360ml of water at 195F
1 heaping tablespoon of tea
Steep for 4 minutes
1/4 teaspoon of highly refined sugar
It’s described as a Namring Poomong Upper, but with the DJ2 designation, and an SFTGFOP1 ranking, it is classified as a different Spring Flush Namring tea at Mariage Freres. Yet the similarities are there coming from the same estate, same flush, same year. However, this tea is not as good as the Spring Flush Namring was last year.
The taste is very light and I tried bringing out more of the flavor by adding more tea leaves. The taste became sronger but did not necessarily heighten the flavor of the tea. The Namring last year had a refreshing floral note while retaining all of the flavor of an exceptional Darjeeling. It had great body as well. The 2013 Namring has less flavor, does not have the floral notes, has more of an earthly quality to it, and is flat in taste.
I really wanted to like this tea and it is still a good Darjeeling, but it misses the mark of the stellar Darjeelings Mariage has released in previous years.
Thanks for posting about this company in the forum. I’ll have to try some of their offerings!