Thurbo Clonal (Autumn) Darjeeling Black Tea

Today my sweetie and I are sampling Darjeelings. First up are two autumn 2014 flushes from the Turbo Estate.

This one is a clonal black, one teaspoon steeped for 5 min at 86C.
The other is an organic black, two teaspoons for 4 minutes at 90C. http://steepster.com/teas/teabox/42874-thurbo-autumn-darjeeling-black-tea

These teas are extremely different. While they are both distinctly Darjeeling, as I’m starting to develop a palate for, I would not have guessed that these are both from the same estate and flush.

This one is quite light – sweet, floral and fruity. It’s mildly astringent with no bitterness – very smooth in comparison to the organic black. There’s an ever so faint note of olives on the nose, which appears in the flavour as the cup cools.

The Organic black is very bold, brisk and astringent. Slightly bitter, though not unpleasant. My initial impression was that it had a very typical “black tea” flavour, though there’s a vegetal tang at the end of the sip, and that faint ash or char characteristic that I notice in many Darjeelings. It smells rich and bold, with a fruity note that I’m coming to associate with muscatel.

This dry leaf smells light and grapey, and is a mix of green and grey medium size leaves.

The Organic black smells much less sweet, with a touch of malt, and more of a generic black tea scent. The leaves are slightly darker and shorter than the clonal.

Neither of these teas appeals to me overly much, though they are both pleasant.