Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Summery and delicious, this is a blend of premium first flush FTGFOP-1 Darjeelings, freeze-dried blueberries, marigold petals and organic flavors. You are not going to miss out on this one. Trust me.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
OK … so I love a good Earl Grey. Bergamot – as long as it’s done correctly – I love it. And I like blueberry flavored tea and I enjoy a good Darjeeling. So everything about this blend says that this should be a winner, right?
Not so much.
When the tea is hot, it ends up tasting a bit like a mouthful of blueberry flavored perfume. Not really my favorite thing to drink. So, I pushed the cup aside and hoped that some cool time would allow the flavors to develop in a pleasant sort of way. I kept my fingers crossed and decided to play a game of Mahjong while I waited.
The game is over now and I lost. I’m hoping that the tea isn’t as big a fail as the game was.
Now that the tea is a little cooler (not cold, it’s still quite warm but it’s not fresh from the teapot hot now) it doesn’t taste quite as bad as it did with my first two sips. The bergamot has become less perfume-y tasting and now tastes more like the Italian citrus fruit than Uncle Harvey’s aftershave. And the blueberry comes through nicely. I find myself … hmm … I’m not quite comfortable using the word “enjoying” given how much I really was put off by the first couple of sips, so I guess I’ll say I don’t hate the way the citrus notes and the blueberry play together in this cup.
The Darjeeling is pleasant. At this cooler temperature, the tea tastes a little fuller in body than some of the Darjeeling teas that I had been tasting earlier this year with the first flush, like perhaps this might be a blend rather than a single estate. It makes a pleasing base.
Overall, once the tea has cooled, this is not terrible. It’s drinkable. It doesn’t taste so much like perfume anymore.
But it certainly doesn’t qualify as a favorite from 52Teas. As much as I am a fan of 52Teas – and I am, they’re one of my favorite companies for unique flavored teas! – I really think they should steer clear of Earl Grey/bergamot teas (and jasmine teas as well, unless they source teas that have already been scented with jasmine essence – but don’t use that wretched jasmine flavoring oil!) because these are two flavors that 52Teas seems to have difficulty capturing in a proper way. They just come out tasting very chemical and perfume-ish and just … well, icky.
You know I adore you, Frank, but, please stop with the Earl Grey blends. You’ve made some pretty decent ones that I’ve liked, but most that I’ve tried have turned out to be rather disappointing.
Then again, maybe I’m just an Earl Grey snob. My husband would tell you that is what the issue is. It isn’t that Frank doesn’t make good Earl Grey, it’s that I’ve raised the bar too high for Earl Grey because I’m a tea snob. Yep. That’s what he’d say.
Then again … what does my husband know about it? He doesn’t even drink tea! He might know trivial things like … math (math is evil) and stuff like that, but when it comes to things that REALLY matter (like tea) … he’d be lost without me.
Baker Street Afternoon Blend from Upton Tea Imports
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Tea Description:
A bit of Lapsang Souchong is blended with Keemun and Darjeeling, yielding a mildly smoky tea. Perfect for an afternoon uplift. Another special (whole-leaf) blend from our London source of fine teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve confessed many times, I’m not a big fan of Lapsang Souchong so when I receive a blend with Lapsang Souchong in it, I’m a little timid. I don’t hate Lapsang Souchong, but there are so many other teas that I’d rather be drinking. The overwhelmingly smoky note is just … well, it’s overwhelming.
When I first opened the pouch, I noticed the smoky notes right away. But I was happy to find that the smoke is not an overbearing presence in either the dry leaf or in the brewed tea. It’s there – it’s definitely there! – but it doesn’t overpower the blend.
This Baker Street Afternoon Blend from Upton Tea Imports is actually quite nice. The smoky notes are not overwhelming. It is mildly smoky and I’m enjoying the mild level of smoke here. It’s allowing me to enjoy the complexity of the tea.
And that’s important because there are three teas in this blend: Lapsang Souchong, Darjeeling and Keemun. I like that I can taste the fruity notes of the Darjeeling and Keemun. I like the way these two teas create a lovely wine-like flavor and the smokiness of the Lapsang adds a really interesting dimension to that wine-like quality.
To brew this blend, I used my Kati Tumbler. I heated the water to 205°F. I added 1 bamboo scoop of the tea blend to my tumbler infuser basket and I poured the hot water over the leaves. I let this tea steep for 15 seconds and then I strained off the leaves and discarded the liquid. (Yes, I did a rinse. There is Lapsang Souchong in this blend and I find that Lapsang Souchong – even when in blends – is much better tasting to my palate when I do a rinse.) Then I replaced the basket and refilled the tumbler with 205°F water and steeped it for 3 minutes.
Overall, a very enjoyable cup of tea. It’s called an “Afternoon” tea and it has a medium to full body to it, making it a nice choice for afternoon sipping, especially on a cooler afternoon like this. (I’m so happy that autumn appears to have finally arrived! I actually wore a sweater today!) It’s warm and cozy and it has a certain comforting element to it too. It’s a little more robust than a typical afternoon cup but that edge can be softened by the addition of milk and honey (if you like it in your tea), or you can save this for the afternoons when you need a little more than a gentle pick me up!
2014 Darjeeling 2nd Flush Goomtee Oolong Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A delightful oolong tea which evolves and develops with each subsequent brew. A great fruity nose with a complex taste of orange and spice.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was really happy to try this Darjeeling Oolong from What-Cha Tea. Darjeeling Oolong teas tend to be a bit more difficult to find and they’re so lovely that whenever I have the opportunity to try them, I’m excited!
And my excitement was justified because this second Flush Goomtee Oolong is really quite delightful!
I brewed this Darjeeling Oolong the same way I’d brew other Oolong teas, using my gaiwan. I heated the water to 180°F and measured out 1 bamboo scoop of leaves and placed them in the bottom of the gaiwan bowl. Then I gave the tea a quick rinse (15 seconds) and discarded the liquid, and then proceeded to infuse the tea for 45 seconds for the first infusion and then for each subsequent infusion, I added 15 seconds onto the steep time. My first cup was composed of a combination of the first two infusions; the second cup was a combination of infusions 3 and 4, and so on.
My first impression of this tea? Deliciously sweet and fruity! I taste the promised notes of orange and spice. I also taste a sweet, grape-y note. It’s quite smooth and very pleasant to sip. A little earthy and woodsy, with delicate spice notes that are peppery and warm.
Later infusions offered even more fruit notes. I started to pick up on an apple-y note in the second cup (infusions 3 and 4). The sweetness of the cup reminded me almost of a brown sugar sweetness. The cup is smooth yet crisp and vibrant. The light spice notes perk up the flavor.
What I love about Darjeeling Oolong teas like this is that they offer the best of Darjeeling and of Oolong in one cup. It’s smooth and creamy like I’d experience from an Oolong, but I am still tasting notes that are familiar with a second flush Darjeeling teas. I can taste notes of muscatel and the wonderfully warm spice notes and gentle woodsy tones.
With the third cup (infusions 5 and 6), the flavors became a little more unified and soft. The spice tones were not quite as defined as they were in the first two cups, but I found the sweetness from the fruit notes as well as that sweet brown sugar-y note more than made up for the waning spice notes.
This is a really lovely tea. I enjoyed its many infusions (I infused this tea a total of eight times!) finding that the 2nd cup was my favorite because the spice notes were still quite zesty and I liked the way these spice tones married with the fruit notes.
I highly recommend this tea to both lovers of Darjeeling and of Oolong! You’ll really enjoy this tea!
Darjeeling 1st Flush 2014 Gopaldhara Silver Needle White Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
Another beautiful Silver Needle with a fruitier taste and delicate spicy finish. The ‘Cristal’ of the tea world; the most expensive type of tea from Darjeeling, known as the ‘Champagne’ region of the tea world.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of the dry leaf reminds me of the smell that fills the air in the early spring on Saturday afternoons – when everyone is mowing their lawns. The smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and that’s what I smell with these tea leaves. Fresh air and grass that has just been cut. There’s a slight herbaceous smell to it too, in fact, the first time that I smelled the dry leaf, the first thought that popped into my head was ‘mint’ so I took another sniff to see if I was imagining things, and I didn’t smell mint that time but there is a definite “herb-y” smell to these leaves.
To brew these leaves, I scooped out some of the leaves (a full scoop using my bamboo scoop) and put them into the chamber of my gaiwan. I heated freshly filtered water to 165°F and then I did a 15 second rinse, discarded the liquid from the rinse and proceeded to steep the first infusion for 90 seconds, adding 30 seconds onto each subsequent infusion. (I usually brew white teas a little longer than other tea types.) 
The tea is lightly fragrant and is a medium golden amber color. A little darker than the color in the picture to the right. Perhaps to obtain this color they either steeped it less time or used less leaf.
Nevertheless, the flavor is delightful so I’m not worried at all about the color of the cup! It is sweet and tastes of fruit! I taste notes of grape with subtle hints of apple and apricot at the start of the sip. As the sip progresses, I pick up on some warm spice notes, a gentle yet peppery spice, like white pepper. This peppery tone lingers into the aftertaste which is also peppery with an intriguing sweet contrast. One of the most interesting aftertastes I’ve experienced in a tea.
There is some astringency toward the finish – it is dry and I feel the insides of my cheeks puckering a bit from the dryness. It reminds me a bit of a dry wine.
I found my second cup (infusions 3 and 4) to be very much like the first. The sip began with notes of grape. Instead of tasting apple and apricot, though, I am picking up on melon notes now. The taste is sweet, crisp and vibrant. At mid-sip I start to pick up on the zesty tingle of pepper. The finish is dry. It’s a very refreshing and clean taste.
I started to notice the spice notes change a bit in the third cup (infusions 5 and 6). The peppery notes began to morph into a more nutmeg-like flavor with a warm, nutty, somewhat earthy taste. The melon notes were emerging more, while the notes of grape began to taper and become more unified with the melon flavor. This cup is definitely sweeter and smoother, it’s not quite as crisp tasting. It’s mellowed somewhat.
I was so happy to have the opportunity to try this tea. I have a soft spot for Darjeeling white tea, and this is one I’d recommend to anyone else who finds Darjeeling white teas to be as compelling as I do.
2014 Organic Arya Ruby Darjeeling First Flush from Happy Earth Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Happy Earth Tea
Tea Description:
This Arya Ruby is finely crafted with its signature fragrance deep and rich in complexity that will cheer a Darjeeling enthusiast.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Sweet! That’s the first thing that I thought when I took my first sip of this tea: this is beautifully sweet!
The dry leaf is appealing to me with the varying shades of green, brown and silver. These leaves produce a coppery colored cup with a pleasant fruity note that evokes thoughts of grape. I could also pick up on some floral tones in there.
My first sip, I was really blown away with how sweet it tasted. I could taste notes of raisin (not always something I notice in a first flush Darjeeling) and peach. I’m tasting some of that sugary sweetness that I would taste with a dried fruit with hints of a grape-y like flavor. The peach is much more apparent to me, with mere hints of grape-like flavor, but I’m definitely tasting the sugary sweetness which leads me to think “raisin” rather than “grape.”
I taste floral notes that have been softened by the sweetness of this tea. As I near the bottom of the cup, the floral notes begin to emerge stronger than at the start.
But what really surprised me is that lovely hint of chocolate that I started to notice at about mid-cup. There were these really rich, decadent, smooth flavors developing: somewhat caramel-y with notes of chocolate! Love! There’s a delightful smoothness to this cup with very little astringency.
Yet another amazing Darjeeling from Happy Earth Tea. If you’re a fan of Darjeeling, you really can’t go wrong with the teas that Happy Earth Tea offers. It’s a great company that is socially and environmentally responsible, and I really appreciate that.