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Spring / first flush tea on the left in all photos, second flush / summer harvest right |
I'm trying two teas from a new set provided by Rishi of Gopaldhara for review (many thanks). We talked to him not long ago in one of those online meetups, here. The theme of developing higher quality, whole-leaf oolong that draws on varied processing approach inputs, especially from oolong processing from China, was a bit familiar prior to then, but nice to hear more details about directly. The proof is always in the pudding, and their teas have been great for a long time, for years. I would expect them to continue to improve, making results hard to place in relation to past experiences with Darjeeling, maybe even with their own prior versions.
Just prior to trying these teas I remembered that the last time I reviewed a set of samples from them I kept doing combined tastings that coupled first and second flush versions, which is not an intuitive approach at all. It makes the most sense to try versions that are as similar as possible, to identify finer differences between them, variations in feel, flavor aspects, or intensity that distinguish them. Trying dissimilar teas actually leads to picking up less in the tasting process, in a similar way that the more versions you taste the harder it is to focus, or background noise and distractions can have a negative effect. Oh well. I'm not sure what I picked these based on; it seemed like maybe there would be a common character thread that is interesting, probably only reacting to the names. Or it's down to my stupidity and random chance.
On with tasting then. Of course I'm brewing these Gongfu style; for teas of this type it's really the only valid approach, per my preference and opinion. I've discussed that recently, about how vendors might actually recommend whatever they think would work well and ring a bell for consumers, so a website suggestion for these teas would probably relate to Western style brewing, related to the latter factor. Eventually I might try some of these versions prepared Western style but to me it doesn't get the best results out of them.
Review:
Spring Honey Oolong: just fantastic; really what I expected. Sweet, creamy, rich floral notes are intensely pleasant. Of course there is none of the astringency edge in typical Darjeeling first flush versions, which can be ok, maybe even a positive balance, but to me the teas are much better without it, or at least with a very moderate input of that. Fullness and creaminess replaces that. The taste range is primarily floral but strong fruit tones stand out too, maybe a type of berry I probably won't place. It's not far off the range of red raspberry but that's not it. The floral tones are complex, probably a mix, only well described if someone could split that apart, which I can't.
Sweetness is at a high level, which supports the rest really well. You never fully appreciate sweetness until it's not present at a normal level in a tea, and then you miss it. The brightness resembles citrus, almost lemony, but as much in effect as the actual taste of lemons. Often it's possible to specify a different citrus then, but this seems to be in between lemon and tangerine.
Summer Golden Tips: the contrast is just great, how these are both so good in related but different ways. A light astringency edge is present in this; it's a black tea. It's on the soft side as Indian black teas go, of course, replacing a typical biting edge with structure in this case, versus creaminess in the first. There's a lot going on in relation to flavor. A mild version of malt couples with that astringency, nothing like the form of typical Assam, but not so different than the highest end versions. Floral tones inclined towards fruit stand out in this too, but across a much different range. Those are rounded out by a nice balancing warm mineral range.
The floral tones and fruit are different in the two tea versions, different flowers, and a different warm fruit range versus the bright berry of the first, towards light citrus. The fruit is a little like dried tamarind, not exactly like dried longan, but in that direction. Dried longan is fantastic, by the way; if you ever see that you should buy it.
Second infusion:
Spring Honey Oolong: this is a little too intense, too strongly brewed, and I used a time just under 10 seconds. It's fine, not at all ruined, but finding the optimum might involve taking care to account for intensity. Astringency picked up a good bit, not to the level of a chopped leaf version but with enough to move towards a comparable balance and effect. I suppose that's a good thing, or to me it's just different. Honey is really pronounced now. I suppose it was present last round but not like now.
Golden Summer Tips: really essentially the same flavors as last round, just with relative balance of inputs switched around a little. Astringency level is comparable to the honey oolong but in a completely different form. There is citrus and muscatel range to this; maybe that didn't come out as strong in a first round. Muscatel range is very moderate though; it could easily be interpreted as some other general fruit range.
It's complex in a positive way, and also intense. It's interesting experiencing strong flavor intensity and positive feel with moderate astringency input. Notable, but still moderate. That input effect would change completely brewed lighter, which would take a really fast infusion time at the high proportion I'm using. Of course backing off that proportion is an option.
Fourth infusion:
I took a break for a few hours and used the third round as a rinse to refresh the tea, which I drank, but didn't write notes for. It was an interesting break; first we bathed the cats, when it started to rain, so we had to do that in a roofed area that serves as a garage space. It kept on raining and the kids decided to go shoot baskets in a downpour, so I joined them for that. I helped them clean the bathroom that they use (the covid theme relates to us not having a housekeeper visit), and I went for a run after, when it was only raining lightly.
Spring Honey Oolong: honey is still really pronounced in this round, and floral tone, with a citrus range closer to orange peel now. There's an astringency edge paired with a flavor that is distinctive in first flush Darjeeling, which I take to taste like green wood mixed with a floral tone. It's a great balanced and complex effect, adding in nice intensity, smooth feel, and more aftertaste than Darjeeling versions ever tend to have. That high level of sweetness and honey tone works well for me. But is it oolong?
Kind of. I don't know about the processing steps, and for the most part I'm more concerned about aspects outcome than category placement anyway. Feel is quite smooth, rich, and full for any Darjeeling (just not on the level of those for Taiwanese high mountain oolong). They can have a great structure, or fullness, but not typically like this (again not based on a God's eye view of Darjeeling, just a prior impression). The flavor set is definitely not even close to Chinese oolong versions ranges I'm familiar with, since that part is Darjeeling, the list I keep repeating. Leaving aside any expectations about Darjeeling or oolong the overall effect is great, and it also works folding those in, to me. It's nothing like one of the typical type-ranges of oolong (Wuyi Yancha, Dan Cong, Anxi TGY, or Taiwanese high mountain versions), but then those are all different from each other too.
It might not make that much sense to ask if there is a subset of commonality within those four type ranges that this overlaps with; the first part isn't as simple as it first sounds. Within those broad categories oxidation level, roast, leaf input related factors, processing, and quality level cause a lot of variation. I think there is common ground among all those oolongs but I'm not so clear on what it is; smoothness, fullness of feel, flavor intensity, a refinement in better versions (that part is vague), and being approachable (not challenging). This isn't completely different, it just tastes like Darjeeling, and feel and aftertaste are less pronounced.
Summer Golden Tips: this came out less intense than the other for the same parameters; that doesn't automatically mean anything in particular to me. The astringency edge has shifted to come across as dryness, still paired with warm mineral undertone and malt flavor, or at least it seems connected to me. It's pleasant.
The other Spring version seems just a bit more novel, including a set of aspects that you don't often run across together. This is a well-balanced version of second flush black tea Darjeeling, it seems. For a broken leaf tea this astringency edge would be light, but for a more whole leaf version it stands out as moderate (lower medium level), and distinctive in character. The complex range of supporting flavor is unusual.
It's not so atypical for black tea versions of Darjeeling to hammer just a few flavor aspects, and this does express a limited set most, but keeps going beyond that. It's malty; that seems different. Citrus is a main supporting tone but really that balances with floral and fruit range. Muscatel is limited in this, maybe not even in a range one would interpret as that, maybe as well left described as only citrus.
I think it would seem more impressive if this other tea wasn't so unique, complex, balanced, and intense. It's quite good, but the novelty of the other version adds another dimension. I usually like second flush versions better too, the way that aspect range comes together at that oxidation level.
Conclusions:
The next infusion wasn't so different and late rounds transitions seem like a lot of trouble to add, going through what shifts most later on. These are so high in quality and exceptional in character that I don't think either is going to fade fast or shift to straight woody taste. So then it's either about what comes out stronger later (usually flavor profile narrows and astringency picks up as you stretch infusion times), or there could be a surprise, some kind of shift. I'm doing this edit days later but there were no surprises, they just kept transitioning, and brewed a lot of rounds, at least ten.
It's hard to describe just how good these teas are. My friend Ralph made a good point in reviewing one (not the same, maybe, but from a similar set, with this Spring version reviewed here) about how not expecting this particular character going in can be experienced as a challenge. The novelty could make them work really well, but it's also possible to not completely get what's going on at first, in the same way one does in drinking familiar tea types. Brewing approach can require a slight adjustment in relation to chopped leaf Darjeeling, with the more moderate astringency probably a positive difference for most people. Both of these weren't as soft as mild Chinese black teas can be, but the astringency present was in a good range to balance the rest, not detracting from the experience.
Beyond that whole leaf character they really must be experimenting with shifts in processing styles, as Rishi described, years past earlier forms of changes where what is different but not better gets included, onto moving forwards with approaches that have been working out well. Of course factors like weather would make a lot of difference too. 2021 must have been a really hard year just to keep making tea there, but that didn't showing up in any negative ways in these teas.
So they are amazing teas, as usual, just more of the same, in relation to that being how their teas go. Based on this early impression they might have set the bar that bit higher, as I would've expected. The "golden tips" version suffers a little in comparison with the other for just being a pretty good, novel, high quality, well-balanced example, and for giving up a little intensity and complexity, but all that is no small feat, and it's quite pleasant to experience. I think if that citrus present had seemed a little more pronounced, and further into muscatel range in character, it would've came across quite differently, but it was nice as it was. It's possible that for trying these a few more times, with novelty as less of a factor, I would like the second flush version as much for being a solid, well balanced black tea version, since that general type range is a personal favorite.
Vendor descriptions:
This rambled on so long I almost forgot to include Gopaldhara's input about what I was trying.
Rohini Honey Oolong Spring – First Flush 2021 (it seems like it's that)
A rare first flush oolong tea made from the best quality AV2 bushes, which has very finely plucked tippy whole leaves with a silvery appearance. It has a traditional spring character & tantalizing sweet aroma with a finish of honey. The tea has a very pleasant & distinct aftertaste with zero astringency which leaves behind a very memorable experience.
The tea bushes are grown and harvested at an elevation between 1500-3000 feet...
That sounds right. Onto the other:
Rohini Summer Golden Tips – Rare Hand Rolled Tea 2021 (I had no idea both were from Rohini; I should read the information sheet next time)
Rohini Summer Golden Tips is one of the finest second flush teas from Rohini Tea Estate of Darjeeling. The tea is made from small leaves having lots of buds. It is made from AV2 bushes which is one of the most preferred clones of Darjeeling. The leaves are freshly plucked in the last week of May. The dry leaves appear to be brownish with lots of golden tips. This finest second flush tea brews into a bright orange and clear cup having mouthful, sweet & fruity muscatel character with a finish of honey.
Second flush teas are considered matured because of the sufficient rainfall received during the month of May in the Darjeeling region. The leaves absorb enough water during the monsoon period which helps in developing rich colour, strong aroma & muscatel flavour to the teas.
Sounds right too, the muscatel just came across more as a less distinct citrus range in this tasting, to me, which is pretty close.
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Keo shooting baskets during the tasting, before it rained |
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reviewing outside again |
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I haven't posted her picture in awhile. she made that bag; she's really creative. |
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long haired Keo with Myra |
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