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Here’s another tea I have been working my way through over the past several days. I only have about 6 grams left as of this time and expect to finish the remainder tomorrow morning. Overall, I found this to be a mild, pleasant first flush Darjeeling.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped a fairly heaping teaspoon of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced a slightly floral, grassy, nutty bouquet. After infusion, I noted stronger floral aromas reminiscent of a combination of dandelion, chrysanthemum, and marigold, as well as touches of almond, hay, grass, malt, and pine needles. In the mouth, I picked up notes of lemon zest, herbs, grass, straw, pine needles, wood, malt, almond, and flowers underscored by subtle impressions of Muscatel and something of a butteriness. The finish was grassy, nutty, and malty with lingering pine needle and floral tones.

This was kind of a different first flush Darjeeling. It was very malty, nutty, and floral with less of a Muscatel presence than a number of others I have tried. I’ve noticed that a lot of folks list orange, mango, jasmine, and honeysuckle aromas and flavors when they describe the teas produced by the Oaks Estate, but I did not get any of that here. Truthfully, I let this tea go for some time and I could tell that it had perhaps lost a little of its luster, but overall, I still found it to be very enjoyable.