Darjeeling (Loose)
9
Percentile
5 ratings |
|
Commercial Description
Known as the champagne of teas, Darjeeling is grown many thousands of feet above sea level in the foothills of the Himalayas. Savour the distinctive muscatel flavour and delicate aroma of this exquisite tea. Best served without milk.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 5 reviews
88 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5Heather Z. (85 reviews) on Jun. 5th, 2024
This tea is really good! It has a nice bready aroma and a delicate but full bodied flavor with chocolatey hints. The only reason I'm not giving it an even higher score is that it is a bit basic, however I still love basic teas when they are really high quality and good like this one. This tea is not too astringent or bitter at all. I would definitely get this again as this is a great classic cup of tea to start your day with! It's also extremely cheap at about $31/lb unit price, so the value is great!
70 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5Sylvia (215 reviews) on Dec. 24th, 2013
This tea has a sweet aroma. I thought it was kind of mild and watery at first (after brewing it for 8 minutes) but as I get further down in the cup, it seems to taste fuller. It has a kind of sharp, sweet flavor. It's surprisingly astringent for a Darjeeling tea. It leaves my mouth feeling kind of fuzzy. I added cream and sugar.
83 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5Alex Zorach (1453 reviews) on Oct. 25th, 2013
Like most of Ahmad's Teas, impressive quality. Much darker in color than Ahmad's Darjeeling tea bags though; a surprisingly different tea. Both are good, but this is much more complex.
Dry leaf has a very pleasant aroma, with a strong suggestion of wintergreen, rice, and muscat grape. This is one of the most aromatic teas from Ahmad, yet its aroma is very light: fresh, fruity, and almost candy-like but with enough herbaceous qualities to impart depth.
Upon brewing, produces a relatively dark liquor for a Darjeeling. Aroma is very light and has more of a classic British character, less vegetal than most single-estate Darjeelings I've sampled. Aroma is of wintergreen, rice, and grapes, but the grape character is a little less muscatel than some teas (less skunky for one) and a little simpler.
The flavor is surprisingly bold. Although the color of the cup is light, this is probably the strongest-tasting Ahmad Tea I've had yet. It also seems to be the most caffeinated.
Thick mouthfeel but smooth, producing a buttery texture, a lot like high-grown Taiwanese oolongs and high grades of Darjeeling. Reminiscent of a medium roast Dong Ding, without the roast. Even though the leaf is broken, the flavor profile is similar to many high grades; although the overall character of the cup is relatively dark, there are quite a few greener leaves in the mix.
Ahmad recommends steeping 5-7 minutes; although I normally like (and follow) Ahmad's recommendations of longer steeping times, I found that for this tea it was far too long. The tea even overwhelmed me a bit, even using less than one teaspoon of leaf. I settled on using a 3 minute infusion and slightly less than one teaspoon. That still produced a strong cup. I was then able to brew a second, flavorful infusion very easily. The second cup was milder, and a little more vegetal in character, but very enjoyable.
A great value buy--even though the price is higher than Ahmad's other teas, the leaf stretches so far and is so full of flavor, and this competes favorably with many higher-priced Darjeelings I've had from other companies.
87 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5E. Alex Gerster (66 reviews) on Oct. 15th, 2011
Note: This is for the loose leaf version of this tea>
There are many cheap Darjeeling teas out there, but I doubt you will find one this good at this price. I picked up 10 ounces for less that $5 at my local Indian Grocery, and was pleasantly surprised. Good flavor and just the right hint of muscatel in the very pleasant aroma. The tea leaves are not the highest quality, but what a value for the price of a loose leaf Darjeeling.
A good tea to pair with an Indian meal. I should mention that you should never steep this tea for more than 3 minutes. The tin says steep for 5 to 7 minutes, but this will be a bitter brew that looses any of the delicate nuances. Maybe it is this way for their Russian clientele who use this more in a samovar — and thin the tea as needed.
97 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5TeBebo.com (1 reviews) on Feb. 1st, 2010
Ahmad is one of my favourite tea brands. It has never let me down. Their Darjeeling is no exception; difficult as it is to brew a perfect Darjeeling, they have found the right proportion for a cup.
Page 1 of 1 page with 5 reviews
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