Black Bear Darjeeling

I revisited this tea ‘cause I have a hard time imagining such a high score for a relatively cheap tea and from this company. Tao of tea has some tasty teas, but they really don’t jump to my mind when I’m thinking of high quality.

So, I wanted to knock the score down on this… I was totally biased in re-reviewing it – looking for things to be wrong, not looking for any layers of underflavors, drinking it back quickly, not really paying attention to true mass-volume-temperature, purposefully scraping up fannings left in the tin…
Yet, this holds true to my prior review. It’s a good Darjeeling. I’m sorry for the blatant prejudice I threw at the company – I should have reminded myself that I’ve had good teas from Rishi and Peet’s as well and I really don’t hold them in the light of Tao of Tea.
Little pointless posting this note when I’m basically saying “see previous note,” but the fact that it stood up to biased reevaluation says something in my mind.

This darjeeling is truly a quality 2nd flush. I prefer the 2nd flush over the 1st as I prefer more oxidized teas over the less oxidized varieties. The leaf is dark green, brown and black mix with long twisted-curled leaves. The brew is a robust floral and fragrant muscatel flavoring that is pleasing without being overpowering. It has a freshness to the taste with some notes of honey sweetness. This is one of my favorites when it comes to darjeeling 2nd flush. If you love a 2F darjeeling give this one a try.