A unique tea, very different in aroma from any other Darjeeling second flush I've tried. Excellent, but I think I'd like it more if it were more bitter.

The dry leaf smells aromatic, fresh, and light, with herbaceous and spicy notes. It also looks strikingly beautiful--and fascinatingly, the color of the leaf, a mix of silver and brown hues, looks a lot like moonlight white (Yueguang bai cha), an unusual type of Yunnan tea that I think bears little other relationship to this tea.

Upon brewing, a strong hoppy character emerges, like an India Pale Ale or other strongly-hopped beer. There's even a hint of a skunky note (not unpleasant though). The aroma is also strongly fruity, resembling grape, possibly a little like apple too. The fruitiness lasts and develops through sipping more than the hoppy aromas. I also detect notes of caramel and mint.

The cup is relatively clear and light in color, and the flavor is mild and naturally sweet. Like the description, it's very low astringency, and also low in bitterness.

I found this tea needed to be brewed really strongly for me to really enjoy it. I used well over a heaping teaspoon of leaf, and brewed for 5 minutes. Any less, and it was thin and syrupy. Brewed more strongly, there's a pleasant bitterness and just enough astringency to impart body.

Resteeps well; I was easily able to brew two cups to my satisfaction, but only if I let the second steep be very long.

Pricey. Although I thought this was an excellent tea, if I were buying teas at this price I'd wait till my absolute favorites. I've tried a few other teas from Golden Tips that I prefer to this one, that were a little lower in price.

Add your own review

Login or Sign Up to comment on this review.