First Flush Jungpana Estate FTGFOP1 2010

I ordered from Thunderbolt Tea in 2009, but my tea order was returned to India because I wasn’t home to SIGN for it! So in 2010, I ordered this gem. I love Darjeeling teas, and this was the best Darjeeling I could remember tasting in 2 or 3 years.

The dry leaf smelled nutty (like almonds), and of woods. Wet leaves were pretty, varigated leaves of green and brown. I wish I had a picture to show you! The smell was fantastic-sweet, flowery, fruity, all in some combination. The smell of the wet steeping leaves in the cup is….Aaahhhh….so fresh, clean, crisp. The cup color is a beautiful orange color, with the same-although a little subdued-aromas as the wet leaves.

The cup exhibits flowery, fruity, fresh goodness on my palate. So fresh and clean like a new Spring day. I also detected secondary nutty characteristics in the tasting. Typical muscatel tones linger on the tongue even long after the tea is swallowed. The best description I can come up with here is to think of the “bite” of a sour grape on your tongue. This is not bitter, but only tangy deliciousness. This is one of the things I love about FF Darjeeling teas (and what some people do not). :))

Really the best Darjeeling I’ve had in a long while! I started cupping this after Thanksgiving, and even a year later it is so fresh and delicious! Reminds me of Spring in a cup.

Cupped: Mon, December 19, 2011. Reviewed: Sat, December 24, 2011.