Golden Tips Tea in New Delhi, India, recently sent me a wonderful box of assorted tea samples including these three unique single estate Darjeeling samples. This 4th generation family business takes pride in the teas that they grow, harvest, dry, and sell. Darjeeling teas, known as the Champagne of Teas, must be grown in a specific north-east region of India in order to be labeled Darjeeling.
According to the packaging, recommended brewing suggestions for Darjeeling is 1 tsp./cup, 194 - 212 degrees, for 3 - 5 minutes. Typically, I use boiling water (212 degrees) and opt for the longer steeping time of 5 minutes. As you can see, the tea produces a nice lightly colored, somewhat thin brew. There are delicate natural floral undertones detected with each sample.
The Thurbo Moonlight Darjeeling is a Second flush summer season sample from the Thurbo Estate. The dry leaf has an abundance of silvery tips throughout the package of large wiry brownish black leaves. The golden liquor yields a naturally sweet and delicately floral flavor.
The Gopaldhara Gold Darjeeling is a Third flush and yields a slightly darker brew in the cup. This tea was picked as recently as November 2014!The large black leaves have silvery tips throughout, and after brewing you can discern some stems and larger tea leaf pieces in the wet leaf. To my palate, the floral notes in this tea are not as present as the Darjeeling from the Thurbo Estate.
The third tea sampled is the Arya Ruby Darjeeling from the Arya estate. The first flush, or picking, begins in March and pushes through to April. As noted, this tea was picked in April of last year. Hints of green can be spotted on both the wet and dry leaf. This appears to be a larger leaf also. This tea is light in flavor with subtle hints of green without any astringency noted.
This was a fun variety of Darjeeling teas to sample. A special thank you to Golden Tips Tea for sharing their harvest. These teas may be ordered online from Golden Tips, with free shipping to the US when you purchase $49.00 worth of tea. Or, for first time customers, they are offering a Sample package for $15.00, shipping included! Follow this link for details.
4 comments:
Good tasting notes!
I enjoyed your reviews of these teas! One day, I hope my own "tea palate" becomes as educated so I can say more than "delicious" and "very good" when describing the teas I try! :)
What a good review. Now the challenge is for me to step up to your standards. I am just beginning the tasting of the Darjeeling they sent. The first one tasted today was so good, but then I have really enjoyed Darjeeling teas the past few years. The first one on your list is a favorite of mine, but not in my sample pack. Yummm, can't wait to taste the others.
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