Darjeeling Margaret's Hope

Fruity with a peppery kick. Not bitter at all but has a refreshing astringency. This Darjeeling is 20% Assam so it makes a great wake up tea.

I went to the tea shop and asked for a few of their Darjeeling, among the three different teas I smelled this one was so fruity and fresh that I bought it.
This is my first tasting of the tea, it is not what I expected, I was very surprised by how fruity it tastes. It is my very first summer Darjeeling. Past this original surprise I liked it as I reached for the familiar Darjeeling glorious flavor I love. Therefore my rating is not very high but will surely improve as it grows on me.
Overall it was not love at first sip, but I think I want to try again. The next time I will put aside my expectations and try to experience this tea as it comes.
This is a tea I have to adjust myself to, and I look forward to this exercise.

2022 Palais des Thés Advent Calendar

Here’s my scavenger hunt “licking the peel on a black table grape” tea. It definitely has a Darjeeling temperament; however, it didn’t dry my mouth out like some DJ’s do, and it had a little bit of morning-level strength. A nice surprise on a very bleary-eyed, post-thunderstorm morning.

Palais des Thés Advent Calendar – Day 15

Hmm… Well, Darjeeling isn’t generally one of my preferred black teas, but I haven’t had that many experiences with it either. This one is a second flush, so it has that going for it! I followed the recommended parameters and steeped this for 3 minutes at 200°F.

This is quite nice, actually. It’s extremely smooth, without even a hint of bitterness. And it reminds me of a Chinese black tea in a lot of ways. It’s very light-bodied, with strong notes of malt and freshly baked bread accompanied by soft hay, grains, and wood.

Definitely pleasantly surprised by this one! It would be lovely as an afternoon tea or perhaps a milder breakfast tea for lazy weekend sipping.

Here’s a really good example of what I was just talking about in my tasting note on Norbu Margaret’s Hope FTGFOP Autumn Flush Darjeeling (http://steepster.com/Shera%20Pop/posts/248914).

Palais des Thés sachets in the shiny silver foil envelope offer zero information beyond the fact that this darjeeling came from Margaret’s Hope estate. It’s aimed for people who don’t even know where Margaret’s Hope estate is, as revealed by the text:

A superb tea from the high Himalayan plateaux.

Of course that gives no clue as to ftgfop1, first, second, or autumn flush. That means that the company is free to throw n’importe quoi together in the sachet and call it a day.

All of that said, this sachet darjeeling tastes pretty good. I used the same steeping parameters and the resultant amber liquor is definitely grassier and a bit rougher than the Norbu. Still, this is certainly a good example of the general category of darjeeling for people who are working their way through the sampler box.

(Blazing New Rating #67)

This tea is, in my opinion, against what all teas are compared especially in the Black category. It’s versatile and has the lovely Darjeeling color. Certainly a premium tea.