As I open the packet I note dark green, brown and silver leaves that are thin, roughly 3mm long on average and squiggly in shape. On closer inspection I can note there are no stems or sticks.
In scent I can detect hints of wood, earth, musk and a subtle hint of sweet flowers. As a whole it reminds me of being in a woods or forest as it rains, the rich musky scent of those surroundings just reminds me very much of this tea.
In the booklet it has little notes to recommend 1tsp of tea with 95°C water for 3 minutes steeping time.
My teapot holds just over two cups worth of tea so I shall be using 2tsp of tea but shall keep the same water temperature and steeping time for the sake of this review and analysis.
Once steeped this tea is golden in colour with a delicate but sweet, floral and wooden aroma.
The first few sips reveal sweet wood with flowers which finishes as a dry nutty, muscatel combination. Very clean and on the lighter side but with real wood and muscatel tones. It does get a little sweeter and more floral as my taste buds adapt to it’s beauty but as a whole I would still say the wooden musk combination was the most dominant in flavour.
A second steep increases the wooden musk but is now not as dry as the previous steep. Whether that is because I am used to the musk or not I don’t know but it definitely seems less so. Still very wooden and sweet.
Overall I believe this to be a very nice First Flush Darjeeling and an excellent example of one being muscatel. First flush varies a lot to me to the point where some taste more grassy and floral than muscatel at all, it’s refreshing to be taken back to what I expect.
For more information along with pictures please view my blog entry.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2013/07/31/tea-horse-monthly-taster-box-darjeeling/
Great review and love your blog.
Yes, what a lovely blog! I haven’t tried anything from Tea Horse yet, so I’ll have to start haunting their site next, I suppose…sigh…
Jummy, Jungpanas first flush teas are superb :)