652 Tasting Notes
1.5 tsp for 240mL water @ 80C, steeped 3 minutes, drunk bare.
A sweet and spicy jasmine green … though there’s not a lot of jasmine on the go. This blend is a nostaglic favourite for me, one I drank a lot in autumns at university.
Liquor is a bronzing yellow. Lots of orange pith and peel in with the leaves, but it’s the clove and cassia that bring this tea up to its own weird and lovely level. If the water is too hot, this tea will get bitter and soapy.
Preparation
1 tsp for 250mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.
RICH.
Lots of muscatel in the aroma, which is great. David’s Darjeeling had really disappointed me, being all earth and twig with not a hint of muscat, which, for me, is what makes Darjeeling tea so special. I only used 1 tsp instead of the recommended 1.25, because I’ve only got a little sample pack here and want to stretch it out. No fear: this Darjeeling is quite rich and fresh and easily forgives some skimping. Liquor is dark copper with gold. Aroma is redolent with muscat, as noted, and wood. Some honey and florals in the taste, a fair bit of earth — unusual for a Darjeeling, even a second flush. Dry leaves look a bit twiggy but also very tippy. I love Darjeeling and can be quite snooty about it, declining this estate over that. This one is really friggin good, provided you like the stronger second flushes. And muscat.
Preparation
Astringent finish and aftertaste. Snappy. Lots of nuance. Oh, this one is GOOOOOD.
I’m guessing this is a multi-estate blend.
It’s OK to be snooty. I’m snooty about it in my own way too, but my Muscat love began with a dessert wine. I had my first excellent taste in Murphy’s,CA at Stevenot Winery. Here is their description.(Patience is a virtue when dealing with Muscat Canelli, as we wait until the latest possible harvest date, allowing for the highest sugar attainable, and the most concentrated complexity possible. The wine displays intense rose petal, dried apricot, peach, and mango, with a creamy toffee finish.) Remind you of tea reviews? I loved the short time when I could get fresh muscat grapes so small, pale and super sweet. Those experiences are my own measuring stick for anything MUSCAT.
Wow, that wine sounds amazing. I don’t drink alcohol, but that write-up sorely tempts me.
The first Darjeeling where I tasted muscat and fell in love was with, believe it or not, Stash Tea’s basic, entry-level, bagged Darjeeling blend. They don’t stock it anymore. It was gentle, with a creamy mouthfeel, but carried a wicked punch of muscat in taste and scent. Their Teas of India Second Flush Darjeeling comes close — and it one of my favourites, even bagged — but isn’t as sweet.
I’ve never been impressed with the tea from the Margaret’s Hope estate. I wanted to be; I love the estate name, and I love Darjeeling tea, but theirs always seems flat and a bit stale to me. The Seeyok estate’s is sharp and snappy, but not as heavy on the muscat taste as I’d like. And then you get some really awful alleged Darjeelings that taste like someone ground of a pine branch. Gah.
Have you tried the Himalayan Blend from DavidsTea yet? I’ve got that one in my sights. I’ve tasted some really, really good Nepal mountain teas that are grown outside the Darjeeling region but taste very similar to Darjeeling — soil and mountains, right?
ground of = ground up My typing is really bad.
The Darjeelings I’ve enjoyed most are the later flushes…almost NO flush from the Fall or after the monsoons. I think they remind me more of the Nepal tea’s that I love too. I’ve tasted a few Sri Lankan Green Tea’s that taste more like Darjeeling…especially a couple that I had from Stacy at Butiki. I’m not fond of astringency and find the later pickings mellower and deep with rich fruitiness. My opinion only. I tend to love full bodied tea, puerh, black tea, Nepalese tea. I’m a beast!
Thanks for the review! I have David’s Darjeeling and I like it (but haven’t tried any other ones for comparison). I wasn’t sure if this was a new blend, or just the old one under a new name. Guess I’ll give it a shot!
2 tsp for 250mL tea @ 90C, steeped 5 minutes, drunk bare.
I feel terrible. I sat down with my family for lunch and nearly hurled at the table. Broke out in a sweat. Got dizzy. All round nastiness.
I knew I needed tea. I’m craving the new Ginseng Oolong from DavidsTea, but I’m in no fit shape to go out. Wuyi Rock is too dark for the moment, and the Tung Ting Vietnam’s buttery notes will just send me right over the edge.
So I made Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Makes no sense to me, either.
I’ve forgotten how much I like this strange, sweet blend. Normally I ice this one, but hot, it’s soothing on the stomach— probably the mint. The odd citrus thing this tisane boasts is distracting me from being nauseous. And the gooseberries give it a note that no other tisane’s got. I’ve been researching Elizabethan England and what they ate and drank; they liked to stew almost anything with fruit and berries. I think they might like this one, pun on the title aside, especially in winter.
This is a weaker tisane. The packet copy recommends 2 tsp for a cup, and yeah, you need at least that much. And a decent steep time. Herbals need a bit of coaxing.
Preparation
1.5 tsp for 250mL water @90C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.
I was hoping for a that high note, almost a fruitiness, but this Tung Ting tribute is more of a buttery oolong with a distsnt whiff of tart plum. And that’s fine. Sweet and steady but definitely buttery.
Preparation
1.5 tsp for 250mL water @ 90C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.
I hardly know how to describe this one.
Sweet and crisp, as the write-up goes. Lingering. Almost floral — really hard to describe. Really good. This one shoudl be good for at least two more infusions.
Preparation
Three pearls for 250mL water @ 94C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.
The packet copy reccommends a 5-minute steep, which is probably worth trying … or using 4 pearks at a time. My first infusion here is a bit weak …
Sweet black Hunnan with a clean finish, and some gentle honey and jasmine notes. Not a ravishing jasmine, but refreshing, and a lovely change from a green jasmine. A slightly stale note on the finish, as if either the tea leaf or the jasmine got exposed to too much air. Not sure this one lives up to the hype, but it is lovely.
Preparation
Made for me at a DavidsTea location. Steeped 3 minutes.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I can say I fell backwards into a tea-gasm.
Lots of Hunnan-like notes: oak, some wineyness, plums … clean finish … some Darjeeling-like earthiness without much astringency … definitely worth trying, if you like a good black tea.
Preparation
1 pyramid bag for 250mL water @82C. Drunk bare.
Oh. My. God.
My local teashop, Britannia Teas and Gifts, is a little low on jasmine right now, but they did have these little pyramid bags. (The owner had maybe 2tsp of my beloved Dragon Tears left and gave me those — yesss!) I needed jasmine. I really needed jasmine. I probably would have tried to eat dried petals our of a bride’s bouquet. Dunno what it is with me and jasmine tea, but when I want it, I want it bad.
I was a little dubious about the pyramid bags, because I’m a snob. But the leaves are long and twisty, and the aroma is strong. It’s a China green base, and a fairly grassy one — no broth or brine here. The balance of jasmine is freakin heavenly. I did oversteep the first infusion at 3 minutes — 2 would have been better — and got some soapiness from the flowers, but it was so good I didn’t care, just drinking it down til I could add some water. Second infusion at 3 minutes, 3rd at 3 min 30 seconds. Golden green liquor and a great jasmine hit each time. I think Dragon Tears are slightly better, but this Golden Dragon is very, very good. If you placed a cup of each in front of me, I’d have trouble telling which was which.
Good jasmine tea makes me feel relaxed and a bit goofy. I also find — and this is just my own observation, not in any way medical advice — it takes some edge off my arthritis pain. Maybe there’s something mysterious about the jasmine flower that medicine should look into. There’s a lot of bad jasmine tea out there; this is one of the good ones, I promise.
Preparation
It’s the white tea I’ll bet that’s helping you and the l-thianine. I’m not a doctor but the Organic White Jasmine Silver Needle that I got from Teao2 took away my psoriasis on my hands that I had for 15 years. It hasn’t come back for 10 years. I made poltices and I drank the tea. My skin changed in less than 2 weeks. So I think there are benefits.
Amazing, both of you!
