Gopaldhara Spring Special Black Tea from Udyan Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black (Darjeeling)

Where to Buy:  Udyan Tea

Tea Description:

Goapldhara is one of the highest tea estates of Darjeeling and is located in the Mirik valley. The garden is planted with high quality clonal bushes and produces exquisite teas. Gopaldhara First Flush Darjeeling Tea has a floral aroma and a sweet & mellow taste. A great tea to relax and refresh your mind.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Oh. My.  Goodness!  What a lovely Darjeeling!

I steeped this Gopaldhara Spring Special Black Tea from Udyan Tea in my Breville One-Touch, and I was a little surprised when the tea maker finished it’s cycle – the tea is not black.  It’s not even coppery.  It’s yellow!  Like the color of melted butter that had been slightly browned – but only ever so slightly – still more yellow than brown.

Parameters:  I measured 2 bamboo scoops of tea in the basket of my Breville and added 500ml of freshly filtered water to the jug.   Then I set the temperature for 195°F and the timer for 2 1/2 minutes.

But don’t let this rather unusual color for a ‘black’ tea freak you out – this is some seriously good stuff!  Think of it as liquid gold.

Mmm!

Really smooth – much smoother than I’m used to from a Darjeeling.  There is some dry astringency toward the tail – but not a lot.  No bitterness.  Now, I can’t say that you wouldn’t experience those things if you brewed it at a different temperature (I find that with Darjeeling, it’s important to keep the temperature below boiling because the boil is a tad too hot for Darjeeling tea) and a different steep time (2 1/2 minutes is my sweet spot when it comes to Darjeeling tea).

This is sweet and floral.  No overt sharpness from the floral notes, it’s very soft and beautiful.  There are some delicate fruit notes to this – more like a citrus note than a grape-y note like you might experience from other Darjeeling teas.  Imagine a splash of a fruity/grape-y wine added to your orange juice and you would have the fruit-like notes I’m experiencing.

But mostly, what I taste is a delightful medley of flower.

It’s soft and pleasant – a lovely afternoon tea.  This is the kind of tea you want to serve to people you want to impress.  They’ll be impressed!

Truly a remarkable tea – beautiful!