This tricky little Darjeeling, at first glance, would have you thinking that it is an Assam! The golden tips are unusual for the champagne of teas to possess, although not unlikely for its brother and partner in crime, Assam teas!
This tea shouted cocoa, malt, caramel and wheat, very boldly I may add! It got me thinking, why might it look so familiar to an Assam! Well google had the answer, of course. It looks as if the estate is nestled in between Bhutan and Nepal, and right beneath the Sikkim estate. If you have read up on your geography of southeast Asia, you would know that is shockingly close to Assam! So, that brings me some peace about the similarities!
The flavor is surprisingly subtle... Little woody, little malty, hint of berry, but overall very mature, which could be because of the year's worth of rest that the tea received!
Overall a wonderful tea! Very unlike prior autumnals I have tasted, but I don't ever mind a surprise!
This definitely does look Assam-like, and rather like some Yunnan teas as well, at least in terms of color. Leaf-shape-wise, it looks rather unique.
ReplyDeleteEither way, this tea looks very interesting and sounds quite interesting from your description. I find that I tend to like some of the teas that tend to cross over, in terms of having attributes more like teas produced in other regions.
A while back I tried TO50 from Upton Tea, an FTGFOP1 first flush from Putharjhora Estate, which is technically in the Darjeeling district, but is part of the Dooars, the lower-altitude region. This tea also had many Assam-like characteristics, including both an edginess and a malty quality to the aroma. But it was also very complex and had characteristics that I never encountered in Assam teas.