Lopchu Flowery Orange Pekoe Darjeeling (Second Flush) Black Tea

This is a nice second flush black tea with quite a bit of personality. It is particularly bold in the first few infusions, with a lot of roasted nut and caramel notes, but dies off fairly rapidly. Despite this, its fruity aftertaste persists through several more infusions. It sort of reminds me of a cheaper Wu Yi oolong, which becomes a little woody in later infusions but has a fruitiness in it aftertaste that stays relatively strong.

It is quite brisk also, but refreshingly so. It worked very well with gong fu brewing. I tried adding a little milk to see what happened, but it only muted all of the flavors to the point of it lacking any distinct personality or flavor. Best drunk straight!
*
Dry leaf – peanut, peanut shell, caramel, milk chocolate, floral notes like fruit blossom, sassafras

Smell – heavily roasted nut, dark caramel, tart blackberry

Taste – arrival of roasted nut and brisk black tea blend. Development has lemon notes arrive . Finish is thick with caramel and blackberry coulis notes. Aftertaste has nut and blackberry notes linger, with additional hints of cocoa, chocolate., and floral citrus

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfYHxC5niJI/?taken-by=apefuzz

Another package found in the black tea sampler from Vahdam.

The first thing I noticed with this tea when I brought it out of the bag is that it is a mixture of orthodox, full-leaf tea and broken tea. Some stems, but not too many. But, a good percentage of this tea is broken leaf/fannings. The leaves are very dark with some golden tips mixed in.

I steeped the tea using 5 grams of dried leaves in 12 ounces of near boiling water for 4 minutes, 30 seconds.

The tea brewed into a dark brown liquor with a hint of redness. It is an attractive tea to look at.

The first aroma and flavor I noticed was cocoa/chocolate, both in smell and in taste. There is no question that this is the primary flavor and aroma to the tea. Behind the cocoa, though, I also notice aromas of wood, flowers, Muscat grapes, and wet rocks—hints of its nature as a second flush Darjeeling. I can find the muscatel and wet rock flavors when I drink it, but the floral aroma does not translate into the flavor. There is also some astringency to it.

Overall, I have to say I really liked this! It was exactly what I was expecting in a second flush Darjeeling, with the added bonus of the surprising cocoa/chocolate flavor. It has some body to it—more of a morning tea than a refreshing afternoon tea. I am glad that I didn’t finish off the sample with this steeping since I will want to have this one again. I see on the website that this is also fairly inexpensive, comparatively, so that is one more reason to love this tea! :)

NOTE: The tea I used had a month of picking listed as June, 2016.