Darjeeling Tea
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Ratings & Reviews
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88 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5Difflugia (170 reviews) on Mar. 12th, 2019
The oversized bags contain nearly 3g of medium-sized (for loose leaf tea) broken leaf pieces. It's definitely not a typical Darjeeling, though. Most Darjeelings are less oxidized than other black teas and tend to have more vegetal or floral aroma notes. This one's different. There's no green apparent on the leaves and it smells smoky and sweet.
The liquor brews up a dark red-amber. The aroma is smoky toffee, like a Keemun. Slightly burnt date cookies, maple syrup, brown sugar. The only sensation that's slightly offputting is that I keep catching a faint whiff of cigarette smoke, like there's an ashtray somewhere in the room or a jacket after a night out. If the package didn't have the Darjeeling appellation mark, I'd think that this was Chinese tea in a "Darjeeling style" or something.
The flavor is rich and heavy on the tongue. Underneath, I can recognize some of the light oakiness that I get from other Darjeelings, but it's mostly dark baked goods like molasses cookies and caramel. There's a mild bitterness in the flavor that hints at cocoa at the back of the throat, but this tea is otherwise rich sweetness. The finish and aftertaste are plausibly Darjeeling, with the dark flavors fading to lightly astringent grape skins and apple peel. While vastly different than what I expected, this tea's delicious.
After the initial steep of four minutes, I got a second cup that was lighter, but still flavorful.
I paid $3.29 for a box of 20 sachets at an Asian grocery store.
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