149 Tasting Notes
Well, a second tea from the Steepster Select that I haven’t been impressed with. I love the idea of Select, but I think I’m going to wait a little longer until it gets teas more to my taste.
Now on to this tea, I got the mahogany taste, but that was about it, smokey, paprika, leather, almost like the burnt ends from BBQ. Really not what I think of for a single estate tea. I haven’t really had many Indonesian teas that ‘wow’ me, and this is no exception.
:/ I had a nice pretty review written, and then my computer crashed. So sorry that I can’t be bothered writing up as nice of one.
No aroma when I opened the pouch, leaves were a lower quality than I would normally like, but as I had been given this sample, I don’t know where this degradation happened.
As it brews. no distinct aroma, maybe some faint wet cardboard. brews dark for such a surprising little amount of tea, but I guess that is from it being crushed.
The tea itself is pretty awful. If I had more of this tea than the sample, it would be reserved for ice-tea grade only. No muscatel, bitter and astringent, I see no “good” taste in this tea.
I’m throwing out the rest of my cup. Really not worth finishing.
I’ts teas like this that make people think Darjeeling? I just don’t get it.
I’m waiting for Mariage Freres to get more of their Spring Flush teas in and then I’ll start making my purchases for Spring Flush 2014 Darjeelings.
hahah I look forward to reading your reviews on the new stuff! I’ve heard bad drought again this year, but they seem to say that every year. I’ve also heard some estates are starting to bring in irrigation for their first flushes.
This tea was such a let down, I may actually go back and edit it even lower.
The leaves were really quite old though, so gosh knows what this tea tasted like when it was fresh. I actually had a good Balasun Darjeeling earlier today, which might have influenced the harsh-ness of this review.
When you find a good Darjeeling, there is nothing that will compare.
The dry leaf aroma is certainly piney and chocolate! As it brews I get quite a bit of smoke, but it isn’t really lapsang souchong smoke, more like a bar-b-q smoke, or mesquite. A tang to it. Maybe a hint of paprika or chili chocolate
Not a very big amount of tea in the packet, barely enough to make a pot. Leaf size didn’t look that impressive, but I think it might have gotten squashed in the packet.
Thanks DCS!
and the last time….
“I’ve debated a long time about writing this review. I got sent these teas by DCS, because they weren’t to her liking, and I then passed it on as it wasn’t to my liking. This is perhaps the best thing about Steepster. The community.
So, 10 is the grade I would rank for standard tea bag tea. I would rank this tea below that. Probably around a 11. I’m holding off on ranking as I would like to see some more reviews of this tea before I leave such a drastic mark."
And yet again…
“I’ve debated a long time about writing this review. I got sent these teas by DCS, because they weren’t to her liking, and I then passed it on as it wasn’t to my liking. This is perhaps the best thing about Steepster. The community.
So, 10 is the grade I would rank for standard tea bag tea. I would rank this tea below that. Probably around a 10. I’m holding off on ranking as I would like to see some more reviews of this tea before I leave such a drastic mark.
