You know, I don’t think I’ve ever drank a first flush Darjeeling before, so this will be a first for me.
The scent of the tea was quite unusual, very green and vegetale and not as much of the basic ‘tea’ scent as I was expecting. The leaves are surprisingly green-looking too and after I steeped them they looked more like the leaves of a green tea – brightly green and vibrant-looking. The liquor is a warm, amber-gold shade and very clear-looking, unlike some teas that have a cloudy appearance.
There’s definitely a buttered cooked-greens sort of flavour to this cup, though it also has a slightly sweetness that makes the flavour quite appealing. It’s not very astringent, just a hint of dryness on the tongue as I sip, though it’s still a very ‘clean’-tasting tea. The traditional muscatel flavour isn’t very strong and I get it near the end of each sip and it lingers more on the tongue as an aftertaste.
Admittedly my experience is hardly vast, but this tastes like a good tea. The sort of drink that might not be amiss at the tables of the world’s finest tea conoisseurs.
