Darjeeling Vidyaranya

Composty earthy tones underneath the “Darjeeling” taste. Not an extremely front of the mouth experience, but still face puckering. having it with whole milk and mesquite honey, but it is still quite bitter. And the buzz? Quick and fierce, like a hammer in the heart. Good stuff for the morning.

I’d say this is one of, if not THE best Darjeeling I’ve ever had, but I haven’t had all that many, so I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. It has a nice, floral taste, but on about the third steep, it starts making me feel nauseated. Of course, that could also be from drinking 6 cups of it in the course of an hour or two to get all that I can out of this measly 2oz of tea that somehow conned me out of $18. Don’t get me wrong, though. This is a great tea and I know Darjeeling is typically quite expensive, but I’m sure that you could find something of equal or better quality for a lower price elsewhere.

Also, they market this stuff as a black tea, but it seems like more of an oolong. idk

Taken Plain.
This is the only black tea I can take plain consistently. Rather good darjeelings are the only black teas I can take plain consistently.
It’s a good smooth tea with a sweet middle and woody start and finish. Not woody like smoked… but bite a two by four fresh woody kinda… it’s that flavor all darjeelings have. I can never quite pin that flavor on anything other than a darjeeling and that’s what it’s got.
Yea.

First Darjeeling I ever tried, limited to Equal Trade Gift Set, we opened one over the summer, when Teavana didn’t have a Darjeeling on the wall due to flooding in the region.  Leaves are mostly olive, brown and grey, fine and short.  They didn’t smell pleasing in the bag, something artificial but was probably smelling the packaging more than the tea.  Brewed leaves resemble shredded mush (wonder how much the Special grading improves this) looks like there may be many stems.  

Leaves smell of grape leaves again, weird.  The aroma of the cup is my favorite, it’s comforting and somehow feminine.  It reminds me of mothballs, books, a muddy spring and my mother’s jewelry boxes.  

The mouthfeel is astringent like an IPA and unfortunately I’m more of porter, lager and stout kinda gal.  It makes me wonder if the soil is more acid in this region/altitude.  I get the muscatel notes on the first steep, the second is all crisp and spicy and is like drinking a citronella candle.  I upped the temp by five degrees and even that makes this tea intolerable for me.  Bleh.  

I can’t help but wonder if this tea is too old.  I got it on sale online last month (really just for the copper tins) and only opened the vacuum sealed pouch today but I notice a freshness difference between spring and autumn 2011 teas, so Spring 2009 when it’s not aged… very possibly stale, no preservatives and what not.  I thought I liked this more than the de Triomphe, but definitely not now.  Dump.

My first time trying this in store left me in shock. It was a tad astringent, malty.. but as the more it cooled, the more it revealed. It took on a peachy/floral taste. Peach up front, honeysuckles on the out(or orchids as everyone tells me). So, I bought a tin. Bought some clay-ware in order to solidify my commitment with what seemed to be ambrosia.

Unfortunately, trying to recreate the drink I made in-store has proven to be… impossible. It’s a very temperamental tea, going from weak and flavorless to bitter and astringent within a 15-30 second window.

So far best result have been 1 teaspoon, boiling, 2 minutes. But I’m still not satisfied. I blame my thermometer, and my other tools. DAMN THESE HANDS.

Any tips would be helpful, how do you know when your water temp is perfect? How do you manage the loss of heat when transferring water from kettle to brewing receptacle?

The leaves are a green color. This tea is astringent and has a complex woodsy floral taste, a very floral taste. It’s slightly bitter yet has a punchy after taste that I can’t put my finger on. On the second steep it isn’t as bitter. I didn’t enjoy the third steep very much.

195F @ 2 Minutes