Darjeeling Blend

A fresh light golden cup. Smells nutty and sweet. Tastes similar, with a hint of caramel. Has a “clean” quality to it (the very beginnings of astringency I’m sure) which is a pleasant change from the heavier Chinese blacks I’ve been having of late. I’m almost tempted to add in a couple drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of trying milk or sugar… I wasn’t planning on splitting this cup, but curiosity has the better of me now.

with a couple drops of lemon juice; ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA??? Quick, add honey! More tolerable…but nope. Worth experimenting I suppose.

with sugar; Enhances the caramel note substantially.

with milk; Yum. Winner.

with milk and sugar; Also yum.

I would be happy having this plain, or with milk (and sugar if I feel like something sweet). Glad to have tried it, onto the shopping list it goes.

I got this as one of my samples in a recent order and decided to brew it up. It came in a satchet and the poor little leaves barely had enough room to expand. Brews up a pale golden brown. Scent is sweet and light, as is the taste. This is a good cup!
I’ve been up since 4am and if I keep drinking tea I wont be going back to bed.

This is an individually packaged tea bag I picked up on my mini-moon a couple weeks ago. We stayed at the most beautiful, quaint bed and breakfast in Newport, RI. It’s called the Cliffside Inn, and I highly highly recommend it! They had tea time on Wednesday afternoons, and what was offered? Harney and Sons!!! I grabbed a couple extra tea bags to try later, and later it is! ;)

This steeped up to a nice golden brown. The aroma is nutty and maybe a tad mineral? The flavor is muscatel and sweet, but the mouthfeel is very odd. It’s silky and yet extremely mouthwatering. As in, I have a sip, and then my mouth waters for several seconds as it processes the aftertaste. This results in a lot of swallowing for one little sip of tea. If I fight through that oddity, I can detect a roastiness in the flavor as well.

This is not bad! I can’t say I’m really enjoying this weird mouthwatering aspect. But the flavor itself is good. Maybe adding milk would help. I can’t tell if it’s just my taste buds acting funny this morning or if the tea is really eliciting this odd reaction. With additions, a natural yet subtle fruity sweetness appears. This is a very pleasant tea! And now my cup is empty. Aww. :(

Best bagged (sacheted) Darjeeling I’ve tried. I see lots of “woody” in previous tasting notes, but not fruity, which I thought it was. Lip-chappingly dry, too.

I’ve never had Darjeeling before, and I would have chosen a more premium variety (sample) if I could have (I wanted to sample first flush), but H&S didn’t have such samples available.
However, out of all the standard classic (black) teas I’ve tried, this is probably one of my favorite. It isn’t as bold or strong as the Keemun, EG, or other black tea blends that I’ve had, and for that reason I think I like it. It is more fruity?, lighter, smoother… more like green tea almost (though, it doesn’t really taste like it).

I detected almost a bit of spiciness (like pepper) in the cup for some reason too.
I’d really like to try a high quality Darjeeling now, but don’t really want to buy a whole lot. Maybe someday I’ll buy a sample from somewhere else…
Compared to the EG by H&S I had recently, I like this a lot more.

I’ve about finished my first tin of this tea. It’s a fine Darjeeling with all the qualities I love in a Darjeeling. I like it with a tea spoon of sugar to mellow out the woodiness. It’s brisk, but not too brisk that it would need milk. It has the light Darjeeling like floral notes that I associate with first flushes. As it turns out there is some first flush in the blend. I could drink this one on a regular basis.

So, Day 2 with the Darjeeling Blend.

Once again, I was not a big fan of the first cup. Today I made sure to follow the steeping directions on the tin, but it still was a bit on the bitter side for me. I’m guessing I just have too much of the leaf for my little cup of water. We’ll try again tomorrow.

The second cup was better again, although I decided to experiment a bit with honey and think I overdid it. It’s not terrible, but a bit on the sweet side.

Oh my gosh YES SO GOOD.
It’s just your typical black tea.
I got it in the tea sachets and it’s good for about two steepings.

Personally my first Darjeeling, and I have to say I enjoy it.

First steep:
Upon first sip it is nutty and slightly fruity. It doesn’t have as much body as Keemun, it is actually pretty light almost like a green tea, but it doesn’t quiet go into a vegetal taste. More fresh woody, as if it can be pushed a little bit into green but not quite.

Second steep:
I don’t really get that slight fruity tone anymore, and it takes a bit more woody.

It’s 4pm and I have that sinking feeling. A cup of darjeeling should help restore my focus!