Nov 20
Review: California Tea House Organic Darjeeling
Black Tea, California Tea House, Darjeeling Tea Add commentsJamie’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "An acceptable tasting tea but not particularly distinguished or exhibiting the floral, sweet fruity complexity I've come to expect as hallmarks of Darjeelings. "
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California Tea House's Organic Darjeeling is a second flush Darjeeling with a nice dark leaf, black with dark brown hints and a mild scent with the sweet, fruity sort of Darjeeling scent that is most typically referred to as muscatel.The website recommends a level tablespoon of leaf per 8 ounces of water, which seemed a little hefty to me, but can definitely be used. I used two thirds this amount (two teaspoons) steeped the full three minutes and this brewed a a nice mellow cup, flavorful to a degree but not astringent or puckery and in fact, very mild. I found the tea too mild, in fact, as it came out rather bland. Overall, this cup made for an acceptable tasting tea but was not particularly distinguished or exhibiting the floral, fruity, sweet complexity I've come to expect as hallmarks of Darjeelings.
I am becoming quite a fan of Darjeelings, and wanted to try again using the method recommended by California Tea House, since so many of their offerings I've been able to sample have been really superb. This time I used the recommended level tablespoon to eight ounces of freshly boiled water and found that treatment seemed too much. The tea was a little on the bitter side and suddenly too puckery.
Overall, I can't give this tea a great rating or recommendation based on either of my tastings. With less leaf the best qualities of a Darjeeling are lost in understatement and using the recommended amount of leaf yielded a nearly sour and overly astringent cup that just doesn't represent the best qualities of Darjeeling.
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