Temi SFTGFOP1 First Flush from Rare Tea Republic

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Rare Tea Republic

Product Description:

This excellent first flush tea delivers a rich liquor with sweet floral notes and creamy undertones.  Hints of juicy pineapple are apparent in this well balanced selection. Plucking date: April 19, 2011.

Taster’s Review:

OK, let me say it right now.  I’m LOVING Rare Tea Republic.  First of all, their packaging is really cool.  Not necessarily the box that it was shipped in, or even the pouches that they packaged their samples in.  It’s the “packing peanuts.”  That’s right.  I saying I love their packing peanuts.  They aren’t the typical Styrofoam peanuts, or even the new biodegradable cornstarch peanuts… these are little, light-weight (cardstock weight) cardboard bits that have been folded into a dimensional triangle.  I love them because they ARE biodegradable, and beyond that, they’re even recyclable and perfectly acceptable to toss into the recycle bin!  But, I plan on re-purposing them and turning them into a holiday decoration of some sort (add that onto my list of art projects!)

And… that’s just me excited about the packing peanuts!  I haven’t even gotten to the best part about Rare Tea Republic – their TEAS!  This First Flush Darjeeling from the Sikkim region is absolutely delightful.  The freshness of this tea is apparent from the flavor:  it tastes light, crisp and very fresh. 

I would classify this as a medium-bodied tea because of it’s light-weight feel to the palate, but it offers an astonishing amount of flavor for a medium-bodied tea.  So many beautiful layers of flavor to this complex Darjeeling:  in one sip, I note floral tones, a hint of earth, a musky wood-tone, and an outstanding fruit note.  Yes I can taste the pineapple as mentioned in the above description, but there’s something else too.  Something that tends to be pretty important to those of us who love Darjeeling:   Muscatel!  Yes, I am getting that distinct muscat grape taste to this, but, there is a surprising smoothness to this too.  I don’t taste much astringency, something that I generally prepare myself for when I sip a Darjeeling … it is quite unnoticeable in this cup.

This is an excellent Darjeeling – one that I would say stands out amongst even the best Darjeeling teas that I’ve tasted.  In fact, I even rated it 100 on Steepster.  Yes, it’s that good.  I highly recommend it to those who like Darjeeling, and I would even recommend this to those who have tried Darjeeling in the past and felt it was not for them.  I think this one can change your ideas about Darjeeling.

5 thoughts on “Temi SFTGFOP1 First Flush from Rare Tea Republic

  1. Darjeeling? My tea antennae is pointed straight at this post. I love Darjeelings. Your description is wonderful, but what really intrigues me here, is that it’s from a tea garden I hadn’t heard of. Every time I think I “know” them all, another one crops up. Thanks for pointing me in this direction. I shall be looking into this tea.

  2. Temi isn’t as well-known because it’s in Sikkim, which isn’t that well, Temi TGBOP, from Upton Tea, which was a broken-leaf, probably mixed-flush tea. It was decent, and very inexpensive, but not my favorite broken-leaf Himalayan tea.

    I’d be curious to try a higher-grade tea from this estate though…this one sounds quite delightful. I’ve really enjoyed sampling Himalayan-region teas other than Darjeelings…they’re all recognizably Darjeeling-like, but with different twists on them.

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