Castleton Moonlight Darjeeling Oolong

I picked up this tea in a hurried trip round Fortnum & Mason, post obligatory ice cream parlour visit – lovely!
The tea section, although very similar to the great Tea Emporiums of Europe, is a little smaller in size, but has a subtley different range available compared with others (see Tea Palace or Mariage Frères) which therefore makes it a bit of a treasure trove – this occasion I was on a hunt for a lovely Oolong, as my cupboard was sorely lacking. I simultaneously purchased this tea and Formosa Poochong Oolong Tea.
How to brew?
Well, don’t over do it – don’t add to many leaves as this this stuff is £200/kg !! – and also don’t brew too long, it really does go quite bitter and unpleasant in my opinion, and I believe it should be a light green-brown, not the dark brown I get the times I forget how quickly this brews! I would say 2mins, then check it, then brew further to taste. And brew off the boil, just say 90-95 degrees.
What about the taste?
Lovely, quite rich and filling, I prefer this one late afternoon, it’s too heavy for during the day – although it could also be an “unwind” tea for the evening. Because it’s an oolong it does have more, shall we say, “meat” to it, than my usual light coloured teas, it has a wonderful dusty burned feeling, both in the raw spirally leaves when they come tumbling out of the packet, and in the taste, like you can feel where it’s been before it made it to your tea cupboard!
It has got some sharp notes, like a sort of citrus flavour, and then the after taste can be a bit like bitter lemon, if like me you brew it a minute too long by accident (which I seem to do every time I brew this after not brewing it in a while!).
Anything else?
Simply that although the tea is expensive (£10 my 50g cost me!), the leaves are re-brewable – you could easily get 3 out of it, and each one would taste different, but also the leaves are large and light, so the bag came to the same size as the 125g I bought of Formosa Poochong.
I am going to rate this as good, not at the very top of tastiness, simply because it can be hard to brew (and that is subjective to personal taste anyway) and because it’s very expensive but as enjoyable as my other oolong, which is more flowery.

The experience of purchasing tea from Fortnum & Masons in London is fun – its poured from a large antiquated looking cannisters into a sealed sachets to take away. There is a lot to choose from and some of the blends probably would not suit my tastes – but they do have a very interesting selection of single estate teas.

I discovered their Castleton Moonlight Darjeeling Oolong – which is wonderful. To me this is the ultimate refreshing tea – its delicate and mellow yet flavourful – and gently uplifting – no hints of bitterness and very elegant. It uses the natural flavour of the leaf with no enhancement and has a soft honey aftertaste and light amber golden colour. It needs no enhancements – no milk or sugar. Even though its not cheap – the leaves can be used up to three times successfully. Its a good daytime or evening tea. Sometimes I use a teapot and strain leaves, but mostly I just add a teaspoon of tea to water in a glass or china cup and watch the leaves swirl.