Darjeeling

Huh, I thought I had posted about this…

I’ve definitely had it before.

Anyway, as many of you may already know, I don’t actually care much for Darjeeling. I find it too finicky to brew and too prickly and grassy in flavour. I honestly don’t understand all the Darj. hype. I can only imagine that once upon a time somebody somewhere did some excellent marketing.

So when I was given 100g of this along with 100g of EG (sigh), it was accepted with as sincere a smile as I could muster and a secret thought that it would be exclusively for the husband, as he doesn’t dislike it as much as I do.

For the sake of thoroughness and openmindedness and what have you, I did try a cup of it though. This is the one I thought I had posted about, but apparently hadn’t. I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it, but it wasn’t totally offensive either. I think I would say it was probably worth around 70-75 points, and drinkable. The things that I dislike about Darjeeling weren’t standing out so much.

This may be a question of leaf quality. The bag has no information on it at all regarding origin, so I assume we’re talking about a blend of several estates. This also makes me suspect that it’s a somewhat lower leaf quality than the FFs Darj-lovers happily shell out small fortunes for every year. The bag doesn’t even have any information regarding leaf grading on it.

So hot, it turned out surprisingly drinkable.

On a whim I tried putting some in the fridge for a cold brew last night and I have tasted the result this morning. It’s quite weak in flavour with a smidge of that prickly grassyness that I associate with Darj and don’t much care for. However, in a cold brew it doesn’t seem to bother me as much, probably because the flavour of the tea itself is so very, very delicate.

I wouldn’t say it was like drinking a glass of cold brewed tea really. It doesn’t really taste like something that is easily identified as tea unless you know about it. It’s more like drinking a glass of cold water with just a little bit of flavouring to it to make it interesting to drink. Not very different from how you can make a jug of ice water more intersting and refreshing to drink by tossing in a slice of lemon.

I was contacted by Whittard of Chelsea and was asked if they could send me some teas to try and review. I usually say no to these types of requests, but I was absolutely delighted to accept some teas from this venerable tea merchant! On Saturday I got a “Knock! Knock! Knock! Delivery from the UK!” at my door — it was the tea! Thrilling! I tore open the package to find three beautiful full-sized loose teas.

I’m one of the few Darjeeling fans here on Steepster. I adore the muscatel flavor — so I was happy to see this tea in the package, and chose it as the first tea to try. I decided to take it with a little sugar “like the Germans.”

It’s delightful. Divine muscatel and a delicate but rich tea flavor. It’s a lighter tea — so perfect for the steamy day — but very flavorful. I drank it at work and had to pause for a moment to let the flavor wash over me. The wineyspicy muscatel, distinctive and delicious, was just so good. The sugar made it round and sweet without any of the astringency I usually find in a Darjeeling, but I took my second steep sans additions and there it was — a little piquant pucker. Love.

I was able to enjoy three steeps, the last one drank cool, which makes me think this would be a great fancy iced tea for a party (the color is a gorgeous amber – I could just picture it in a clear glass pitcher).

What a perfect introduction to Whittard of Chelsea — I am so, so pleased to meet you!

While this isn’t my favorite Darjeeling I am going to rate it higher than most on this specific tea. I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s not overly memorable but it’s tasty. It’s a nice standard Darjeeling to have in your stash to share with anyone anytime of day! It’s slightly crusty and slightly misty with a bit of satisfying astringency. A fair Darjeeling!

I really have to be in the right mood for darjeeling, especially a poor quality teabag one like this. I’m not often in the right mood for this tea, but I’ve had it at work a bit, and that’s ok. I can’t really complain, because it’s teabag darjeeling and it’s not meant to be top of the range. So by that score it’s not at all bad. Just don’t expect a MightyLeaf taste or anything like that

A rather musty tasting tea from Whittard,Darjeeling not one of my
Faves.

I am drinking this tea right now. Well, I tried to make ice tea but I think I failed it. very Bitter.

Darjeeling, the Champagne of Teas. Hmm, if only I could enjoy Darjeeling as much as I enjoy Champers! I just can’t get on with Darjeeling, regardless of company. To me, it’s just like drinking a cup of hot gritty water – not pleasurable at all.

However, I do find that it works well when blended with other black teas, so it does have its usefulness…