Namring Estate 2nd Flush Darjeeling

I am back to review this tea for a second time, after initially disliking it and giving it a meager 15 rating. I learned some things about Darjeeling tea which I wish I’d have known the first time around and now that I’ve learned how to brew it properly, this has bumped my rating up to around a 55. That’s probably still a meager score to some, but I try to use the full range of the scale in my reviews, so that to me is fairly neutral, erring a bit on the higher side. In other words… it was enjoyable to drink, but I wouldn’t buy more of it.

But I do want to stress that it WAS enjoyable to drink. Brew this tea around 194F/90C and you are in for a treat! The flavor is rich and warm. There is an apricot-like taste up front, especially in the second steeping. It is backed by some darker bittersweet tones underneath. I brewed this tea many ways trying to find a good combination, and I can say that brewing it at any temperature above 194 made it have a very dry finish and a good deal of astringency. At 194 these are for the most part not present, though still there a bit.

This is a good tea if you treat it right! Don’t scorch it! Really, try it at a lower temp than the typical “black tea gets boiling water” and you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

I tasted no lemon or apricot.
It does have what I perceive to be a muscatel quality, but admit I am enough
of a newbie to state I am still very much learning about teas,
especially darjeelings, I was believing that I hated them all (darjeelings)until I tried this one.
By Far the best Darjeeling I have ever tried.
Very pleasant (muscatel? ) aroma…slightly dry, astringent tea…In a good way.
I could be persuaded to try additional darjeelings based on this tea.

I didn’t love this. It was kind of lemony and tart. I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t really be interested in buying something like this for myself…

First sample from the Steepster Select box I won! Woohoo!

I chose this as a sample because I was at a nice folksy-hipster restaurant the other day and they had a wide assortment of loose leaf tea. I always try to get a pot to finish my meal with, and I wanted to try their Organic Darjeeling FTGFOP from the Makaibari Estate. It was TREMENDOUSLY delicious, and so I bought some…don’t know what it is, but it tastes like low quality tea…I’ve been messing with the temperature and duration, but have yet to find a combo that yields as good a result as I had in the restaurant. I went back the next day and ordered another pot, and it was just as delicious as the first, so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong….but I digress….

Anyways, this brewed up a beautiful red. Initial scent was of pine nuts or chestnuts? I’m not sure, but something a little nutty. Since this is my first actual Darjeeling (well, second I guess…), I don’t know what to expect or look for. Tastes like black tea to me! Haha. But in all seriousness, I’m not really picking up the muscatel notes. The Darjeeling I had in the restaurant was almost malty and grapey…it was fruity, with the mouth-feel of eating grapes. I swear, I understood the whole “muscat grape” description. I’m not really getting that with this one. It’s a little astringent towards the back end, but that might also just be because I was eating cinnamon Life cereal earlier (whoops!). Definitely will have to edit and give this one another chance with the 2nd packet they supplied. Decent tea, but still unknowing of what to expect.

EDIT: After nearing the end of the cup, I definitely notice the strong aroma of grapes and wine, but I am not picking up the flavor

I’m on the re-steep of this tea, & although I don’t always love Darjeelings, I don’t hate them all either. This one is actually pretty nice, with a musky fruity quality, & a tart aftertaste, like apricot. It comes from the Steepster Select box for February.
I’m still working at my desk, & have completed a few tasks that I’ve been avoiding (I don’t know why I avoid these things, they are never hard to do, & never take long either).
Now on to a few errands, & then more desk work.

With scents of warm, comforting toasted kasha and a bright, woody flavor, I’m really enjoying this tea. It’s more astringent than some of my other favorites, and that seems to really work with its bright, lemon note. Unfortunately, this is the sort of tea that can dull my tastebuds for a couple of days, so I’ll have to lay off of it for a while.

The dry leaves had the scent of minerals and cacao nibs.
Brewed, the liquor is a deep auburn color and it is sweet smelling like dark raw honey.
The flavor is smoky with a lemon after taste which I wasn’t expecting!! There is a bit of a good bitterness (not bad) and astringency.
This is the first true black tea that I’ve had since I was younger with Lipton or something like that. Plus, when I had a cup of hot black tea back then, I always added milk to it. I have been limiting myself to greens, oolongs, and whites because I didn’t want a lot of caffeine jolt but rather an even and small amount of caffeine. Well, I have been wrong about you black tea because this had no more caffeine jolt than the Da Hong Pao Oolongs that I have been drinking!! I drank the entire 12 ounces and my head feels nice and even and not with a caffeine high.
So I had fun coming over to the “dark side” lol.
I am loving the Steepster Select club because it is expanding my tea horizons and I enjoyed this tea a lot. :)

From the Steepster Select Box, February 2014

Second steeping:
OK no wonder I enjoy this black tea, I have been reading about Darjeeling and found that although Darjeeling teas are marketed commercially as “black teas”, almost all of them have incomplete oxidation, so they are technically more oolong than black. Darjeeling teas are classified as a type of black tea. Modern Darjeeling style employs a hard wither (35-40% remaining leaf weight after withering), which in turn causes an incomplete oxidation for many of the best teas of this designation, which technically makes them a form of oolong.

I also liked learning that Darjeeling tea cannot be grown or manufactured anywhere else in the world (similar to Champagne in that region of France) .

Really enjoying the second steeping with more sweetness of the muscatel notes coming through and the astringency has mellowed out to be subtle though I enjoyed that lemon zest aftertaste with the first steeping, it was like I had added lemon to the tea!! I still taste a subtle amount with this second steeping. Very good!

This is my first quality tea and my first from Steepster.com. Developing my palate for each unique flavor is my goal, similar to developing a palate for wine.
I’d like to say first that this is the first tea ive had where I did not need or want to add sweetener. The flavors are robust and dry. Very new to me and very enjoyable. I can’t wait to continue.