Singbulli Estate SFTGFOP1 First Flush 2012

I am steeping this in the gaiwan today, in contrast to the first tasting which was pyrex heresy style. There was some bitter astringency in the 3rd and 4th steeps that may have been strictly a result of my mood infecting the cup. I have so many first world problems right now I feel like a state senator.

But I’m up to something like 7 or 8 steeps now and the cups are soft, almost sweet.

My only complaint is that because there are so many broken leaf bits present, it isn’t at all realistic to get a clean pour without a screen — which seems a bit fussy when using a gaiwan.

I’ve decided that, moving forward, I’m no longer going to put numeric ratings on my reviews.

a) Everyone has their own sliding scale that they then can’t really apply to someone else’s numbers
b) I don’t want to have to read everyone’s profile to know what the numbers mean
c) I don’t taste a lot of tea that I’m not highly confident is quality leaf and that I’ll enjoy drinking, which jams up my ratings almost all well above 75, most even above 85, which becomes fairly useless
d) On the rare occasion I get something I don’t like, that’s my personal taste, my preference, it is rarely a reflection on the quality of the tea, itself

So. No more numbers. Let’s talk about tea, and use words to “rate” the tea.

My recent experience with the golden fleece has me focusing on the non-flavor aspects of tea.

I’m on about my 10th steep of this first flush and the liqueur is still strong, mellow and soft with near instantaneous steeping.

The brew is thick and soft in the mouth, no bite on the tongue and no astringency at the finish. I’m sure I already knew this, unconsciously, but this fullness on the palate is a huge part of what makes me truly enjoy premium tea in a way that I don’t enjoy a bag of Lipton in a hotel room. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the Lipton “tasting bad”. With a splash of lemon or sugar Lipton is just fine. And you can’t really say that it is “thin” either. You can get a brew almost as black as coffee even with a cheap tea bag.

But what you can’t get is that full, thick mouth feel. It is what I think makes most people enjoy coffee but not enjoy tea if they’ve never had truly good tea. Bad tea is … for lack of a better word, watery.

Ten steeps in, this darjeeling starts to taste a whole lot like a peony white tea. Sunshine and hay and dusty old books. What’s interesting is just how different this is from a late season darjeeling which will be much more like an oolong or even an assam. But in this first flush there are no amber, toasted or black notes at all. There aren’t even really any green notes. This is really much more like a fine white tea than anything else.

Am I totally blanking or is the whole first flush, second flush, late flush thing not nearly as emphasized in any other tea beside darjeeling?

I’ve got a lot going on this week, so I’m hitting this up Western style — which is a rare thing for me these days.

There’s more bite and astringency this way. Not enough to be unpleasant, but this is not the soft, thick, gentle tea that it is when brewed gongfu style.

This tea has been a real eye opener for me over the past few months. I’ve become very focused on the teas of Southern China (wuyi, yunnan [gold, shou, sheng], lapsang souchong….) the last handful of years and I have begun to forget how much I love other teas. Both Northern and Southern India have fine teas that I used to drink quite often.

I need to plan out tea orders a bit more carefully, moving forward, I think, and ensure I get a wider variety of regions and styles.

I’m sad that I’m still the only one drinking this tea (apparently).

This truly is a fantastic set of leaves.

If you have any interest in Darjeeling and have never had a first flush, try this one.

We got up to about the 10th steep on these leaves before they gave out on us. Really a fantastic leaf.

Decided to do this Western style because I needed a big mug to take to qigong last night and made the third steeping this morning.

I am impatient for the second flushes, but given how slow this year’s first flush came to be, we’re just going to have to wait.

I’m on day two of steeping these leaves and again, I am impressed at how many steeps these leaves will give up before they give out.

This tea often has a buttery, brothy texture which coats the tongue and leaves a long finish.