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drank Glenburn Estate Darjeeling by Butiki Teas
6111 tasting notes

Sipdown! Thanks to Stacy for a sample of this one, so I can expand my very limited darjeeling knowledge.

This tea smells lovely and sweet. A bit grapey, as I’ve gathered is characteristic. The sweetness also reminds me of that caused by leafhoppers, e.g. in Gui Fei Oolong, etc. Flavourwise, I’d be hard-pressed to identify this as a black tea. It’s much more like… a non-oxidized Gui Fei, or something like that? It’s sweet, just the teensiest touch astringent, and kind of has a hay-y sort of flavour. Quite pleasant, but I’m not sure that it quite falls into the realm of tea I would want to drink often. It’s not bad, and certainly interesting to have tried, but there’s something about that leafhopper flavour that, instead of growing on me, is doing the opposite: I’m starting to find it unpleasant. Which is unfortunate as I have no shortage of such teas. Oh well! I definitely preferred the Glenburn Darjeeling Moonlight; I’ll have to dig out the last of my sample from Boxermama and finish it off to remind me how it tasted.
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2 comments
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Chizakura
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Maybe you just need a break from those sort of teas for a while?

I think I have some of this on the way. I ordered that sampler, and I can’t quite remember what all are coming in it. I’m very interested in the sampler; my knowledge of Darjeeling is even smaller, I’ve never had any ever. xD

Kittenna
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Sadly, I haven’t even been drinking much of them lately. I’ll keep at it though; some days I find it more palatable than others. I think it’s because of a weird association I’m making between squishing ants and that flavour… and it’s hard to break things like that. There are a few other smells that I can’t handle, too, that associate with multiple things, some of which shouldn’t be in the least unpleasant. Sigh.

Yeah, this is maybe the third I’ve tried? :D I tried one from LiberTEAS a while back that was either too old, or I screwed it up. It wasn’t very good. Then I tried the first Butiki one in a swap, and it was amazing, so I ordered this as a sample with my last order. I plan to try some more, but I don’t think it will end up being a tea I drink often (unless they all taste like Glenburn Darjeeling Moonlight, because that was amazing.)

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Chizakura
Delete

Maybe you just need a break from those sort of teas for a while?

I think I have some of this on the way. I ordered that sampler, and I can’t quite remember what all are coming in it. I’m very interested in the sampler; my knowledge of Darjeeling is even smaller, I’ve never had any ever. xD

Kittenna
Delete

Sadly, I haven’t even been drinking much of them lately. I’ll keep at it though; some days I find it more palatable than others. I think it’s because of a weird association I’m making between squishing ants and that flavour… and it’s hard to break things like that. There are a few other smells that I can’t handle, too, that associate with multiple things, some of which shouldn’t be in the least unpleasant. Sigh.

Yeah, this is maybe the third I’ve tried? :D I tried one from LiberTEAS a while back that was either too old, or I screwed it up. It wasn’t very good. Then I tried the first Butiki one in a swap, and it was amazing, so I ordered this as a sample with my last order. I plan to try some more, but I don’t think it will end up being a tea I drink often (unless they all taste like Glenburn Darjeeling Moonlight, because that was amazing.)

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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