I’m surprised I am the first to review this tea, and this should be a little interesting because I’ve been developing a Gongfu brewing method for Darjeeling tea lately, so this tea was one of my Guinea pigs for that.
The first infusion is a honey-gold color with a sweet, mild flavor and a clean mouthfeel. There are slight aromas of oats and malt and the flavor is a nice all-around mellow sweet taste with very subtle hints of spice. The signature muscatel grape aroma that Darjeeling is known for is very present when smelling the wet tea leaves, but as of the first infusion, I’m not detecting it yet in the brewed tea.
The second infusion looks like a citrine crystal caught in sunlight. Now I can taste some floral notes and the muscatel that the leaves were hinting at and a little hint of tannin. There’s more depth and boldness to the flavor, but it is still overall sweet. there’s a lasting sweetness and tang on the tongue which accompanies the hint of dry texture from the tannins.
Third steeping is even richer in flavor. It’s become more difficult to describe but it is starting to taste more like a black tea with a bit more of the tannin and malt flavors and the accompanying sweetness more in the background. It has a very full mouth feel that feels heavy and thick in the mouth. There is very little dryness or bitterness in the finish.
The fourth steeping is very rich and mellow with notes of butter and oak along with the muscatel and subtle hints of floral. The fifth steeping is starting to mellow out some and has a similar flavor. I could keep going with this tea, and I imagine doing so will produce even mellower brews from here on out.
All in all this is a nice Darjeeling if you’re looking for something very thick and buttery feeling. That was the most prominent feature to me that I think would make this one appealing. It’s not quite as floral as some others I’ve had and the muscatel note is not as strong. It’s really sweet in a sort of honey-like way, rather than in a light way like nectar or sugar. There is very little drying or astringent quality to this tea. It leaves a long-lasting flavor in the mouth.
Flavors: Honey, Malt, Muscatel, Oak, Oats, Spices
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I can’t compare my tasting notes to yours since I brewed this western style, I really need to try Darjeeling gongfu, but I think I so set in my ways that I always forget.
I never gongfu Darj. Interesting
If you are interested in trying it, I use 2.5g of tea leaf per 100ml of water, brew it at 185F and use flash infusions. The first infusion was 10 seconds and the next couple after that were a quick in and out. After that you can start adding time as you need to.
I can’t compare my tasting notes to yours since I brewed this western style, I really need to try Darjeeling gongfu, but I think I so set in my ways that I always forget.
I never gongfu Darj. Interesting
If you are interested in trying it, I use 2.5g of tea leaf per 100ml of water, brew it at 185F and use flash infusions. The first infusion was 10 seconds and the next couple after that were a quick in and out. After that you can start adding time as you need to.