Darjeeling (loose leaf)

The dry leaf smells of straw. I used a generous ½ scoop (my scoop is the 7g scoop that comes with the Bodum press), boiling water, and a 3 minute steep. The brew is a neat orange root beer color. This is very finely cut CTC but bigger than dust, so it didn’t make too much of a mess in the press. Any finer and it would require a Finum filter basket for easier clean up.

The taste is much improved over my last attempt. Last time I had the second steep with less leaf and a lower water temperature. It was fairly bland. Today’s parameters yielded a light bodied cup with mild fruity notes. It has a bit of the flavor of the grape leaves our local Chinese restaurant uses in some of their dishes. As the cup cools I am noticing a malt scent as I sip. This is a very drying tea. It is not bitter, just very astringent. If you are sensitive to black teas, it is not a good idea to sip this on an empty stomach.

I have to say I prefer Ahmad over this offering from Twinnings. It’s not horrible. I just think you can do better. The flavor is thinner than I like. Although it does improve considerably as the cup cools. It is too astringent, at least for me, and having it instead of breakfast left me with a burning sensation. Nice fruity aftertaste though.

Yesterday my daughter found a really nice shop in our town that we did not know existed. It was a combo of a fine foods shop and a coffee / tea shop.
They had some loose leaf tea but no one was there to talk about it. It was in glass jars and I had no idea how fresh the teas were or where they were from.
My daughter got some gourmet hot cocoas, we each got some sweet treats, snagged a giant cinnamon roll for my hubby.
We got some carrot bisque soup from the deli (it was amazing!) and I snagged some of this.
I was not expecting much but I just really wanted to give it a try.
You see I went right from bagged teas mostly celestial seasonings and Biglow, to ordering loose leaf online.
Although we have some selection of Twinings bagged in my city the selection is not much at all – and all bagged for the most part.
Then I saw this cute little purple tin and thought “Why not?”
Well I do love the tin lol not that I will reuse it for this tea after – or perhaps not any tea, but the tea itself, its MEH.
I did not steep it long as others said it got bitter quickly, and even at only 2 minutes the tea was quite dark. I know its supposed to be CTC but the cut seems more like fannings, I had so many pieces at the bottom of my cup it was ridiculous.
I did not get much muscatel flavor at all.
I mean it was not horrid, but it was something I would expect out of a tea bag at a hotel at best.
Not really disappointed though as it was an experience I probably should have had much sooner and now I know.
I will probably use it for iced tea in the summer for my family who always comes by for iced tea. They don’t care if it is fancy and good flavor or not. They just want it made for them and ready to go.
I may also use it to test my blending ability with a butterscotch flavoring I purchased earlier this month.

Mediocre, at best.

The first time I tried the Darjeeling, I just didn’t give it the steeping time for this delicate tea. I think I was waiting to experience fireworks from the “champagne of teas”… But I didn’t get that:( however, when I drank it for what is was worth and adjusted a bit longer steeping time…. I got it!! Wow, such subtle flavor, but such wonderful mouth watering bloom of flavor almost flower like and fragrant I can almost enjoy it in my nose… If that makes sense:) now I’m sure Twinings isn’t the premier Darjeeling but not bad for mainstream:)

Good for the price, but still pretty bad for a Darjeeling. If you concentrate, you might be able to pick up a few of the calling card flavors of Darjeeling, but even then, they are still incredibly weak.

Whichever estate supplies Twinings with this stuff is a real sellout.

Great to have it iced with milk and some sugar. This is how I have tasted it in Asia and I repeat it at home whenever I can.
To make it cold just add three table spoons to 1L of water at natural temperature and leave it for around two hour or more if you like it strong. Then add milk as you like it, sugar and enjoy!

Made a valiant effort to produce the right floral notes, but suffered from its flat and slightly bitter taste. Could be used as a blending tea, but does not hold up well on its own.

(Granted, this tea had been poorly stored in a friend’s cupboard for the greater part of a year, so a more recent and better-cared-for purchase might have a different taste.)

Light, mildly flowery, but not in an air-freshener sort of way. Perfect with freshly baked scones and just a hint of honey. Don’t overbrew, though…it goes very bitter very fast.

Passable, but rather mediocre, bland, watery.

You know, I absolutely love this tea. I don’t know why, it’s not THAT good, I have so many amazing high end first flush darjeelings in my cupboard. But it was the tea that got me really in to tea drinking as a kid. Its delicate but has a bit of the astringency that I crave, courtesy of my English roots. I like this tea, it’s easy to drink and I can buy it in the grocery store.