Tumsong Estate FTGFOP1 First Flush (DJ-14) Organic TD74

I purchased this as part of Upton Tea’s Premium Darjeeling Sampler. Since my experience with Darjeelings has been limited, this has been a great opportunity to check out generous sized samples in tins. Today, after the excitement of sending my 20 yr old daughter on a full semester Georgia Tech Pacific Study abroad trip (Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji), I came home with a few hours until work and decided I would compare this TD74 1st flush against the TD54, another 1st flush from Thurbo Estate. As a sidebar, I read that Tumsong is known as the “garden of happy hearts”. With the Tumsong Darjeeling,the brew is gold and there are notes of tropical fruit, almonds, and a citrus pungency that I find quite enjoyable, despite an ever so slight bitterness.I am sensitive to bitterness,and though I made this according to instructions (boiling, 2 1/4 gm, 3 min. steep), there seems to be a hint of bitterness that I didn’t detect with the Thurbo. Perhaps this would be remedied by using a little less leaf or time on the steep. So,to sum it up, my 1st impression is that I favor the Thurbo, but I will hold back on rating it, and try adjusting the leaf and/or steeping time the next go round.