Darjeeling The First Flush

Huh. My first thought up upon opening this was that the dry leaves smelled chocolatey. Like, really “did I spill Florence somewhere?” chocolate. The liqueur is amber, a light tawny orange, and smells… roasted at first, like a dark oolong, then very fruity (citrus, in particular) as the aroma spreads. Sipping, this tastes fruity and like it wants to be bitter – on the tip of my tongue – but doesn’t quite have the astringency to pull it off. Makes me glad I didn’t steep it any longer, or use more leaf. I did use a heaping half tsp of leaf (about 1.7g) for 4oz, which may have been too much, but I was curious to see how this would go through multiple infusions. There’s very little tea flavor to this first infusion, mostly the fruity and astringency. Rather what I imagine a tea made of grapefruit peel would be like :P

Second steep is smoother, but flavor descriptors still elude me. This tea is all sharp edges and shadows when I’m used to something with body, and color. I’ll keep trying, and see how long it lasts. Maybe milk or sugar would help?

Hm. 3rd infusion (~3 minutes) is the best, most harmonious, yet. More of a pale gold color, and still too seems too light to add milk to, but sweet and mild enough not to need sugar. This seems temperamental – even for a Darjeeling – but maybe worth getting to know.

This came as a part of my new years Luck Bag, Happy Bag? Something like that. Anyway, it was a good start to a morning after have no power for 5 hours yesterday! (6 til 11 pm very inconvenient.)

I have tons of more interesting teas to drink, but this was nice. Very down to earth. Very grounding.

Happy Friday!

This was not as good as I have expected. I was sure that I didn’t oversteep, but the liquor was slightly bitter. It had a roasted flavour which I didn’t really like… overall this was quite a strong Darjeeling. Hmm I now have to go and look for something more mellow in my cupboard…

This tea was good! I had it on my way to work this morning! I love how it smelled a bit fruity mixed with some gourmand notes. It was a light colored brew for a black tea but I added sugar to it. This was delicious tho I don’t think it was necessary.

Since a got a sample pack from Lupicia for Christmas I have decided to try these teas during the winter holiday. First one out is the Darjeeling, The First Flush.

Since it is about 5g per pack of tea I will stick to the instructions on the accompanied booklet. It says 5g for 300ml for 2-2.5 minutes. My cup can contain about 2.5 dl so I did use about 3.5-4g.

The colour of the tea was amber and orange and the smell reminded me of how long it has been since a have had a cup of good darjeeling. While the taste certainly contained a light yet round flavour like many darjeelings do, I did however first feel that it was a bit thin. I think this is mainly due to me eating an onigiri with tuna and mayonnaise before tasting, as the tea got much better after a while.

Still, since this is a first flush darjeeling, I would have expected a little bit more from it. The tea is in no way bad, but I guess I wanted it to be better. All in all a good tea.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2022 Sipdown 6/365!

Haven’t had a straight tea in a while and this was in a basket of sipdown-ready teas that I created and then basically ignored for at least a year. Worked out well! Unfortunately, I oversteeped despite knowing that darjeelings are notoriously fickle, but it probably could have been saved with a bit of dilution. I just drank it slowly and it was ok until I had the last sips after some food and the bitterness was just too much. The flavour profile was actually pretty nice – very classic darjeeling/muscatel to my untrained palate. I’m looking forward to the resteep tomorrow.

This was a sample I got through last year’s Lupicia group buy. It came in one of those silky pyramid shaped tea bags. I don’t like the idea of plastics in hot water so I cut open the teabag and dumped half of the 4g of leaves in a brew basket. The leaves had a wonderful floral-woodsy aroma.

Steeped it for 2 minutes in an 8oz teacup using water on the cooler side, 187 F, for the 1st infusion. The brewed tea had a gentle woodsy, roasted aroma. Pleasantly smooth flavor reminiscent of butternut squash with a light maltiness. Upped the temperature to 195 F for the next infusion and doubled the brewing time. The tea had a very nice fruitiness this time and an almost grape-like flavor.

Lupia describes this tea as green, fresh, and spring breeze like. To me that sounds like a green tea or light oolong, something I’d never mistake it for. Darjeelings are often described as floral but I’ve honestly never tasted any such qualities in any darjeeling tea I’ve had. To me, it tasted like a lighter, slightly fruity black tea with woody tones. More autumnal than spring to me.

This was a sample from a Lupicia order. The bag didn’t smell like much.

I don’t know if it’s because Darjeeling teas are used so much in breakfast blends, but this reminds me a bit of a breakfast tea. It’s a little astringent with citrus notes, very mild, compared to what I was expecting anyway.

This was a free teabag from my Lupicia order a while ago. And I have it in my Steepster cupboard, so I’m counting it as a sipdown. Hopefully I haven’t added too many single teabags on my Steepster cupboard. Crikey. First flushes are always tough for me to describe. I don’t know why because they have such a unique flavor. It’s not like I’m drinking Darj all the time. This one is tasty enough, but nothing I really want to seek out and stock up on. But that is generally all first flushes for me. I’m more of second flush fan. I hope everyone is doing well… I haven’t read tasting notes in a while.
Steep #1 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
2019 Sipdowns: 65

I brewed this Western Style. Surprisingly, this tea is not as good as the Lupicia Darjeeling Second Flush.

First attempt: 1st infusion: 208F @ 2.5 minutes — Bitter! I’m unsure if it’s because it’s the last of the bag from a friend or the water is too hot.

Second attempt: First infusion: 2 minutes @ 195F. The aroma is slightly sweet, smokey, with a touch of astringency to it. In tasting, it has a bitterness & astringency without any real flavor.

Second infusion; 2.5 minutes @ 195F. The 2nd infusion was much better than the first one. The astringency is not as noticeable in taste, and more of the traditional Darjeeling flavors are coming into play.

3rd infusion: 4 minutes @ 195F: Okay, NOW I am tasting a traditional Darjeeling flavor. The astringency has declined.

Overall, this tea is much better the more you infuse it. Or if you just want something hot and tea-like to drink as you run out the door.