No. 47 Bungalow

I was able to get an appointment to see my doctor, and this is the tea I had during the drive. I really enjoyed the toasty notes this morning. It went well with the rainy day we are having, and it tasted terrific. I was enjoying it so much that it had little chance to cool, so a lot of the other flavors were not present. Still a tasty cup.

Turns out I have a double ear infection and strep throat, so I will be spending this weekend at home with my blankets, books, and tea while the medicine does its thing. Can’t say this makes me overly sad.

Good morning Steepster,
Life has been sucky for me since I broke my arm last Saturday. I’ve been in a lot of pain and it’s also difficult to do things with one hand. Luckily I can type a bit with my left hand and use the mouse. Teabags seem easier because less clean up is involved, but getting these individual packets out is not. I’ve had this particular SS tea before and it isn’t one of my favorites from them but it’s pretty good for a 2nd flush darjeeling. See previous notes for more details.

I’m not tasting fruit but toasty, nutty, buttery – YES. It’s Medium Brown in color and has a bit of a toasty after taste. This is a nice, average cup. I don’t think oversteeping/infusing would be wise…I think it may be bitter if over steeped/infused.

I love Darjeeling.

Some years back, I received a beautiful tin that was filled with the tastiest Darjeeling. It was the first Darjeeling I ever experienced, and since that time, I’ve been trying to find a Darjeeling that compares. The tin has long since vanished in the “black hole” that is my art studio (don’t ask!) and the name of the company that distributed the tea has long since vanished from my memory. So I haven’t ever been able to restock my shelves with that exact brand.

However, I have found some suitable substitutes… that taste almost (if not just as) good as that first Darjeeling.

This is one such Darjeeling. It has a very pleasant muscatel essence to it – slightly spicy, musky/woodsy, with a pleasant, palate-cleansing astringency. Tannic, but not pushing the edge to bitter. Like a fine, dry wine.

Steven Smith rocks!

As I’ve noted before, until my senses return to full capacity, I won’t be offering a numeric rating to this tea – as it wouldn’t be fair. However, I do have enough of this tea to last me until I’m feeling better, at which time, I’ll rate it accordingly.

Another from the generous ifjuly! :)

This was very nice. A good combination of flushes, it was a nice deep golden color and all the good characteristics of a darjeeling while skipping a few of the not so nice ones. It was well balanced, thicker than a first flush but not extremely dry. In fact, not really dry at all but oversteeping could lead to bitterness – there was a faint hint of it in my steep. This one needs to be watched closely, but in my experience, a lot of darjeelings need to be watched closely. They are sometimes sneaky and finicky.

I don’t know that I would replace this one but if I were on the cusp of free shipping I might throw this one in the cart, knowing it would be enjoyed. Or if I ran across it locally on sale I might grab it.

This morning I set about making teas and I realized the Steven Smith Teamaker sampler I got was not a sampler with four teabags of three teas, but rather 12 different ones! I gave this one a go, since I really love darjeeling, and it was a good cup. It had a thick feel to it, and was clearly a darjeeling, but as others noted: it’s solid but not a showstopper. Decent cup.

Right out of the bag, that Darjeeling beckons with kohl-lidded eyes. There’s enough smoke to offset the sultry aroma with a hint of danger: “Come hither–if you dare.” But once steeped, this rounds out into golden smoothness, the kind of salt-copper scent you’d associate more with a Fujian or a Yunnan. This is definitely a Darjeeling with at-tea-tude.

The sip-’sperience is a letdown. When will we ever learn that dry leaves can tell many many lies? Bungalow leads you into the darkened bedroom and then expects you to play Solitaire for the rest of the night… Full review here: http://snooteablog.com/2013/07/16/snooty-tea-review-steven-smith-tea-round-1/

Thanks for the sample, Sara!

This one came in a nice sachet and was a decent cup of tea. Slightly astringent, brown in color with mild flavors of the breakfast tray: buttered toast and a tiny bouquet of wildflowers. I wouldn’t buy it, just because there are so many other darjeelings out there I love more (I miss the big floral, big orange-squash flavors), but it hits the spot well enough.

This tea reminds me of warm, buttered toast on a crisp fall day.

My sleep has been very disturbed… either I can’t fall asleep properly at night, or wake too early in the morning. This is one of those early mornings, so I just decided to get up and make a warm cup of tea before work (the game plan lately has been taking iced tea water bottles to work… it’s been taking me eons to try to work through nearly 100g of a green pomegranate tea in big iced tea batches, finally down to the last 20g of that!) Making this one teabag sampler I got from a cupboard sale from Ost last summer… thank you Ost! I love Steven Smith Teamaker and appreciate the chance to try another of their teas!

So this is their darj black tea offering. It smells very malty, with a slight honey quality. The flavor is quite nice. I get a bit of that autumn leaf component, but it isn’t too strong; it blends with a malty/baked bread note, a honeyed sweetness, and there is a strong floral presense toward the end of the sip. I’m getting a touch of a citrus note lingering on my tongue, too. It’s a very light and sweet black tea. Those that like “hearty” black teas in the morning may not prefer something like this until the afternoon, but I quite like it, especially since I don’t brew blacks dark/strong/to take milk/sugar. It’s very smooth, and I’m especially liking that touch of florality!