GUD BLOG: SINGLE POST
A Trio of Teas
Coffee has dominated my consumption of caffeinated beverages of late. I bought the proper pourover gear from my pal James at Great Lakes. Then I got a burr grinder and Chemex to make coffee in the office, and my colleagues and I take turns supplying beans. And now, with the reliably excellent Astro Coffee so close to my usual haunts, I’ve more or less set up a second home in front of their Synesso espresso machine.
But there’s something about fall that can make me crave tea. Generally, I go to Goldfish Tea in Royal Oak, which has a superb selection of teas they import from China. But I was in the mood for some robust, sturdy, English tea time type of stuff — so I recently put in a sizable order with Upton Tea Importers out of Massachusetts.
These three in particular have been real treats:
Margaret’s Hope Estate, 1st Flush 2011 Darjeeling FTGFOP1
I’m hardly an expert on tea, but I’ve been drinking it for quite a while, and one of the reasons I love Darjeeling is the wide variation in production methods and the willingness to ignore the obvious, commodity-based classifications for tea. That is to say, it’s not “green” or “black” or “oolong.” In fact, I’d guess most people think of Darjeeling as black, but it’s arguably closer to oolong.
This particular tea is somewhere in the green/oolong range. Wiry, twisted, green leaves are interspersed with darker leaves and ample silvery, fuzzy tips. Even just from its “tippy” appearance, it’s clear that this is top shelf stuff.
The leaves have a bit of a raw, grassy aroma, but far more so, they’re quite sweet-smelling – a bit like dried hibiscus or cracked rose hips.
Different estates have different characteristics, of course, as the elevation, temperature, weather, and sun exposure are different (not to mention the processing methods). I’d never had a Margaret’s Hope estate tea before, and I can’t speak to the unique characteristics of this 1st flush (which refers to softer teas harvested in March rather than the more widely known teas from the June season) versus another estate’s – but this is really very lovely stuff.
The nose is youthful and green with a delicate redolence, like sugar syrup and flowers. On the palate, it’s similarly refined with a tropical flavor. Upton suggests “pineapple” as a descriptor, but more so, it’s this vague impression of refreshment despite sweetness. At $33 per 80g, this is not something any random tea drinker might want to purchase on a whim. But anyone who wants to really explore the wide range of flavors that tea can have should consider trying something like this. It displays very particular, elegant flavors that only Darjeeling is capable of producing.
Lavender Earl Grey
Whoever came up with the idea to blend Earl Grey tea with lavender is a genius. Traditional Earl Grey, of course, is a loose leaf black tea (It could be from China or India; I think most tea lovers believe that the first black tea base for Earl Grey came from China, but modern producers make no distinction) that is blended with Bergamot. The oils are extracted from that Asian citrus fruit and added to the tea, which lends both flavor and especially aroma.
Anyone who’s had real leaf Earl Grey with natural Bergamot rather than bagged tea or something flavored with synthetic oils knows that the citrus lends a powerful nose to the dry leaf as well as to the cup.
So I had my doubts as to whether or not a similarly dominant aromatic like lavender would work with Bergamot. But Upton Tea knows their shit, and one of the reviewers – who often also know their shit – commented specifically about the lavender being a surprisingly pleasant addition.
As it turns out, that was a bit of an understatement.
This is arguably my favorite scented tea ever. Granted, I’m a bit of a lavender slut (OK perhaps “fiend” or “lover” would have been a more appropriate word), but the floral nose of the dry leaf is intoxicating and the aromatics in the brewed cup are nice and subtle. There are bits of dried lavender throughout, a style similar to a rose Chun Mee where the rose petals are still blended in with the tea leaves.
Obviously, this works exceptionally well with just a touch of milk, and one could sweeten it if they were so inclined, but even after accidentally over-brewing it once, I didn’t find this terribly astringent or tannic at all. It’s quite drinkable, and the lavender flavor seems to blend together with the Bergamot a bit. It never smells or tastes like perfume, which can be off-putting. A great cup of tea all around and pretty much dirt cheap at $7.80/125 grams.
Sungma Estate 2nd Flush, Darjeeling SFTGFOP1
“Muscatel” is a common descriptor for Darjeeling, though it’s always seemed to me to be more of a feeling or a vague notion than a concrete flavor. The idea is that it tastes like old muscat-based wines with kind of a fruit forward flavor combined with a muskiness. It’s hard to describe, and it’s a perfect illustration of why wine media personalities started using terms like “blackberry” or “strawberry” instead of words like “masculine” or “feminine.” The latter means very little unless you’ve had enough wine to get the notion of big and burly wines rather than pretty and elegant wines.
Muscatel seems to me to be a similar descriptor. But if you want to learn what it tastes like, buy this tea. There’s a sweet, watery fruit flavor reminiscent of grapes and a dusty, mildly astringent tannic flavor in the finish. (I may have overbrewed this just a touch most recently because I recall from my last cupping of this that there should be more fruit.)
Either way, this is a fun, very drinkable, very tasty tea – a “2nd flush” (picked in June, oxidized to something closer to a black tea) – that perfectly represents what most people consider to be quintessential Darjeeling.
2011.10.09 Evan Hansen at 9:43 pm
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