret; who when she saw the tea garden fell in love with it, hoping one day she would have an opportunity to return. Sadly she fell ill on board ship during the return trip to England and died soon after. In her memory, her father changed the garden’s name to Margaret’s Hope. It is believed that she visits the estate bungalow from the western side, coming through the main guestroom and leaving from the study through the verandah to the tennis courts.

The bushes at Margaret’s Hope are almost entirely the Chinese Jat (genus) accounting for the green leafed tippy appearance of the manufactured leaf and the superb fragrance. Because the tea is grown at such high altitudes and in relatively cool weather the bushes do not grow quickly, and as such the production is limited. The best time of the year for quality is during ‘second-flush’ (end May – end June). During this time Darjeelings are incomparable to any other tea in the world. The fragrance and taste is a complex bouquet that reaches right out of the cup. Some would describe the taste as nutty; others find it reminds them of black currants, but most often it is described as similar to the taste and fragrance of muscat grapes.

The are 3 main times of year for producing good quality Darjeelings:

1st flush – Springtime harvested teas from late Feb. to mid April. The young leaves yield a light tea with generally intense muscatel with ‘point’. A gentle afternoon tea.

2nd flush – Harvested in June, these teas are more fully developed. The liquor is bright and the taste full and round excellent muscatel. An superb afternoon tea that is especially good with scones and raspberry conserve.

Autumnal – Not always available depending upon the weather, they are typified by a round taste and coppery liquor. Excellent as a breakfast tea with milk.

Hot tea brewing method: This tea is best enjoyed using 2-3 heaping teaspoons for a 6 cup teapot. Allow the tea to steep for 3-5 minutes, remove the leaves and pour. We do not recommend adding milk or sugar since this can mask some of the intrigue and subtle nuances of this vintage tea.

Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 5 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water].

13 Tasting Notes

TeaEqualsBliss 6 tasting notes

Okay…I fully expect comments on this one…but…seriously…post-infusion – this is FIRST what I thought of based on SMELL…

Baked or Deep Fried Mushrooms! (but in a good way!)

Seriously…that’s what it smells like! And it smells yummy. You might think that sounds weird…but it smells bready or breading-like…

It’s a nice medium brown color and a very satisfying taste. I would say it’s a medium strength type.

I always wondered about the story behind Margaret’s Hope and I am glad I found it (it’s posted in the description)…I will be fully reading it here shortly…I wanted to post my findings before hand.

I can totally see why they would suggest pairing this with a croissant or danish or scone! I think it would also be wonderful with roasted veggies, baked or fried bready stuff, or veggie or hummus wraps!

Can you tell I am HUNGRY????

Regardless…I like this. It’s yummy.

2010-05-05 11:05:59 -0400

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momo

Thanks, TeaEqualsBliss!

Since second flushes are pretty much my most favorite black tea ever, I definitely enjoy this. It’s not the best one I’ve ever had, but Darjeelings are like pizza. Even the average ones are super tasty. This one somewhat lacks the good, strong muscatel flavors I like in second flushes, but it has nice astringency. It seems far more savory than others I’ve had.

I prefer others, but I wouldn’t turn this one down. I bet it would be a great iced tea, so I’ll have to try that too.

2012-07-23 18:57:09 -0400

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LiberTEAS

A wonderful Darjeeling. Bright, sweet, grape-y/currant-y flavor. Reminds me of a dry red wine. Lovely muscatel note. Moderate astringency that tapers as it cools. Hints of spice and wood notes.

Really lovely.

2012-01-14 18:00:22 -0500

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Jenn

Margaret’s Hope 2nd Flush is one fantastic Darjeeling! I would describe it as a thin-ish to medium body tea. The liquor is bright but not overly astringent which is just delightful. I defiantly taste berry/ currant notes as promised, and in many ways this tea is rich and wine-like. However, I don’t taste the much-desired muscatel essence at all. Oh well, that’s all right by me because this tea is a joy to drink.

2011-10-31 22:57:14 -0400

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ashmanra 2 tasting notes

Wow! Thanks to TEAEQUALSBLISS for this generous sample! I had tried two darjeelings in the past and didn’t care for them much, but I didn’t know I was supposed to cut the steeping time for darjeelings. We often do side-by-side teas in the afternoon when we have new kinds to try, just for the fun of comparing all the aspects of the teas. Our choices today were this one and Supreme Breakfast by Harney and Sons. My first impression was…holy cow! This smells VEGETAL! It reminded me of my beloved Ruby #18, also known as Sun Moon Lake. The taste….quite good. Less astringent than my early attempts at darjeeling when I oversteeped. Also, it is very light, but not without flavor like a decaffeinated tea, just light and refreshing. I hadn’t read the description yet, but I served Raspberry Pim’s with this tea and they went together well. So they were right on with their serving suggestion! :) The astringency always kept me from making it through a whole cup of darjeeling before, but I had two cups of this one, even though I knew we had another pot of tea to try.

2010-07-02 13:32:00 -0400

205 °F / 96 °C

3 min 0 sec

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Goldii Lock

I love this darjeeling! I would call it a medium body tea which is delicious hot or iced. (Actually, I only make iced tea with this particular tea)I have sampled many different darjeelings, and while there are some which could be called “better” this particular tea is my “go-to” darjeeling. It’s great in the afternoon, served with fresh fruit or baked goods. I have also had this as an evening tea. The only time I will brew a darjeeling in the morning is if I’ve had coffee, or some other tea which didn’t hit me right, and I need to follow up with a favorite old friend.
Drink this tea black with or without sweetener. Don’t oversteep!

2012-12-03 23:50:14 -0500

Boiling

3 min 30 sec

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