This was my morning sipdown a little earlier. I have been making a concerted effort to finish the Vahdam samples I recently received and get reviews for each of them posted in a timely fashion. Of the bunch, this one was strange. It was completely unlike any of the others I have recently tried.
I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.
Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off unexpected aromas of grass, hay, smoke, and dried flowers. After infusion, the tea took on a smokier, woodier, nuttier character with faintly grassy, vegetal undertones. I did not pick up on Muscatel at all. In the mouth, I immediately detected notes of almond, roasted peanut, smoke, grass, hay, honey, malt, and wood underscored by traces of stewed legumes, nutmeg, and dried flowers. The finish was predictably vegetal, grassy, nutty, and woody, though I could detect a slightly stronger floral presence (tea blossoms and chrysanthemum) that lingered briefly after the swallow. I again could not come up with any Muscatel presence whatsoever.
This tea was so odd. It has never been unusual for me to find nutty, grassy, and vegetal characteristics in many first and second flush Darjeelings, but what was so shocking here was not only how pronounced these presences were, but how there was no discernible Muscatel character to provide balance. This tea reminded me a lot of the Gopaldhara “Moondrop” First Flush Darjeeling from Tealyra that I reviewed fairly recently, except this tea was smokier, grassier, and more vegetal. I was torn on that tea and I am only somewhat less torn on this one. I appreciated how unique it was, but at the same time, it did not really offer what I look for in a first flush Darjeeling.
Flavors: Almond, Flowers, Grass, Hay, Honey, Malt, Nutmeg, Roasted Nuts, Smoke, Vegetables, Wood
