What a wonderful and unusual tea! I had read about the Temi Tea Gardens before ( nice article on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temi_Tea_Garden) and am so glad to have been able to taste this beautiful tea (thanks Alex Z.).

The aroma of the dry leaves is herbaceous and lightly floral, with hints of dried fruit. The leaves full and robust. I brewed as per Alex Z.'s parameters of 2 minutes for the first steep and 5 minutes for the second. This yielded a beautiful amber cup with great aroma and flavor. First cup definitely the best.

There is a definite muscatel grape flavor typical of many Darjeelings, with the addition of hints of anise, allspice, and rose. Amazing that all this can come from a simple tea leaf, with no added flavorings. I will definitely be adding this tea to my shopping wish list. Would go exceptionally well with a simple pastry at any time of day, or after a nice spicy Indian meal.

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Comments:

Alex Zorach wrote: on October 15th, 2013

I also love this tea; it's not technically a Darjeeling though; it's produced in a similar style by similar methods, but it is from Sikkim, a small state in India which is very near Darjeeling and has a similar climate and geography.

I could easily be fooled to think it is a Darjeeling though; I haven't tried enough Sikkim teas to say if there is any "signature flavor" to this region...perhaps some day I'll be able to say.

E. Alex Gerster wrote: on October 16th, 2013

Thanks for your comments. I went back and edited the review to be more accurate. :)

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