Jungpana Exotic Darjeeling First Flush Organic Black Tea

Here’s another sample sipdown for y’all. This was the last of the first flush Darjeeling samples Vahdam Teas sent me last month. I still have an oolong and two white tea samples to finish, one of which is the Avongrove Emperor, a tea I’ve been wanting to try for over a year. Since I’ve been impressed with the other teas I have received from Vahdam, I will likely get to those in the near future. This Darjeeling was yet another hit.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced subtly nutty, grassy aromas. After infusion, I noted scents of roasted almond, malt, Muscatel, grass, and straw. In the mouth, the liquor displayed a slight astringency along with notes of wood, grass, straw, lemon rind, Muscatel, malt, toast, beechnut, roasted almond, pungent herbs, and chestnut. There were hints of orange and mango lurking in the background too. The finish was somewhat dry, featuring lingering impressions of nuts, malt, grass, straw, and Muscatel.

Vahdam Teas impressed me once again with this Darjeeling. Of their offerings I have sampled in the past month, this one possessed the aroma and flavor profiles I most often associate with first flush Darjeelings. It, however, was not my favorite. I came to appreciate some of the milder, fruitier, sweeter first flush teas more during this time, but I still would not hesitate to recommend this tea to anyone looking for a quality first flush Darjeeling.

I was surprised when I opened the sealed pack for this tea because the dried leaves were much greener than I expected! For a black tea (even a first flush), I was expecting darker leaves. But these leaves are definitely a bright green—no hint of darkness to them at all!

I steeped the tea using 4 grams of dried leaves in 12 ounces of near boiling water for 4 minutes.

The tea brewed into a very bright, pleasant liquor—very similar to a Helles beer or even a chamomile tisane. The first aromas I discovered coming from the liquor reminded me much more of a green or oolong tea instead of a black tea. It was a vegetal aroma, with a slight floral and muscatel scent. Very pleasant.

The vegetal aroma of the tea didn’t translate into the flavor, though. The primary flavors I discovered were nutty, muscatel, citrus, and apricot. It also had a very slight buttery aftertaste—maybe an extension of the nutty flavor…? A slight tang to it which reminded me of an oolong, but not as defined.

Overall, this was a tea of excellent quality and flavor—one that I will enjoy having again. Given the low caffeine, it will make a good evening tea for the warm summer months ahead.

NOTE: The package I used had a date of picking noted as 17 March 2017.

This is a very tasty tea with that Muscatel grape note to it. There is a little bitterness but not much. It has a very light taste for something classified as a black tea. I think of first flush Darjeelings as more of a cross between a black, a green, and an oolong. It does not however have any of the vegetal taste of a green or an green oolong. It is really har to describe this tea.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Must have! Highly recommend it.

Jungpana is one of the few estates in Darjeeling that never fails to live up to the standards each year. Their definitive muscatel essence sets it apart from the other lighter-bodied First Flush teas. I particularly relish the burnt wood aftertaste.