Turzum Classic Summer Black Tea (2017)

Yet another of the black tea samples from Teabox that I recently finished, this was listed as being a basic second flush Darjeeling suitable for beginners. I ended up buying it solely because I was impressed with the 2016 Turzum First Flush Darjeeling offered by Harney & Sons and because I wondered how a second flush tea from this estate would stack up to some of the others I have tried. I found it to be somewhat more complex than advertised, but honestly, it was a little too mellow for my taste.

As usual, I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material revealed subtle aromas of malt, wood, and herbs. After infusion, I picked up a mix of wood, herbs, Muscatel, malt, cream, straw and orange blossom on the nose. I had to dig a bit, but I was ultimately able to come up with a relatively pleasant blend of toast, malt, wood, cream, smoke, roasted almond, orange blossom, butter, straw, herbs, and nutmeg in the mouth. The finish highlighted lingering notes of straw, roasted almond, wood, and herbs. I was also able to find very subtle hints of black cherry and candied ginger in the background. Oddly enough, I could not detect any definite Muscatel flavor in the mouth despite picking up the scent on the nose.

I have to say that I agree with Teabox’s assessment of this as a beginner’s tea, at least for the most part. I got substantially more out of it than they did, but I think the reason this is best viewed as a beginner’s tea is the lack of a Muscatel presence in the mouth. It may be the aroma and flavor component most synonymous with Darjeeling teas, but I have heard of many people who find it off-putting. Without that component, this just comes off as a mellow, gentle black tea. I didn’t really dislike it, and I think that it would work as an introduction to second flush Darjeelings, but to me, it was missing what makes these teas so unique and appealing.