A friend turned me on to fine loose-leaf teas a few months ago by gifting me with a variety of them. Since I’ve tried twenty-two varieties of tea, and so far Darjeelings are my favorites. And of the two Darjeelings I’ve tried, Sungma Summer from Adagio and this Selim Hill from TeaSource, the TeaSource one has a slight edge. Both are lovely teas whether with milk or alone. (I prefer without—this is too delicious to mask with milk, but this is a tea that can stand up to milk and mix well with it.) Second and third steeping still render a delicious tea and this makes a great ice tea as well. Darjeelings are described as having a fruity “muscatel” flavor and that’s true of this one. It’s sweet and smooth, with a great mouth feel. Only leaving some room at the end of the rating because with time and more experience I may find I love a tea even more than this one. But it won’t be easy.
Darjeeling, Selim Hill Estate, 2nd Flush, FTGFOP1
This lovely 2nd flush Darjeeling black tea steeps up very smooth with good body. Being a Darjeeling 2nd flush it is medium-bodied and produces a liquor with soft notes of a muscatel sweetness, and little or no astringency. This is a great 2nd flush Darjeeling tea for the price.
