Darjeeling

Aha! Sipdown! Its gone now! Whee!

I had this tea this morning with my hospital cafeteria breakfast (which was filling and delicious, despite the fact that the cook seemed to think that a cabbage leaf was an appropriate garnish for a plate of pancakes). Anyway, I had to make do with ordering a cup of hot water to use for tea, so I have no idea what temperature it was steeped at, although it couldn’t have been more than about 180° F. Anyway, it turned out to be a wonderfully light complement to my bagel and strawberries (the hubby ended up eating the pancakes).

As a side note, the reason I’m in the hospital is because I now have a brand spanking new little girl named Charlotte! We’re both doing fine, and will probably go home tomorrow. :)

Last night I was opening some teabags and dumping the leaves into my big bag of dried, used leaves. It was disturbing.

So for some reason I decided to do the oatmeal thing again but with one of these teabags. I can actually taste how terrible it is through what should be delicious honey and cinnamon cereal. It’s not like it went bitter from then being cooked in grains for 90 seconds…it tastes like dirt.

Guess its partner is going to meet the bag of dried leaves too cause I am not drinking this. Poor Darjeeling.

Backlogging from Vacation #5:

This was the last vacation tea I had. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel and they had this for breakfast. I had to put a creamer of half-and-half in mine to cut the bitterness it had. I must be getting used to having some sort of dairy for my breakfast tea.

The trip was so fun, but I am glad to be home where I can control what my water tastes like (PA water is fantastic!) and how hot my water is easily.

I have been drinking my bagged black teas with milk and sugar for as long as I can remember. Twining’s Darjeeling has always been one of my favorites.

Since I have been drinking tea more seriously lately, this is the first time I’ve had it in a while. The initial aroma is pleasantly sweet and malty. Unfortunately, when sipped plain, it is overly bitter. I am beginning to believe that it is just not as good as I remember.

After trying some plain, I added in my typical sugar and milk and it brought back some of my former feelings. However, I can now detect the undertone of tea that just isn’t quite the quality that I thought or hoped for.

I still will drink this tea, but probably not with the regularity I once did.

Reading over the reviews of this tea, I felt I need to speak up. This tea $3 a box. If you handed me a random tea and said “I only payed $3 for the whole box”… I’d probably dump it out in your house plant and pretend to drink from the empty cup whenever you looked.

Now, with that said, I don’t feel that this tea is that bad at all. It has the very classic and stereotypical flavor of darjeeling. It can be quite bitter very quickly if you don’t watch it, but the aroma and full bodied flavor is definitely way above par for the price if the brew is good. I’m very sensitive to bitter tastes, and like to add too much sugar and some milk to this tea- this makes it VERY malty (obviously, but more than expected), and has lingering aftertaste of green grapes(?).

Taken black, it’s a great anTEAdote to all the aforementioned sugary treats.

I’m not sure why this tea appears twice on Steepster, so I’m just going to post the same review under both of them.

I first tried a bagged Darjeeling tea from Lupicia. It was a Second Flush and pretty light. I probably watered it down too much, which I tend to do sometimes with Lupicia teas.

But this Twinings bagged version was a completely different experience, and not for the better! This wasn’t watered down at all. It created a nice brown liquor and seemed to be a normal cup of tea. I drank it straight without milk or sweetener.

It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, but I did not like its taste at all. It’s hard for me to pinpoint what it is I don’t like. I think it’s just the taste of the tea itself. It’s not that it’s bitter or astringent. It just tastes…not good.

The first sip is unassuming, average, black tea. But then it’s just yucky. I couldn’t finish my cup. But my boyfriend drank his and the rest of mine down and said, “It just tastes like tea. I don’t know what you don’t like about it.” And neither do I.

But this is not one I’d buy again. Now I want to try the Lupicia version again for further taste comparison.

Anyone know why this is called the “champagne of teas”? It does elicit the same reaction from me as champagne: Blech. I’ll give it that.

Not my cup of tea

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: Sour, bright, slight fruit, layered
After water is first poured: musty, slight sour note, earthy
At end of steep: bright, sweet-sour, slight floral
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: dark, earthy brown-red
Staple? Type yes, will look into loose leaf of this and others next
Time of day preferred: any
Taste: slight sour, tangy, astringent, then dusty. Hints of woodiness
first notes: slight sour, slight dirt and fruit, tangy
As it cools? notes mellow, sourness balances out, tea bitters slightly
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? with astringency, and tang