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“Despite the fact that I’ve been drinking tea, I’m find it difficult to actually write tasting notes that I think are worth reading. Not sure why that is, but it feels kind of silly to write if my...” Read full tasting note
“This is my third sample provided by The Tea Merchant. I need to look this up on their website as I don’t know what they mean by ‘biodynamic’, anyway my experience with Darjeeling is a bit limited....” Read full tasting note
“I still hate January, but the dazzling (cold!) sun on the tree branches makes it look a little like Narnia out my front window. Because I may have to hock my firstborn to pay this month’s heating...” Read full tasting note
“This tea tricked and impressed me. I received it yesterday as one of four free samples from The Tea Merchant – thank you! It came wrapped up in brown tissue paper with a golden wax seal. LOVED...” Read full tasting note
Our select high grown tea is hand picked, artisan processed, and brews a brisk, bright cup much lighter than other black teas. It is grown in high altitude steep slopes of up to 4000 ft. This tea is from the Makaibari estate in the Darjeeling hills at one of the last family-owned tea estates in Darjeeling, India. It is home to the finest high grown Darjeeling teas and the leader of biodynamic and organic permaculture.
A first flush tea, it brews a pink, light amber color, with fresh floral, apple-like character, and a slightly astringent finish. It is a rare treat to experience this 100% Pure Darjeeling tea outside of India.
Region: Darjeeling, India
Organic
Temp: 185 F. Steep 3-5 min
Company description not available.
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DarjeelingTeaXpressCheers to Michelle for sending me this and the next Darjeeling I’ll be logging! I feel Darjeeling is a natural follow up to Oriental Beauty and often want to compare them. They both have a the muscatel thing going on, the darjeeling more so, as well as floral and woodsy notes but darjeeling feels more airy and has more high notes, it’s more flowery and peppery where as the formosa has smoother, warmer, lower notes of leather and camphor.
I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Darjeelings compared to some folks on here. I’ve had two from Teavana and one straight from Upton, plus a few in their blends and lovely white one and I got to taste a Darjeeling Oolong at Adagio. Most have been first or second flushes and while I’m sure I could look up their estates in some cases, I don’t recall them off the top up my head.
At first I feel in love with them, then I really disliked them, them I tolerated them and it seems today I am appreciating them more than I have in a long time. And this is quite nice. It starts off tasting like grape leaves and vine, woody and nice balance of green, sweet and salty. But this tea really shines when it’s cooled down, which I think is a testament to its quality, many teas turn bitter when they cool but this one only gets sweeter.
I infused this one three times, the second was my favorite and it had some nice fruity and honey notes. I felt the third tasted a bit watered down despite being steeped for 5 minutes (I actually followed recommended brewing parameter on this one somewhat, though it looks like it might have been Michelle’s recommendation rather than the merchant’s though my first infusion was close to their’s temp wise) but it did develop some interesting pepper notes and then once again sweetened when cooled. Thanks Michelle!
sample sipdown! I’m glad i had the chance to try this one. It’s coming across to me, much like a refreshing cup of spring water, though with hints of the darkness. there’s a bit of floral here, but it’s not that cloying floral that i hate. Shaynebear – this might be one for you
there’s barely any astringency to this one, likely because i kept the temperature low. overall a decent cup!
Thanks again to The Tea Merchant for this sample!
Many more leaf colors than I am used to seeing in darjeelings. There are some leaves that are somewhat reddish, even. Very pretty.
I did forget about this while I was sorting laundry and it brewed for a few minutes longer than recommended. That said, I expected a huge hit of astringency at the end and it was only really a medium one. No bitter taste, either.
A bright, clean taste. Very nice. A not unpleasant bite to the scent of the steeped cup, but that may come from oversteeping.
I think this is the third Darjeeling I’ve ever had. The first was from years ago and I remember thinking it was okay. The second was a sample of Castleton Moonlight Oolong or something last year. I remember liking it, but not enough to compel me to immediately place an order.
Anyway, I didn’t really take notes of it as I was drinking it earlier today, but I did enjoy it and resteeped it another time. Couldn’t taste anything apple-y like the other notes mentioned, but it was a nice, comforting brew with a light astringency near the end. I definitely do want to explore more Darjeelings eventually (pu’er and a few aged oolongs are mostly taking up my attention at the moment).
TTBC2 #13
Another darjeeling that I had a chance to try thanks to the traveling box! I like this one just as much as the Upton one, if not more.
The dry leaf is so adorable with bits and pieces of green. The steeped carrot gold liquor smells like caramelized rose petals (yes!) and… it pretty much tastes like that, too. Except the astringency kicks in, but it’s not unpleasant, and balances the sweetness nicely. It actually gets sweeter and milder as it cools down.
A fantastic cup for late Saturday morning. And it’s my day off, too. Hell yeah.
