Gopaldhara Red Thunder Gold, autumn harvest Darjeeling

Red Thunder Gold, nice looking tea

This is the autumn harvest version of the other "Gold" teas I'd reviewed before, with the first flush review here and second flush here.  Those were Chinese cultivar versions of Darjeeling, AV2 clonal / plant type based teas, as this version is, with vendor information here.  I never did write a research post on cultivars for Darjeeling, in spite of finding a really good reference that spelled out some details (this one: Genetic diversity and relationships among tea (Camellia sinensis) culivars...; per usual for academic papers with some interesting details but not a light read).


The last Red Thunder--a similar tea made from a different plant type--was great tea; soft, fruity, earthy, and balanced, full and bright--one of those teas where it all comes together.  So I'm really looking forward to this one.

the other Red Thunder; some resemblance in the teas

Review

Some initial context:  I'll brew this tea Western style for this review.  It would work just fine Gongfu style, and it might be possible to review transitions (changes across infusions) better that way, but per past experience results would be similar for both.  A lot of teas work better brewed one way or the other, more typically better for Gongfu style, but black teas in general don't vary as much.  I might also mention that I don't use a "straight" Western brewing approach, typically, not a "one teaspoon per cup" formula, shifting that towards the much higher tea proportion used in Gongfu brewing, but still on the "Western" side of that range.

The smell of the dry tea is really nice, full, sweet, and fruity.  It would be possible to spend lots of time sniffing the tea and write a review of just the dry tea smell, but of course I won't.  Fruit scents are rich, towards raisin and grape, and a little citrus, with a touch of molasses rounding out sweetness and adding some earth tone.

The brewed tea is quite nice too, a very soft, rich tea.  I think it will pick up depth and complexity across another infusion--this was light,  a bit fast, just to get it going--but it's interesting seeing (tasting) the previous version "Gold" characteristics already playing out differently in an autumn tea.  It's smooth, "roundish," and a bit towards floral as Darjeeling range tends to go.  The other Red Thunder was soft and well balanced but this is almost so soft it's in the oolong range instead of black tea range, quite smooth.  But it's nothing like an oolong, related to profile, just novel as black teas go.




The tea flavors are bright, clean, and well balanced.  There is so much complexity that one could tease out a good list of distinct aspects.  There is one that stands out, which I'm having trouble pinning down with a description, but it really could be a set of flavors instead.  I'll go a little heavier next infusion and try to spell it out.


The flavors and the way it balances is even nicer the second infusion.  A trace of black tea astringency picks up, still keeping this in a very soft range, just adding body.  It's not as "structured" as the other Red Thunder came across but it has a soft black tea feel to it.   A trace of dryness balances the rest well.



I'm still not "getting" that one characteristic element, still not really able to say exactly what it is.  A decent guess is that it's just a floral tone.  On the richer side rose petals matches a trace it, but there is more to it.  Part is a bright, roundish tone, sort of like chrysanthemum.  It's that part that shifts it a little towards candy-like sweetness.  Or pandan leaf could be a better description, although that might not be familiar to many, a sweet tropical leaf type used for food seasoning, more or less in between fruity and floral, pretty close to Fruit Loops cereal.  There is more conventional cooked yam / sweet potato range as well, perhaps more common to Chinese black tea versions than Darjeelings.


Taken alone those aspects described are complex but wouldn't make for a balanced tea, but there is other range that integrates well and brings across a fuller experience.  Minerals underlie that taste, back to the spring water scent perhaps even more pronounced in the Red Thunder tea.  You might be thinking that spring water never tastes like all that much (except maybe in comparison tasting).  I really mean it's more the scent of the spring itself, that of water rushing out of the ground in a mountain spring, a nice scent, which smells more of minerals due to those collecting there.

black tea, with oxidation backed off just a little

Another infusion shifts towards earthier range, and mineral picks up a little, with floral aspects toning down a bit.  It's even better.  One aspect is that trace of malt that lots of people might describe as "tastes like tea," just not coupled with a bite of astringency as in some black teas, the "briskness."  The feel is interesting, not quite as full and stout as the other Red Thunder, but it balances well.  It's still a little softer and lighter than even a better Dian Hong might be (Yunnan black tea), but not so far off the aspects range.

On the whole it's nice.  It seems to me the kind of tea a dedicated oolong drinker might really connect with, even though it's not that.  The oxidation level may not be so far above the range where the categories switch over.  Later I did get back to a side by side tasting comparison of those two Red Thunder versions, but I'll do an aside related to what the tea is before getting to that second tasting.

Vendor input on the teas

Let's start with the "Gold" version brewing instructions:

Right!  Below boiling point is better, as I'd used, although it wouldn't have hurt to check that advice before the tasting.  It works well to go heavy on the tea proportion too, to double that loose tea amount and brew four infusions instead.  I would go a bit lighter for the first, and the fourth might drop off a little, and would require a longer brewing time.  Or better yet try different approaches and decide for yourself.

I'm all about people brewing and preparing tea however they like but I wouldn't want to even think about someone adding milk to this tea.  It probably would make a great iced tea, mixed with milk and sugar and poured over ice, but that's madness, a complete waste of this level of tea.

More on the Red Thunder Gold version description:

I talked a little with the plantation director about how these two teas could possess that unusual balance of great flavors complexity with astringency being so limited, with no edge or bite, just a nice structure.  He said it had to do with the elevation of the tea (high), the effect of cool fall weather on the plants, and the input related to plant types.  Correct processing surely also played a role.  In other words, all the basic factors came together nicely.

Comparison tasting, Red Thunder versus Red Thunder Gold

Red Thunder left, Gold version right

I tried the Red Thunder with a cold, and didn't feel as though I'd filled in the whole list of aspects for the Red Thunder Gold, so I re-tasted both together.  This time I used a Gongfu approach, not really so different for this tea type versus Western brewing, but it works well for comparison tasting.  The two teas share some common ground for aspects and tastes range, and some differences.

They both share an earthy, mineral intensive range, a taste that makes perfect sense associated with fall, cooler weather.  The Gold version adds a light, sweet note on top of that, one I was saying was close to floral in the last tasting.  It wouldn't be wrong for someone to express it as fruit instead, to say it's like cooked yam, with a bit of raisin, some citrus, maybe even hinting towards nectarine.  But it seems a touch of rich floral tone mixes in, which I focused on describing that in the first tasting since it seemed so novel.  The other Red Thunder has that earthy and mineral base, just extending a bit further, with a bit of extra body and touch of dryness to it.  The flavor extends to be a little deeper rather than brighter, including a touch of sun dried tomato.

On the next infusion--third or fourth; the time flies--the Gold version moves a little into a nice sweet bark spice range.  Cinnamon is the best known bark spice but there are others, and this is not really familiar, maybe exactly like an existing bark spice or maybe not.


I should remember more about trying unusual tisanes over that long spell of interest, drinking those for 20 years before I even started into tea (along with wine and coffee, in stages--crazy times).  In place of referencing that better here is a nice comprehensive reference on medicinal herb uses, not so much on what they taste like though, but it goes into what's out there for tisanes.  Not that I'm recommending that, use as supplements, but the listings are interesting.  Especially the description there for pine needles, a subject that came up in researching Christmas tea blends, but one I didn't mentioned in a post yet.

Christmas season in Bangkok, a few days ago

The other Red Thunder--not "Gold"--stays the same, with that nice sweetness, full structure, and limited astringency working well with the really complex taste range.  They're so complex that varying lists of flavors could be used to describe both without any necessarily being completely wrong.  On the next infusion it seems the Red Thunder did drift into a little of that same bark spice range.

I seem to be focusing on describing differences but falling short on spelling out the underlying profile for these, what they have in common.  It's complex, balanced for both, with common range in wood tones with underlying mineral, a general fall-flavors theme.  Extending from that the Gold version reminds me of a toasted cinnamon roll with raisin, a version of which we knew as "sticky buns" back at Penn State.  There is an element in common with toasted pastry but it's not yeasty.  Both teas are leveling out a little, 8 or 9 infusions in, but not giving out or going off in any way, more just thinning out.

I do tend to step back from offering my own opinion to some extent, objectively describing aspects and all that (or so it seems to me), but these are definitely some of the best Darjeelings I've ever tried.  These black teas compare well against any I've tried from anywhere.

Gopaldhara Maharaja of Darjeeling Muscatel; on Darjeeling clonals / cultivars

another beautiful tea, lots of tips

Gopaldhara sent two samples of second flush teas, related to a very recent post (here), this second of which they described as a Maharaj of Darjeeling Muscatel.  This tea and the last I reviewed are quite different, so I'll go against convention and review one after the other here.  I'll say more about the cultivar / clonal / plant type in a research section, and start with the vendor product background:


CULTIVAR:   AV2 Most Preferred Clones
ELEVATION: 5000-7000 FT
RANGE OF TEMPERATURE: 12 – 18 Degrees
TEA TYPE: Oolong Whole Leaf
FLUSH SEASON: Second Flush
TYPE OF PLUCKING: 100% fine leaf, mostly comprising of two leaves and a bud
GRADE: FTGFOP1


This really seems like a black tea, but then a standard oxidation level definition may well put it in the oolong range instead, as listed.  The first tea I reviewed from this set of samples was nothing like a black tea (the Wonder Gold), and the second seemed clearly that (per the more specific product description maybe not, as with this one).

Review:

black tea, small leaves and buds

In this tea the muscatel is even stronger than in the first tea I had reviewed.  It starts to develop towards a brandy liquor effect, which is very nice, a positive extension into an unusual level of depth.  It gives up some of the bright fruit effect for doing so but the trade is not a bad thing given the rich, balanced, more unique flavor range it moves into.  That other example was great for nailing the expected type, this one excels for deviating from it.


Spice rounds out the flavors balance.  Again there's a bit of orange rind citrus, with an earthy and mineral base that's more difficult to separate as a list.  Astringency is not so much an issue, and the flavors are very clean.  This tea could change character with brewing process changes, at a guess, taking on more body and astringency brewed at higher temperature or prepared as a stronger infusion, and lightening up brewed cooler or less strong, still showing the fruit range.  I take this to be a standard effect for Darjeelings, potential for adjusting results with brewing changes, but it does vary by type.  Some people recommend one brewing temperature for all Darjeeling types, but again that may or may not be the best approach, related to individual preferences.


This version includes a lot of tips, changing the style of tea from that of mostly leaf based teas.  It's interesting how many differences there are between different regional versions of related style teas, for example how far apart this tea is in character from an Indonesian tip - prevalent black tea, or how different the aspects are from a Jin Jun Mei (which should be a pure var. Sinensis, so I'm mixing different factors now).  The more general point is that black teas cover lots of range, interesting in how they vary.  Then again these two second flush Darjeeling teas were likely grown quite close to each other, at the same time, and they vary quite a bit too, so you don't need to go to the next growing region to be impressed by that.

One criticism I've had with some Darjeelings relates to some coming across as thin, but that's not applying to these Gopaldhara teas.  The rich fullness of a lighter oolong wouldn't be matched, except that Wonder Gold version went really far with full body, but the black teas--or these teas closer to true black teas--aren't at all thin, not light in feel, and not limited in terms of aftertaste.

Research section, on Darjeeling cultivars:

I've been skipping this type of research review for awhile, and this presents a good chance to get back to it.  The tea plant type is identified as AV 2, a Darjeeling clone or cultivar type, from the general Camelia Sinensis var. Sinensis, or Chinese branch of main tea plant types, versus var. Assamica plants used in Assam and other places.

Even that may oversimplify.  I'd mentioned a Hojo vendor reference in the last post that stated most Darjeeling plants are really now hybrids, with a mix of background types, combining genetics from Assamica plants through natural breeding.  Ideally this creates plant types with more positive characteristics than either pure original type, spanning a range of potential goals, not the least of which is final aspects in a brewed tea.  A short general Tealet reference authored by Nigel Melican mentions that most tea grown in the US is a hybrid from the two general plant types, but the concern there seems to be cold resistance versus other factors.

There is more on the region, tea plant types, and processing in another Hojo reference here.  It would take more research into AV 2 to determine which  prior plant types were inputs, and even then the history of plant derivations for those may not be clear given the long history.  Speaking of history, lets back up and start with that.

Tea production regions in India (photo credit)

According to this reference Darjeeling teas were originally based on Chinese plant types:

Arthur Campbell was a Scottish state employee who was transferred from Nepal to Darjeeling in 1839. Shortly after its arrival he planted some Chinese tea seeds in its private garden. Soon his neighbors imitated him and 11 years later Campbell reported that over 200 tea bushes were growing in the region.



A second reference tells a slightly varied story related to the timeline, with essentially the same details:

Tea plants from China were brought to this region from a British civil surgeon, Dr. A. Campbell, around 1834 as an experiment. This smaller Chinese variety (camellia sinensis var. sinensis, as opposed to var.assamica) planted at 700ft. Proved successful and he was given permission to plant several tea nurseries in 1847...


That reference credits the Puttabong Estate for creating the AV2 plant type, and mentions they were the first estate planted in Darjeeling, established in 1852.


According to a Teabox vendor reference AV2 is one of around thirty Darjeeling clonal tea types, with AV standing for Ambari Vegetative, with additional description as follows:


The Darjeeling oolongs grow at a higher elevation, with a more stable temperature range, and a mix of old China bushes and the clonal ones. The AV2 and complementary varieties are noted for their complexity and aromatic floral notes. Over the past decade, new AV2 teas have won most awards in competitions. One of the recurrent themes in reviews is the surprise factor – AV2 teas are decidedly different, not just better, than comparative ones of very high quality: common adjectives are memorable, mind-blowing, unexpected, bolder and even “budful.”


To cite an example of a well-known tea (to some), per that reference Castleton's Moonlight White is made from the AV 2 cultivar, of course using a derivation of a Chinese tea processing method instead.


There are a number of Darjeeling related research organizations and academic institutions (for example, this government supported agency), but researching background on teas is not as straightforward as one might imagine.  There is a broad gap between vendor marketing content, general summary reference material, and narrowly scoped research material (as referenced in this summary of related references by the Organic Tea and Agri-Horticultural Consulting agency).

A good example of that point is found in the paper Performance of Tea Clones in the Nursery through Vegetative Propagation in Darjeeling, which is actually a lighter and more interesting read than it sounds.  A bit of background from that, prior to getting into that study and the findings, which didn't include research of the AV2 type anyway:


...the out breeding characters of tea species have led to a wide natural hybridization resulting in
considerable heterogeneity in the existing populations. Therefore, it is difficult to assign a definite varietal status for a clone grown in a particular region. One of the basic requirements for successful tea cultivation is the planting material. It may be raised either from the seed or clone. Since, 1960s vegetatively propagated clones began to replace seed propagation and probably reduced the genetic diversity within tea cultivation. 

AV2 on the right (see Discovering Tea for more details, photo credit)

See, nearly conversational.  The first point addressed the issue of prior combined inputs to hybrid / clonal tea types, and the latter starts into propagating tea plant through cuttings instead of seeds.  Interesting!  But well off the subject here.


Back to the subject of different kinds of references, this Discovering Tea blog post doesn't include much content but does show pictures of three different clonal types, including AV 2.


As can happen all this isn't really heading towards any natural conclusion.  It was interesting reviewing a Reddit discussion on Darjeeling plant types in looking all this up, related to how limited the progress was there:


[–]hong_yun:  I tried this year's AV2 and B157 from Rohini tea estate, and I liked the former more.

[–]cupsandcakes9: Yes. AV2 seems to have a much richer flavor profile.


Good input, but that was about it.  Lots of other factors come into play, related to the final tea characteristics not just depending on plant type, but this related Gopaldhara tea had a rich flavor profile as well.

Gopaldhara China Muscatel Gold second flush Darjeeling

I'm reviewing an additional sample of a Darjeeling provided by Gopaldhara (many thanks to them for providing those), following an initial post of a very nice first flush version.  The teas are great, and interesting, so other posts will follow.

Gopaldhara Muscatel Gold (CH FTGFOP1, second flush)

This tea (described on the vendor site here) is a good version of what one might expect of a Darjeeling; a true black tea, and a second flush type at that, so heavier on muscatel and other fruit elements.  Even still dry the tea seems just how it should be, with the dry tea scent including plenty of muscatel, along with malty sweetness and citrus tones.

beautiful tea; good colors, a good bit of tips

One aside before I get into the review, about the idea of cultivar (plant type).  This tea is presented as from a Chinese tea plant (see prior link), which would have to mean Camelia Sinensis var. Sinensis, versus var. Assamica.  I've not done the appropriate research yet but it's my current understanding that Ceylon and Assam teas are typically all from Assamica plants, but that Darjeelings are not, that problems growing Assamica types in that region were addressed by changing to the Chinese plant types (var. Sinensis).  Here is a Hojo vendor post that essentially covers that, just not in much detail, also including the idea that the var. Sinensis plants have intermixed with Assamica type plants (to some degree), so per that source and some other reliable input they would now be a hybrid.  I'll get back to all this in another post; for now on to reviewing this tea.


The taste matches the scent:  lots of grape / muscatel, a bit of citrus in the range of orange zest, with a rich, earthy malt base for context.  The flavors are clean, with no edge of astringency, just a little to give it a fuller feel (even more interesting related to plant-type concerns, but I'm not going there).


From there a number of more subtle elements give the tea the effect of complexity, all in a pleasant presentation.  That earthiness is really at the edge of the mineral range, reminding me of red sandstone from slick rock hiking back in the Utah desert.  As one taste aspect can seem connected to a body or feel aspect a bit of dryness goes along with that, more in the second infusion I prepared than the first.



A slight touch of cinnamon spice also joins in, but it's quite subtle, nothing like the effect when that's a main taste element in a more roasted oolong.  It's a good match with the muscatel, citrus, and malt.


The tea doesn't have astringency one would need to brew around but it seems experimenting with brewing temperature could shift that effect, the feel of the tea, along with minor shift in flavor elements.  Brewed a little cooler the effect is of a softer, fruitier tea, with earthy aspects and a dry and fuller body coming out at relatively hotter temperatures.  Typically one would brew Darjeelings at a bit below black tea range to push the flavor effect and lighten the body, per my understanding.  Experimentation would determine how that corresponds to personal preference, and it might make more sense related to teas that are less oxidized, depending on that factor.

About tea batches, different products from the same harvest

It's my understanding that some tea growers and processors really make different versions of tea more than one might notice, based on typically buying tea branded as one uniform type from one harvest.  I just discussed an extreme example with a tea farmer / processor--my favorite one, who doesn't even need to be named--in the form of Dan Cong teas made and processed separately from a single tea tree.  She said that's rare though, because it puts a lot of processing demand on the tea maker.  That's not just in terms of extra labor for keeping leaves and batches straight, and working in smaller lots, but also related to tying up processing equipment.


I read of a more recent example from Taiwan, which might be a more common case, of a vendor preparing teas from different slopes, facing in different directions, resulting in different characteristics.  That was in a popular media post, good to see, and related to Tealet, a name that might ring a bell.  An online friend and knowledgeable tea guy, Peter Jones, recently posted in a Facebook tea group about trying teas harvested at different times, across a span of days, with a lot more variation than one would expect, as partially cited following:


Each sample was harvested 5 days apart. The goal was to see if we could taste the differences as the leaf age changed as we covered about a month of growth over the FF harvest....  Everyone seemed to think there was a noticeable shift in flavor around the 20th day. Light, floral in the first sample to piney, subtle muscatel flavors by the end.


Fascinating!  Related to an earlier post about a Ceylon black tea tasting like mint the tea maker said that flavor element would only be present for a short window, so catching it had to be intentional, and properly carried out, even potentially impossible depending on unfavorable weather variations.

Another post will follow about another second flush black tea from the same estate, covering how different teas from the same estate produced at the same time can vary, with a bit more on that cultivar issue there.