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Thomas Smith drank Black Bear Darjeeling by The Tao of Tea

93 tasting notes

I revisited this tea ‘cause I have a hard time imagining such a high score for a relatively cheap tea and from this company. Tao of tea has some tasty teas, but they really don’t jump to my mind when I’m thinking of high quality.

So, I wanted to knock the score down on this… I was totally biased in re-reviewing it – looking for things to be wrong, not looking for any layers of underflavors, drinking it back quickly, not really paying attention to true mass-volume-temperature, purposefully scraping up fannings left in the tin…
Yet, this holds true to my prior review. It’s a good Darjeeling. I’m sorry for the blatant prejudice I threw at the company – I should have reminded myself that I’ve had good teas from Rishi and Peet’s as well and I really don’t hold them in the light of Tao of Tea.
Little pointless posting this note when I’m basically saying “see previous note,” but the fact that it stood up to biased reevaluation says something in my mind.

Preparation

200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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Tea Geek.

My focus is on Chinese Wulongs and Pu’er but I’m all over the place. I tend to follow a seasonal progression of teas, following the freshness curve of greens through summer and rounding the cooler months out with toastier teas and Masala Chai.
With the exception of Masala Chai milk tea I’m a purist at heart. While I was originally snagged by Earl Grey with bergamot and make blends for gifts, I very rarely go for scented teas or herbals and can’t remember the last time I bought a tea that was blended. Pure tea is just more interesting to me than the product of mixing flavors. I do understand and appreciate their existence, though.

I upload some blends I make or special prep teas I nab under the company name “Green Raven Tea and Coffee” and the vast majority of these posts will be blends crafted to create flavors/characteristics not inherent in any one particular tea.
I’ve worked as a tea buyer for a smallish cafe and try to keep apprized of shifts in offerings even when not selecting for a business so I wind up sampling a ton of wholesale samples from a couple companies in particular but try to branch out to as many companies as I can find. Until Steepster integrates some form of comparative tasting feature, none of my cupping notes will make it onto my reviews unless wrapped up into something I feel compelled to drink multiple times on its own.

Since all the cool kids are doing it, here’s my big fat ratings scheme:

0-12…..Ugh, don’t wish on anyone
13-25….Bad, won’t touch again
26-37….Huh, not worth the effort
38-50….Meh, unremarkable
51-62….Okay, good tea
63-75….Tasty, really good tea
76-87….Yum, wonderful
88-100…Wow, really spectacular

There shouldn’t be many postings at all from me ranked 26-50 since unremarkable teas are unlikely to make me remark on ’em but to “earn” a score 37 or below I have to be disappointed to the point where others may ask for a refund or turn down offers even when free or offered as a gift (beyond stale).

I’ve got a ton of respect for anything rated 63 or higher.

For a tea to get 71 or more, it has to be pretty special and kinda blow my socks off.

The 90s are reserved for wonders that make me reevaluate my views of the world of tea as a whole.