Darjeeling

I credit this tea as the one that got me into Darjeeling. Now that I’ve sampled a few loose leaf Darjeelings, I know the Twinings one isn’t that great. Still, I like the woody flavor and the astringency when I’m in the mood for it. It’s a bit like drinking a table leg.

I bought this tea on a whim from a local Food City store. I tend to have a sentimental attachment to Twinings products and I like Darjeeling teas, so I figured that this is one I should try.

After trying this tea in a couple of different preparations, I can safely say that I like it. The tea displays delicate aromas of honey, earth, straw, and wood. In the mouth, I detected delicate flavors of wood, straw, honey, and earth underscored by a subtle bitterness. On the finish, earthy notes linger while bitterness and astringency become more pronounced. Additions of milk and/or sugar tame the bitterness and astringency and allow the honey notes to really shine through. Subtle fruitiness and caramel sweetness also emerge.

Honestly, I don’t get the low reviews for this tea. Sure, it’s not the most complex Darjeeling in the world, but its straight-forward, unassuming nature is rather appealing. All in all, I find this to be a very thin, light-bodied tea that is super approachable. I also think one has to be realistic with their expectations when approaching this tea and review it for what it is. Twinings Darjeeling is not going to compete with super premium loose leaf Darjeelings from smaller companies and that’s fine because it’s not meant to. This is a readily available bagged Darjeeling that you can get for around $3 from most retailers. For what it is, it really is far from bad.

I was somewhat disappointed in this tea. I expected more flavours and spices but instead it was too similar to a standard black tea. Not bad but definitely not great. Perhaps Twinings played up the ‘exotic quality’ of the tea which may have partially dashed my hopes.

This tea bites.
I struggled to finish my cup.
Maybe I should blend this with some other tea?

This is without question the most bitter thing I have ever put in my mouth. I’m very sensitive to bitter flavors, and this one was just too much. The bag smelled like maté, a Chilean beverage which tastes like alfalfa and tire treads, but the tea turned out to be much more bitter than maté, which I didn’t think was possible.

I took the first cup straight, and steeped it for only 3 minutes because it smelled so strongly. That first cup practically ate through the lining of my stomach. I steeped the next cup for only 2.5 minutes and I added milk and sugar, which did not cut the bitterness at all. For the third cup I tried honey, but I just couldn’t make it drinkable.

I took my wife out to breakfast for her birthday yesterday, and we went to a great place downtown called Smiley’s. I placed my food order (sausages and fried ripe tomatoes—delicious), and was about to skip getting tea (last time we went, my mom got tea, and I seem to recall it being served in one of those leaky metal teapots that I used to hate when I worked in food service). I saw that they had a selection of Twinings, including Darjeeling, so I ordered a cup. I was happy to see them pull out a ceramic teapot (it was a rather unique-looking one, with a large spout and flattened sides). The water they used wasn’t boiling—it came from a hot-water tap—but it was very close, and I was able to time the steep, since I watched them pour the water. After a 4-minute steep, I removed the bag from the pot, and drank the tea without any milk or sugar.

I was really pleasantly surprised! Although it lacked the grape-skin flavor (which I’m informed is properly called “muscatel”) that I had experienced in other Darjeelings, it had a very pleasant taste. It was sweet and smooth, with pretty much no bitterness. I caught hints of “Darjeeling” flavors which I can’t quite isolate, but seem to have been present in all Darjeelings I’ve had. So, while this isn’t a high-end first flush hand-selected full-leaf Darjeeling, it’s an excellent cup of tea, especially when you want something without any milk or sugar. After my box of Stash Earl Grey is used up, I may buy a box of this to be my work tea.

I don’t know what everybody means when they say this tea is bitter. I think it’s light and fragrant and fruity. If tea were a wine, this would be it.

I taste grapes and flowers. It’s almost like a white tea in its delicacy and mouthfeel. I only steep it for a few minutes, because that’s all it needs.

First cup was wonderful, second cup was not so great, by the third I’d decided this particular tea was just not for me. I have no idea why I grew to dislike it, or why it happened so quickly, but I just did. I will say that this particular tea does NOT handle abuse well. If the water is too hot, or you accidentally steep for too long you will end up with one hell of a bitter, astringent, mess on your hands. At least that was my experience with it. I still have the majority of a box of this but I’ll likely be getting rid of it somehow before long, even if that means having to throw the stuff away.

This tea is ok. It has a mild and slightly bitter flavor.

one of the best black teas i have ever tried! not too weak, not too strong.