First Flush Darjeeling (Thurbo Estate)

From the queue. I couldn’t find it in the database, so I made a new entry with what little information that I had.

This was a Try from the EU Travelling Teabox, and it was Husband who tried it. I don’t care for Darjeeling myself, but we were given a 100g bag of the stuff last year for a sort of early wedding present from the best man and his then girlfriend who was also our photographer. Unfortunately they have since gone their separate ways (amiably). Husband doesn’t mind the Darjeeling so much so it ended up on his part of the Consider This First shelf.

Should I explain about the Consider This First shelf? I’ve found it’s a really excellent way to keep the supply of tea in check. This is where I put all the things that I know I will need constant reminders of to drink it up. The tea on this shelf can be sorted into three categories.

1. Things we don’t much like and would therefore otherwise just languish untouched somewhere for ages. It can be things one of us don’t like or things neither of us don’t like.
2. Things that have been forgotten and, although they are nice, they are rather getting on age-wise and so need to be used up while they still vaguely resemble their original flavour pattern.
3. Samples from shops and swap-partners that would otherwise be in risk of being hoarded, never to be used up just for the sake of never running out, when ‘running out’ makes no difference when the leaf is not being used anyway. Unless they are very large, samples and swaps go directly on this shelf after leaving the Things To Post About box.

Furthermore, the Consider This First shelf is divided up into three sections. The right hand side are the teas that only Husband finds drinkable. It is up to him to either finish them off or toss them out at his discretion. Me, I don’t care either way, as I’ve already given up on them.
The middle part is the largest section and the things that we can both drink, and the left hand side works in the same way as the right hand side, only it’s things that only I like.

So that great big bag of Darjeeling we were given, that lives on the right hand side of the Consider This First shelf, and Husband is bravely struggling through it. He has commented more than once though that “it’s a LOT of Darjeeling” to which I generally reply that he’s free to give up and chuck it out if he prefers. He won’t do that, stubborn boy.

He is aware that it’s getting quite old and that this is not exactly helping matters either, so when I found this Darjeeling in the EU Travelling Teabox, he requested to Try it so he could compare with the Darjeeling we already had. I think he wanted to check if he was missing out on anything with that old one.

I made a small pot for him as I didn’t want any of it myself (because it’s Darj) and I have to say that I was pleased he chose to try it on that day, because I had already had more cups of tea than I could count during that day (I was on holiday) and was rather sated and willing to sit this one out.

He had his cup and dutifully paid attention to it, and reported back to me that it didn’t really do anything for him. He found it a little nondescript and no great improvement from the one we already had. He was glad to have tried it, but not interested in having any more of it.

I shan’t rate it, because I didn’t have any myself, and I didn’t ask him about his thoughts regarding scoring it.

I believe this was leftover from the EU TTB round 2 return. It’s been in the bottom of a tea drawer for a while due to an almost repulsion towards Darjeeling tea. I can’t explain why, I get put off some teas from time to time for no known reason.

The raw leaves are an earthy blend of brown, green and red/brown colours which also includes a few silver tips.
Scent is mild and floral with light wood notes.

Once steeped the tea is golden orange in colour with a toasted hay and floral scent.

Flavour is mild/medium in strength with some astringency. Toasted hay and flowers with nuts, musk and dry perfume. Much darker than I expected for a First Flush. I mentioned it being astringent, I think it’s down to the perfume flavour as it’s also sour as well as increasingly dry.

As it cools the musk flavour grows with added smoke and damp earth tones.

It’s a nice Darjeeling though nothing special and not as floral as I tend to like my Darjeeling.