TD56: Tindharia Estate FTGFOP1 First Flush (DJ-13) Organic

Second try, this time with a lower temperature thanks to the suggestion from Amy oh. Also this time I won’t let it cool off too much. I completely forgot I have a 3 page paper due tomorrow but I’ve got one page down and I haven’t even written half of what I’ve thought about…and I’m doing this all without the book. I’ve also got an exam already…and no book…and I only have gone to the class one full day…so that will be interesting. I’ve at least got all the notes but yeah, note to self to never get sick and take summer classes.

So this is much better with a lower temperature water. It’s fruity, almondy, just like the description. And although it says it’s good with a buttery dessert, I think it tastes just a bit buttery. Since I just got some butter cookies, I am trying one with it. It almost makes the cookie taste more like an almond croissant. Dessert upgrade magic!

It still has an astringent quality to it, but it’s that good kind of astringency that makes Darjeeling so delicious.

This is definitely a keeper. Too bad I have no money. I’m doing a marketing study the last week of the month and I’ll get at least $85 (possibly $125 if I’m chosen to stay an extra hour, either way $40/hr is AWESOME), and my mom yelled at me for wanting to buy a yixing teapot with it. Not all of it necessarily, since I only want it to be like 6oz max, but I suppose eating might be more important. She told me to live like a college student. Hahahaha. Are we allowed to drink first flush Darjeelings?

This tea’s leaves are a variety of green and brown shades – definitely a lighter Darjeeling, edging into Oolong levels of oxidation. They’re nice and large and unfold upon steeping.

The liquor is a golden color, and both it and the leaves have a floral, slightly fruity (white grape) smell.

Astringency is muted but present. Note that I steeped at 190, as I typically do for Darjeelings, so it may be more pronounced at a higher steep temperature.
The mouthfeel is very light.

The flavor is primarily floral, almost jasmine, with notes of white grape and some vegetal hints(perhaps string beans). It’s reasonably sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The floral and sweet notes are not as pronounced as the best first flush Darjeelings, and it tastes very slightly stale (it’s close to a year old, since it’s from the 2012 harvest).

The second steep hold up relatively well, although more malty and earthy notes start to show up, and the sweet, floral notes are diminished.
I enjoyed this tea quite a bit and would definitely consider buying a bag of it, although I’ll likely wait until the 2013 harvest. I’d recommend as a very well-priced first flush Darjeeling.

This is a sample from Boychik’s Darjeeling Sampler. Thank you!

I finally got the opportunity to try compare and try all 4 Upton Darjeelings together. This was the lightest of the 4 and the only 1st flush. I wrote notes of slightly muscky, smooth, not much astringency and I used the word dandelion to describe the taste. I think of the 4 this was my least favorite, but I am finding, at least with this sample set that the more astringent the more I seemed to like the Darljeeling. I am also finding that I tend to enjoy Darjeelings more in the afternoon, as a lighter fruitier tea.

I drank a whole pot of this tea and just had nothing in particular to say about it. It seemed less complex and fruit forward than I’ve had with other Darjeelings. It seemed almost like a cross between an oolong and a darjeeling. Definitely more oolong or green in nature. Perhaps that’s the first flush, but I’m not sure. It was very light bodied with a touch of yeasty toast and burnt almond and rounded with a bit of astringency, but no fruit that I detected. The leaves are fairly green and the liquor brews up a golden orange color. I found nothing offensive about it, but I didn’t love it as much as the last darjeeling I had. The first brewing felt a bit mild and the second brewing definitely too light and weak. A second pot with more brewing time revealed nothing new and I’m still pretty unimpressed with this one.