Okayti Wonder Darjeeling First Flush Organic Black Tea

I’m really enjoying my adventure through Indian teas. This is yet another first-flush Darjeeling that was offered in a black tea sampler by Vahdam. I started my journey with the most expensive FF Darjeeling in the sampler (Arya Diamond). Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, because it sort of warped my perception. Not really fair to compare everything to the absolute best.

Nevertheless, this one still had great nutty, fruity, and honey-sweet flavors all supported by the muscatel (I call it “grapeleaf”) flavors. It lacked the complexity of the Arya Diamond, but still was really tasty. Definitely still one of the top-tier offerings ($26 / 100g). This one was much more straightforward in its delivery, but had a wonderful syrupy aftertaste that lingers.

These first-flush Darjeelings are occupying the same place in my tea drinking habit as Taiwanese high-mountain oolongs. For me, they are a little too expensive to buy any significant amount of, but I will absolutely buy a few from time to time to treat myself. A really unique and quality experience.
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Dry leaf – grapeleaf, raw peanut, hardwood, dried parsley. In preheated vessel – blackberry syrup sweetness prominent.

Smell – peanut, grapeleaf

Taste – arrival of peanut nuttiness. Development includes grapeleaf, dried parsley, sweet cooked vegetables like carrots and fresh greens, fresh parsley. Finish is syrupy sweet – wildflower honey and blackberry syrup.

A sample of 10 grams included in the Black Tea Sampler I purchased from Vahdam. I decided to go crazy tonight and brew the whole sample at once. Yeah, sometimes I live life on the wild side here.

I steeped the tea using 10 grams in 20 ounces of water. I brewed it for 3 minutes, 30 seconds using nearly boiling water.

Prior to brewing the tea, the dried leaves were all whole, orthodox leaves. They were vibrant colors of gold, silver, green, and dark brown. I didn’t see any stems in my initial glance.

The tea brewed into a liquor the color of honey. Based on the picture from the website (same picture used here on Steepster), I was expecting something much lighter, but this was a nice amber color. The liquor had a floral scent to it—very similar to other first flushes I’ve had.

The first flavor I noticed, though, was a woody flavor, along with wet hay. That sounds worse than it actually was, since this combination was very pleasant. After a few sips and swirls in my mouth, I also picked up a very slight taste of oatmeal in the tea. The floral aroma translated into a floral aftertaste, but it was not a flavor present with the tea itself.

I enjoyed this tea tremendously. I wish I hadn’t used my whole sample tonight, but it was a great tea to have this evening after I finished mowing the lawn and was relaxing for the evening. I will look into buying more of this, but I don’t know how long of a shelf life this would have—it would have to be ordered in small amounts, I think, in order to truly appreciate the flavor.

NOTE: The package I used had a date of picking of 8 April 2017.