No. 47 Bungalow

I am at a library conference this week and brought packages of this tea along for the breaks. I’m so glad I did—the teas offered were nothing I was interested in. This has made it much more enjoyable being away from home and my usual tea collection.

Alright, it’s time for another back-of-the-tea cabinet discovery. I’ve been my working my way through this Darjeeling blend for the better part of the week. At the time of this writing, I only have one sachet left and will probably go ahead and finish it before I go to bed. Even with a little age, this blend holds up well.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped one sachet in approximately 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I attempted no subsequent infusions.

Prior to infusion, a whiff of the sachet revealed aromas of toast, wood, raisin, herbs, and spices. After infusion, I picked up refined aromas of herbs, toast, malt, wood, Muscatel, and butter. In the mouth, I found notes of wood, herbs, butter, toast, grass, straw, malt, lemon zest, roasted almond, and Muscatel underscored by subtle raisin and very mild nutmeg notes. The finish was smooth, yet fleeting. There were lingering touches of herbs, toast, roasted almond, and wood chased by a very faint fruitiness.

This was a fairly solid blend. I think it would be good for someone who just wants a predictable, consistent cup and is not all that interested in the world of single origin, single flush Darjeelings, though I could also see it being a good introduction to Darjeelings in general. While I’m glad I tried this, I doubt I would go out of my way to purchase it again. It played it a little too safe for my liking and didn’t surprise me in any way.

Ok, grocery shopping done, work out complete, a work training for another job done, and I am now working on my freelance work. Time for tea!
A pot of this is my trusty companion today, and its proving very bold and lovely. I think I’ll add some honey to it next time, to really make it sing.

Snow day? Really? Must be nice. I’m a nurse. There is no such thing as a snow day for medical personnel. Blizzard, hurricane, earthquake, nuclear strike, super volcano eruption, asteroid collision, catastrophic reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field, The Apocalypse or any combination there of, we have to go to work!

Richmond, where I live, had almost 16 inches of snow. It’s western suburbs, where my job is located, received over 18 inches of snow in places. Snow sissy that I am, that cold white matter reduced me to a quivering mass of protoplasm. After all, I am a Southern boy.

The day before the blizzard began I booked a room at the hotel within walking distance from my job. The thought of being stuck at work all weekend unable to have any private time whatsoever was a grim and terrifying prospect. Blizzard or not, I needed my me time. Time to unwind, relax and recharge my batteries. Especially since patient acuity on my unit tends to run a little high. So off to the hotel I went with my backpack of essentials including, of course, a mixed box of emergency bagged teas that I had thrown together – Twinings Ceylon Orange Pekoe and English Afternoon, Breakfast in Paris by Stash(Not a bad little tea!), and my must have Honeybush by Numi Tea for beddyby. The hotel, thank goodness, had a tiny hot water maker. Kinda like a stripped mini Keurig. It saw me through the blizzard.

So today, home sweet home! A poignant, almost tearful reunion with my beloved tea stash! Now one would think that after drinking bagged tea since Friday that I would go for a full fledged loose leaf. But no, I wanted my Bungalow! First and foremost I am a Darjeeling fiend. As in Darjeeling is my blood type. I had fairly recently purchased a box of Bungalow whole leaf sachet tea and it was love at first sip. This blend of first and second flush Darjeeling tea is redolent of hot, buttered toast and warm, roasted nuts that tantalize the taste buds. Classic Darjeeling muscatel and mild floral notes round things out very nicely. There is also a faint, but very agreeable, vegetal note that I think must come from the first flush. It complemented my Chicken Biryani quite well! I believe that it would be a great tea to try for those who may be on the fence about Darjeeling. It is very smooth. Not a trace of bitterness after the recommended five minute steeping time. I let the water cool a wee bit to just a little over 205F to steep.

Steven Smith Teamaker did my dear Darjeeling proud with this blend. The buttered toast flavor is so incredibly rich and comforting – A perfect wintertime Darjeeling! I’m definitely buying more if this #%$•@ snow ever melts!

this was in the BBB grab bag and since i try not to let things get back to TB, i pulled it out, figuring that if nothing else it could be shared by the numerous tea folks here. I figured i really ought to try it sooner than later so i could knock it off my list if i decided i didn’t really like it. As expected, this one’s not for me. there’s a floral note in this one that just doesn’t sit with me, and as it cooled it took on a taste that i really didn’t care for. In to the swap box it goes for others to try!

I had this tea yesterday and it seemed a little bit uninspiring , so I decided to try it again brewed at a higher temperature. Darjeeling’s often seem to have different characters depending how you brew them. This one was no exception, although it did not go through as extreme a transformation as some I have had. I prefer this one brewed at boiling.

After 3 min @92 °C, I had a tea smelling of bright muscatel notes, cocoa, grainy malt and honey with a maple coloured broth.

The first note was a muscatel note that was quickly overtaken by grainy malt with a hint of honeyed cocoa and an underlying bitterness. It seemed a little more rrobust, substantial and warming than some Darjeeling’s I’ve had. Brewed this way this is not really a morning or afternoon tea for me I can picture having it when I want something soothing on a crisp night.

Brewed with boiling water for 3 minutes, the sharp fruity notes of muscatel were much stronger, the tea tasted lighter and a little bit sweeter with a touch of sharpness and a milder but slightly more bitter maltiness underneath. There is a bit of a slightly spicy and bitter floral note underneath the muscatel. At this temperature there is a more interesting blend of fruity muscatel, grainy and slightly buttery grain notes, honey and malt. It’s more of an afternoon tea now, and certainly more refreshing.

This tea doesn’t resteep exceptionally well.

Thanks Sil for the chance to try this one!

Success!

Well, sort of.

I stuck this in my mug to brew for a couple minutes (at about 85 degrees) and totally got distracted and forgot about it for at least 30-45 minutes because I wasn’t able to set my oven timer because I was cooking chicken.

So I came back to bitter town – buuuuuttttt – I poured half out in another mug, replaced what was missing with fresh water and it was great!

Last time I didn’t know I was supposed to treat a Darjeeling like a green, so this time I was prepared temperature wise. I almost totally effed it up by oversteeping but my trick saved it.

It was nutty and toasty in a way that is different from Laoshan Black (for example).

I couldn’t tell you in what way, I’m not really there.

But done right, I’d totally buy this!

Thanks Sil!!

Raising my rating up from 67.

Oh man this is good! Thanks for the sample TeaBrat!
It isn’t your typical Darjeeling at all. No its much richer than that.
I was pleasantly surprised to actually taste all the things listed in the description. Usually I get one or two, but not all of them, or atleast not strongly enough that I could ID them on my own. But this! Well this is just bursting with layers of nut, fruit, butter, and toast. Kinda reminds me of one of those chocolate bars with the fruit and nuts in it, only without the cocoa. But not like a trailmix bar, because its milder and creamier than that.
This is definitely one I would reorder one day.

Thanks so much to Tea Brat for sending this as a swap. It has been on my wishlist of things to try. The aroma is slightly malty and seems brisk. The liquor is reddish. First sip – this was not what I was expecting. It is more to the mellow than the brisk side. There is a slight malt and somewhat toasty note with a winey, almost grapey flavor wafting around. It is not as astringent as I expected, which is a plus for me. Overall, this is a nice tea, but I don’t think it is something I would need to have on hand. I’m really glad I got to try it. Thanks again Tea Brat.

Another tea from the BBBBox Grab bag, provided by Tasty Brew.
This darjeeling blend started out with a pleasant toasty & fruity taste, & at first I was like, “maybe I do like Darjeelings more than I thought…”, but as it cooled it took on an astringency & tartness that reminded me of why they aren’t really my favorites. Still, not bad, & very drinkable, provided it isn’t allowed to cool down.