Namring Upper Imperial Darjeeling First Flush Black Tea

Alright everyone, we have another sample sipdown to celebrate. I polished this one off earlier in the evening. At this point, I am beginning to think that I’m starting to get a better handle on what to expect from first flush Darjeelings. This one was interesting. It reminded me a little of the Goomtee Exotic (a tea that wasn’t bad, but didn’t do as much for me as the others I have recently tried), but I found it to be much smoother and more floral.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 3 grams 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 produced subtle floral, grassy, nutty aromas. After infusion, I detected scents of grass, hay, malt, rose, and nuts. In the mouth, I immediately detected mellow, surprisingly refined and well-integrated notes of almond, chestnut, nutmeg, malt, butter, cream, grass, coriander, and hay that were soon balanced by impressions of spring honey, rose, Muscatel, and wood. The finish was gentle with a slight astringency. I was still able to detect faint, lingering impressions of butter, cream, malt, Muscatel, rose, and wood.

This was such a nice tea. At first, I was a little uncertain about it, but once my nose and mouth became accustomed to it, it really grew on me. I came to see it as a subtler, sweeter, more sophisticated version of some of the Gopaldhara and Goomtee Darjeelings I have tried recently.