Gopaldhara second flush honey oolong

 

I suppose it's odd that this isn't a Spring tea / first flush review given that it's that season again, time for ordering fresh new versions, as Darjeeling goes.  I was supposed to receive some samples very recently but the local post office seems to have lost them, maybe delivered to the wrong house.  Odd that doesn't come up more often, given how inconsistent many things can be where I live, in Thailand.

In going back to try older samples I recently experienced how storage can affect teas like these, in a case of a 2021 first flush version.  Flavors mute a bit over time, and a heavy mineral aspect picks up.  It would depend on storage temperature, I think, with it as a given that complete isolation from air contact is in place.  It's hot here in Bangkok, and green tea freshness fades faster, or related character of first flush teas, whether those are grouped as lightly oxidized black teas or white versions.  I don't think that would've been as much a factor for a tea made later in last year, if it was a more oxidized version, but it's at least conceivable that this tea could've been better half a year ago.  

I think even a green or white first flush version, at their best drank freshest, would still be fine if stored isolated from air for a year, just not if room temperature made it into the mid-30's C / 90s F.  A bit of the fresh edge would wear off, which would be a shame.  Some teas actually improve with age, and oolongs can fall under that category, but how all that maps out can be complicated.  As I see it either well roasted oolongs benefit from rest or people can value a transition in rolled (ball-shaped) versions that takes many years, so although this kind of tea wouldn't degrade or change quickly I'd expect it would be better fresh than aged, for almost any amount of time.  Then the topic of aged Oriental Beauty does come up as a second kind of concern, so it might not be quite that simple.

Something interesting came up in checking a site listing for this:

Rohini Summer Honey Oolong – Bug Bitten Tea 2021 – Royal Series

This is one of the finest summer teas produced from high-quality AV2 bushes at Rohini Tea Estate. There is a reason behind the name ‘bug bitten tea’. During June, when the second flush teas are harvested, the rise in temperature also causes a rise in the insect population. The Tea Jassids also called green flies in Darjeeling feed on the tea leaves for a couple of weeks. During this time they suck out the moisture causing the leaves to shrivel downwards. The loss of moisture does not kill the leaf but rather stunts its growth leading to a concentration of flavors... 

This summer oolong consists of brownish-black leaves and a few silver tips. It brews into an aromatic bright amber cup with a very smooth flavor and no astringency. The tea has a mouthful of sweet and fruity muscatel character with a finish of honey and mango flavors. A compelling make and a true delight, it is definitely one of the best teas produced by Rohini Tea Estate.

I don't know if this really was a 2021 version, or if they made this in 2022, but it's not up on their site now.   The leaves look a bit darker than in that product sales page:

I could ask them but it's possible that it's not clear which tea version had been sent last year; little details like that can slip away over time.  Rishi does sometimes share versions sold only as small batches with me, since one main idea is to let me try them, and to hear feedback, more than for a marketing function.

It's odd not touching on the category naming of this being presented as oolong, which I'll mostly set aside.  This could be like an Oriental Beauty version, if the bug-bitten effect is similar, and the oxidation level also matches, as it seems to from dry leaf appearance.  It goes without saying but if this does seem a lot like a standard Taiwanese OB oolong version (which it isn't; tea plant type, terroir, and processing must all be different) citrus, spice range (towards cinnamon), and other fruit would stand out.

Review:

First infusion:  nice!  It does taste a bit like honey, with plenty of muscatel range too (or citrus / grape / liqueur), and other warm fruit tones.  It's probably going to pack slightly more punch after the first infusion but it expresses a lot of depth and complexity already.  I will hold off on a more detailed flavor list though.  Feel is nice already; it has a lot of rich structure, and pleasant trailing aftertaste that will probably pick up.  As a Chinese black tea drinker most into fruit and warmer tones in black tea this is a good style match for me.

Second infusion:  edge really picked up.  It's not a challenging astringency, always a concern with more chopped leaf versions, but it's significant, and will relate to using fast infusion times to moderate that character input.  At this high proportion that's normal enough, and doesn't relate to drinking weak tea.  Warm mineral base stands out more for that, but there is plenty of citrus still, and a base of warm fruit tone, that's still hard to break down further.  

One warm fruit tone is especially catchy, along the line of teaberry, mixing berry, mint, and an edgier range.  Mint is not really typical in Darjeeling, per my past experience.  Next one would consider what the mint range is like, wintergreen versus spearmint and such; maybe I'll get back to that if it gets stronger.

Third infusion:  nicely balanced for brewing that fast, maybe just seconds too fast.  Orange flavor increases this round, like the zest, the oil from the peel.  Mint is still there if you look for it but I wouldn't notice it at this proportion, without having it in mind.  The balance of intense and complex flavors, sweetness, warm base tones, limited astringency, and pleasant aftertaste work out really well.  Never mind the tea not expressing flaws, the rest really comes together.  There is other fruit range to consider, but it seems mixed in with the rest, not as distinct.  Maybe a red raspberry note stands out as much as any.

Fourth infusion:  brewed slightly stronger mint stands out more, and the balance of warm depth and astringency structure ramps up.  It's cool how brewing an extra few seconds changes the experience.  That mint tone is catchy, nicely complementing the rest.  I only remember pronounced mint in one tea, beyond Ruby / Red Jade, which typically seems more like eucalyptus or menthol to me, in a test batch version from Laos that my friend Anna shared.  I've heard it comes up in some Russian teas but I've not noticed it in any, that I remember.  

Fruit is a good balancing input for that aspect, and warm tones, a little towards cocoa / cacao.  Citrus is still present in this round but more as a part of the rest, on an even balance, where it stood out as primary in the last round.  I think that was probably due to the slight change in infusion strength more than a one-round aspect transition cycle variation (but who knows, really).

Fifth infusion:  fairly similar to last round.  I'll skip the notes and add if it transitions more next round.

Sixth infusion:  intensity is definitely fading, and some of the brighter fruit flavor dropping out faster than the rest, especially the bright citrus and berry.  Warmer and deeper tones will hang in there more from here, most likely, moving on towards a woody effect.  It's far from spent though; the remaining fruit still gives it a nice balance, and mint is still present.  

Later infusions:  it kept going, trailing off to similar character range, with fruit progressively getting swapped out for more woody tones.

Conclusion:

One of the better Darjeeling versions I've ever tried.  I've commented before how that expectation context can throw off normal range of judgment for Gopaldhara's teas.  If one isn't among the best I've ever tried, at least at a 99% sort of level, it seems a little disappointing.  Then even if a version is that good without a novel new aspect experience included it can fall short of other versions experience.

Not all of their teas are absolutely fantastic; some are just quite good.  It's a good track record, one that can shift balance of interpretation.  The same is true for the versions being more whole leaf, with concerns over astringency generally dropping out; that's just part of the normal baseline.

Then style preference factors in, or relation to individual aspects.  I really do love Dian Hong, Yunnan black teas, for how those heavy, rich, complex flavors balance, range like cacao, roasted yam and sweet potato, depth from spice, and varying fruit tones.  I suppose that's part of why these Gopaldhara Darjeeling versions work so well for me, even though that heavy flavor range isn't the same, with the fruit tones and flavor context are all lighter.  First flush Spring versions are nice too, just in a different way.  That bright, fresh, intense lighter range compares more to what I like most in Nepal white teas, strong lighter citrus, brighter floral tones, supported by a lighter mineral range.

Gopaldhara Thor and Maharaja of Darjeeling (second flush)

 

Thor left, Maharaja of Darjeeling right, in all photos

Trying two additional teas from the set sent by Gopaldhara, really more for sharing than review, but both.  Thanks to them again for that!

There isn't much background to pass on so I'll introduce these teas with their descriptions and then include tasting notes here, largely as I wrote them prior to seeing any description, beyond the tea name and type.

Gopaldhara Gold (Thor) – Rare Hand Rolled Second Flush 2021

Gopaldhara Gold (Thor) is one of the best second flush teas in the Darjeeling hills, made by AV2 bushes. The tea is extremely full and expertly fully oxidized to extract all the flavor. It takes a lot of different processes to oxidize, without crushing and cutting the leaf. Every time you crush and cut the leaf you introduce harshness to the cup. This tea is very clean with absolutely no hints of astringency and harshness. It is honey-sweet with a very well-rounded Muscatel finish and notes of ripe fruits. It has been the best lot in the second flush muscatel category.

It is 100% handpicked with no machinery involved. The garden workers are very careful in their plucking to make sure only the best shoots with prominent buds are plucked. The top elevation of Gopaldhara Tea Estate which stretches up to 5500-7000 Ft is planted with the best quality AV2 bushes, the most preferred clones in Darjeeling.

That pretty much matches the description that follows, with a bit more on experienced aspects, with a lot implied about moderate oxidation level as an input, but not explicitly discussed.  They list the oxidation level as "semi-oxidized" on a table of information along with that text.

Gopaldhara Maharaja of Darjeeling – Second Flush Muscatel 2021

Maharaja of Darjeeling is one of the best second flush teas in the Darjeeling hills, made by AV2 bushes... 

It is 100% handpicked with no machinery involved. The garden workers are very careful in their plucking to make sure only the best shoots with prominent buds are plucked. The top elevation of Gopaldhara Tea Estate which stretches up to 5500-7000 Ft is planted with the best quality AV2 bushes, the most preferred clones in Darjeeling.

..It brews into a very bright orange and clear cup having smooth fruity taste and muscatel character. The finish is long, honey sweet & captivating... 

These notes don't say anything about that whole-leaf issue, which I've went into before.  This version seems slightly more oxidized than the "Thor" but it also lists as "semi-oxidized," which would span a range.

Thor left, Maharaj right

Review:

Thor:  lighter than the other; it looks like I got proportion slightly wrong (not identical), and this version is significantly less oxidized than the other.  It's lighter in flavor than I expected, which I take to be needing a round to get going.  The character it does show is just great, as usual.  It's smooth and rich, complex, with good sweetness, and only positive aspects.  The range is warm, like rich scented flowers and dried fruit, with a bit of extra earthiness adding depth.  Probably it will all shift a bit by the time I get to a fuller flavor list description next round, but I'll hold off on details until then.

Maharaja:  completely different; that should make this interesting.  Even for being a somewhat light initial round astringency edge stands out in this, a pleasant feel structure and dryness.  In that sense it's much closer to a conventional black tea.  Flavor complexity is also evident, just in a warmer range.  Where the other might have included dried apricot this is more like date, which I'll clarify more in the listing next round.

I'm tasting this outside (it's too loud in the house, with the television blaring and my wife yelling at the kids, our normal routine) and that earthy edge is from a scent from the garden; interesting that doesn't come up more.  It seemed faint and in the background at first but my wife's mother is watering the garden now, and it's easier to flag.  It shouldn't throw things off.

Thor, second infusion:  this is a really interesting style.  It's listed as a second flush tea but it's really in between what I'm accustomed to in first and second flush character, a lot lighter and brighter than second flush usually is, probably mainly due to being lower in oxidation level.  Smoothness and richness stands out, and usually those are the kinds of things you notice second, after flavor and astringency edge.  It has some of that bright, fresh character of first flush Darjeeling, that bright floral range, and also some of the warmer richness of second flush, leading into heavier flavors.  It settles into a range like bright sweet fruit, like dried apricot, and complex floral range that's in the middle, not bright and light or warm, heavy, and rich, but balanced in the middle.  It's a cool effect.

Astringency is limited but that is what's giving it that rich and full feel.  Dried apricot and complex floral doesn't seem like enough of a flavor list, for how complex the flavor range is.  Some warm mineral base adds to the effect of complexity, and beyond that it's hard to "split apart" the fruit and floral range further, which I'll get back to next round.

Maharaja:  I went a little faster on this version this round and the brewed intensity level balances.  For both these teas you get a sense of a lot of complexity and balance along with the initial impression; they're refined, and have a lot going on.  I tried a tea not long ago that I thought was quite pleasant but it seemed like part of the normal range was missing, as if there was a gap in complexity across some aspect range, which was hard to pin down or describe.  The effect with these is the opposite, that they are not only covering a complex range but are also quite intense, refined, and well-balanced across the entire range.

Back to that flavor list:  citrus stands out.  Maybe this is related to muscatel, maybe not; I've been questioning what that even means.  I take it to be exactly that, a citrus-like range of heavy flavor that leans a bit towards grape and brandy.  Warm, rich fruit seems to fill in beyond that, not in a form that's easy to identify.  That early guess of date isn't too far off, although maybe closer to dried Chinese date than the Middle Eastern version more familiar in "the West."  

I think Chinese dates, jubube, is really a category, not a single fruit, with dried versions seeming much different than fresh ones.  Interpreting this as closer to dried longan would also work, not that the description would add much for American readers.  I just had one of my favorite deserts yesterday, a Chinese ice and beans dish, that includes both dried Chinese date and dried longan juice (and a mix of beans, and dried candied lotus root; it's so nice).  Maybe that's influencing this general warm dried fruit range interpretation. To me it all leans a bit towards cocoa but that's not it.

Thor, third infusion:  honey flavor and sweetness bumped up a good bit.  I suppose it tasted a bit like honey before too, filling in that rich flavor effect, but it's hard to miss in this round.  That other flavor is pretty close to dried apricot but that may well not be it.  It's harder to identify for so much rich, mid-range floral tone filling in as well.  A bit of citrus edge supports it, as does a warm mineral tone.  

It all integrates so well that it doesn't come across as that set of things at all, but as one unified experience.  Breaking it down to parts almost adds error, describing it in a way that it really doesn't come across.  Some of that fruitiness isn't far off a bubble-gum flavor, the non-distinct pink cube kind, Bubbalicious and such.  It's more refined than that description probably makes it sound.

Maharaja:  this is great for tasting like one would expect from second flush Darjeeling, maybe just projected in a better form than is typical.  The flavor complexity, in particular fruit edge, intensity, feel structure, and slight edge all balance perfectly.  Where the other is cool for being something novel this is great for being a better version of something familiar than is familiar.  The flavors are so complex that the right person could just keep on free-associating, and no interpretation would necessarily be wrong.  

I'm noticing more raisin in this round, and a hint of cinnamon spice.  It's impossible to describe the effect of those warm tones being offset by lighter fruit and floral range, then balancing with just the right amount of feel structure.  It's a higher level effect, one that emerges from all the other layers of experience.

Even though these are great teas, and are evolving, I'll probably do one more round with detailed notes and a second I barely mention and move on with my morning, now almost onto afternoon.  Ten small cups of tea is about my normal dose but it's really about demands on my time, things to do.

Thor, fourth infusion:  more of the same; the last description still works.  Balance and overall pleasantness really stands out, which I think I've covered enough.

Maharaja:  the same is true of this version, that it hasn't shifted enough to warrant a new description, and that I've already went on and on about the complexity and layers of aspects working well together.  

Conclusions:

Really nice teas, just different in character.  I think citrus changed form and picked up even more for the Maharaja over the next couple of rounds.  The Thor stayed relatively consistent, with a nice toffee flavor picking up in place of the honey, and brewed a good bit more pleasant tea.

Even though throwing 3 grams of either of these in an infuser basket for two somewhat intense brewed rounds wouldn't really optimize results these both would work ok that way.  The warmer tones of the Maharaja, as a more conventional black tea, with slightly more edge and feel structure, seems better suited for a breakfast tea role to me.  

These two teas stood out for being complex, well-defined, refined, and well-balanced.  That doesn't necessarily come across as intensity, but it all adds a fullness to the experience, an extra dimension, beyond novel and positive flavor range already doing that.  There was nothing negative to balance out or brew around; that helps too.  

I didn't really mention aftertaste effect for these I'm reviewing, and it's not something that stands out, although there was something to that.  Feel was nice for both these teas, in two different ways, just with moderate "structure" effect, full but still on the soft side.  

As I see it Darjeeling of this quality level are underappreciated in "tea circles," because they're not usually this good, or this isn't the most typical character / style.  Someone could drink Darjeeling for decades and not have any idea that this general style for this "Thor" version even exists, never mind experiencing and appreciating this degree of success in a version in this style.  Maybe it just didn't exist 5 years ago; that seems quite likely to me.  

I'm not sure that Western style brewing would really bring across just how good this tea is; shifting brewing style over to the Chinese Gongfu approach probably draws out extra potential.  It would be possible to notice that these are better than conventional Darjeeling prepared Western style, and a really dialed-in Western brewing approach probably would get most of the potential out of them.

Rishi of Gopaldhara on changes to Darjeeling processing

 

We met with Rishi, the plantation manager of Gopaldhara and Rohini, two of the main Darjeeling plantations.  Or surely many others of them are significant, or all just slightly different.  He explained that Gopaldhara is one of the older plantations, and that Rohini one of the newer ones, with Gopaldhara working with issues with many plants being older there, and Rohini producing from younger plants, at lower elevation.  So the challenges would be different, and potential outcome related to what approaches would work out well at both.

Josh Linvers joined us this time too, the tea sommelier from Canada who we've met with twice.  He went through a Darjeeling exploration phase this year, focused as much on Gopaldhara as any other source, so it made sense to include him.  He had even been in contact with Rishi, in discussing what he had reviewed.

Per usual this won't cover everything we talked about; these summaries don't work out like that.  And some degree of bias or selection has to be applied in that filtering. This represents an indicative summary, but also one adjusted for what I see as main themes, or most interesting for readers, avoiding personal discussion scope, which didn't come up much this time.

Changing Darjeeling tea processing and aspects outcome

To me this is not only one of the main things we discussed but also one of the main themes Gopaldhara has been working on for years.  They've been moving towards making more whole-leaf versions of teas, versus Darjeeling tending to be quite broken or chopped in many product forms in the past.  Rishi explained why that is, and to some extent even covered more about the different forms (to a tiresome extent, really, delving deep into how the grade codes work, which are complicated, but I'll not even touch on that here).  He clarified they make as much of whole leaf versions as they can, with some proportion always broken leaf of different sizes, and with that outcome varying by harvest season, material type input, and other factors. 

The basics, as he described it, relate to Darjeeling tea production stemming back to how the British made tea 150 years ago.  That was based mostly on automated production of Assamica variety teas (although it would require a tea historian to place how the equipment varied over that time), with more focus on low elevation growth.  Darjeeling is based mainly on variety Sinensis plant types now, as it has been for some time, just newer form selected genetics cultivars of those.  

Per his surely oversimplified summary, condensed for an audience not comprised of tea production professionals, this earlier production, which extends to the present day, had involved use of a different kind of rolling table than is typically used in Chinese production.  Rolling is the step of bruising the leaves, enabling air contact with enzymes that cause oxidation.  Use of the prior form of equipment results in production of a much higher proportion of broken leaf material.

So beyond the rounded off description his goal has been to make whole-leaf Darjeeling teas.  Of course this would also relate to the picking methods used, and sorting concerns, and so on; it's not all about one piece of equipment and one processing step.

It's not as if all Darjeeling isn't sorted by leaf size.  Automated processes support separating and selling whatever is produced as finer particles, broken leaf, and more whole leaf.  The difference lies in setting up processing, and changing equipment use, to lead to production of a much more whole-leaf main outcome form.  

This isn't unfamiliar in higher quality Chinese tea production; it's standard from there.  I drink broken leaf tea from time to time, but on the average day I'm drinking very whole leaf sheng pu'er, at different times replaced by very whole leaf versions of oolong or Chinese black teas, and so on.  Or sometimes Darjeeling, or other teas from lots of places.  I'm drinking a black tea from Russia while I write this initial draft (whole leaf processed, but a gaba version, a completely different story).

This doesn't result in a claim that Gopaldhara is leading the way to completely changing Darjeeling tea, or that they already stand far above almost all other producers at this time.  It does seem likely that Rishi is a real visionary, leading the way in a likely future direction, which was probably already clear enough to some others, who have been taking similar steps.  Other parts of the story fill in why it's just not that simple.

Making these changes adds cost, from the harvest step on through equipment expenses and processing time.  The demand has to be there, or else they aren't producing this tea for an established market to consume.  Distribution channels also need to be open to the change. They've been selling other forms of Darjeeling for a long time (mostly that, at least), and need to accept a shift in cost, and other changes.  It's just far easier to source and sell the same products than to make any changes, which also involves some degree of risk.  It would filter down to packaging issues too; more whole leaf products won't be as dense, changing that requirement.

Before going further with that range of effects, and how it has worked out in practice, we might consider why Rishi sees this as a natural next step, and why it's so necessary.  He explained that it's his passion to make better versions of tea.  Seems a bit idealistic, maybe almost too simple, but I fully accept that a main part of pushing this change is a personal love of tea.  It's the part that presumably all tea enthusiasts share, just in different forms.  Per my preference their teas are the best Darjeeling I've ever tried.  But then I'm not a Darjeeling specialist, and focus more on Chinese teas, which has probably driven me to be biased towards this tea form and related character (experienced brewed tea aspects that tend to correspond with that form).

While I'm on an aside I want to cover one more tangent, prior to getting back to how broad awareness and demand issues are playing out.  Brewing some teas Western style works better than a Gongfu approach, and for some Gongfu brewing is much better.  It applies by tea type as one factor, with others also relevant.  Sheng pu'er gives better results brewed Gongfu style (using a much higher proportion and many short infusions, versus using a teaspoon per cup brewed for 4 to 5 minutes, maybe only for two infusions).  Broken leaf material, for green and black tea, typically works out better brewed Western style.  As I see it shu pu'er is an odd exception; it works fairly well made lots of different ways, not just Western or Gongfu brewed, but also "grandpa style," or even thermos brewed.  If one assumes that only Western style brewing is going to be used this change to whole leaf versions would still be positive, but that offsets some of the potential for improved experience.

All of that is my own personal opinion; others could see brewing issues and likely cause and effect patterns far differently.  That applies to most range related to tea.  Expectations change a lot, and personal preference changes what is the best-case outcome quite a bit.

there's always at least one issue with every picture (credit Suzana)

Demand and awareness patterns

We talked as much about how distribution channels and end-point vending is affected by shifting the nature of the product (moving from broken leaf to whole leaf), but I'll settle more here on the consumer perspective instead.  In taking up that other discussion it could easily seem like I'm blaming wholesale distribution systems and companies for being short-sighted, or favoring profits over an inclination to provide the highest quality tea, and all of this isn't intended as judgmental in that way.  Change occurs slowly in relation to the activities of large companies and governments, or even related to consumer preferences (typically); it just is what it is. Selling what people already expect and want is a much easier, more direct path to profiting as a business.  It works as well to look at related issues from a different angle and consider consumer preference instead of distribution or sales range, which is the angle I'll review the same issues in regard to instead.

Some people are getting it.  Access to these teas is out there in different vending forms, and word gets out.  Not nearly as much in India as in European markets and in America, as Rishi described it.  That's partly due to expectations, to the developed tea enthusiast perspective in places like the US having been shaped by Chinese product ranges, in part.  Indians don't already drink that much Chinese tea; they produce their own domestically.

To be clear when I'm talking about "tea enthusiast preference" here I'm generally not referring to people buying tea in tins at the grocery store.  That's a different range of products.  It seems so judgmental, to sweep aside the entire mainstream product range as irrelevant, but that's not entirely what I mean, and a bit beside the point.  Those teas are fine, there is nothing wrong with consuming them and loving them, they're just something else, a different kind of thing.  They are lower in quality and cost, in general.  Part of why what I mean might not be clear is because what grocery stores sell varies by country, and by type of grocery store, specialty stores versus more mainstream versions.  At the same time I say that I've been to grocery stores in a dozen different countries, throughout the US, a lot of Asia, in Australia, and in Russia, and it's a lot more consistent than one might expect.  Tea aisles in China are really something to see but even in places like Japan the range can be limited (although they are a lot more open to foreign teas than I expected, based on very limited sampling input there).

Products sold by a mainstream online outlet like Yunnan Sourcing represent this "better quality" range I'm talking about. Or even Adagio, to a lesser extent, or Moychay, in Russia.  Per ideas outlined by Ralph in the last talk--meeting with an Assam farmer and producer and smaller scale online Indian specialty tea vendor--the main channels in Germany sell tea not completely unlike grocery store tin versions, maybe just a slightly broader range across parts of the scale.  Smaller shops and online vendors fill in higher quality source range (whole-leaf tea, higher quality Chinese and Japanese teas, a typical broad range of sheng pu'er and oolongs, etc.).  In India Ketlee, that vendor outlet we discussed last week, and others like Tea Leaf Theory, represent attempts to source and distribute higher quality range.

Soon enough in one might question how broad the demand is for these ranges of tea, leading to the question of how relevant they are in relation to the grocery store versions (again which I'm not really condemning, or really clearly defining, even though I don't really drink much of that range).  Are we talking about the equivalent of a $30-40 bottle of wine, something mid-range but priced beyond what many people would purchase, or $100-200 per bottle versions, that next level up, demanded by an even smaller group?  

Right now by consumer count the demand for higher quality tea is limited (everywhere, per my understanding), even for 10-20 cents a gram moderate cost tea.  The expense level is at the far low end of the scale though, in relation to wine.  On the high side 3 grams of 20 cent a gram tea would easily brew two cups, at 30 cents a cup, and on that low side for "better wine" a glass of $30 / bottle costs about $8.  To put both in perspective a retail take-away cup of coffee tends to sell for over $5 in the US now, which varies here in Bangkok depending on the outlet, but that range is common too.

Limited demand seems to be about limited awareness, not mostly about a cost barrier.  People in the US overwhelmingly favor drinking tea-bag tea that costs less than 5 cents a cup, versus that 30 cent range, but I think many could easily afford the extra quarter.  Then in interest-specific tea groups that can seem odd, since some people are debating whether $80 a cake sheng pu'er is good enough for them to drink or not (which is already beyond my own tea budget, to be clear).  That's still 22 cents a gram, dividing out from a standard 357 gram amount, so still just at what I'm describing as the high side of high quality but moderate cost specialty tea.

Without someone having experienced any of this range I'm talking about it would all be far too abstract to make any sense of it.  How could someone get any feel for the typical differences in wines that retail for $10, $30, and $100 per bottle if they never drank much wine at all?  It could all seem a waste, something that only wealthier people need to be concerned about.  Then it's a little odd setting that framing related to tea, and saying that a 30 cent cup of tea is out of bounds, while someone regularly buys $5 cups of coffee (or maybe $8 is more typical at Starbucks now).  Water costs $1 a bottle, inexpensive versions of it.  Again, it's probably more about awareness and developed preference based on prior exposure than a cost and value issue.

Huyen's nephew learns about Darjeeling

Other scope

Since that was a main point, that already involved a few tangents, I won't go further in detail about other discussion.  The parts about tea processing were interesting, but I can't summarize that clearly, even if I wanted to.  We talked a little about what is considered to be oolong in India, but it's probably as well just setting that aside, since use of terms and actually different character products tend to mix in such a discussion.  If Indian oolong is ever a lot like Taiwanese or Fujian oolong then I've not tried that yet, but I've definitely tried some exceptional teas presented as Indian oolong, that were just something else.  One other part about plantation worker issues stood out as worth a short description.

It seems as well to add a comment clarifying this directly from him, from later message discussion:

Darjeeling for a specialty tea region is plucking 4 seasons. It is rare because it is a plantation model. Those dependent on the plantation don't do anything else. This is challenging and explains a lot of the reasons why things are structured the way they are. 

Rishi didn't really map out all of that part, or suggest how to resolve staff related concerns that remain problematic.  Tea plantation worker pay is a concern, and other worker welfare and security issues.  He said that standard pay rates, and what they can afford to pay to their harvest and processing staff, are on the low side, in relation to what would provide a high standard of living.  And work demands and conditions are challenging, not ideal.  He mentioned ways they were trying offset and resolve those concerns, which don't all relate to increasing worker pay.  They are also focusing on employee welfare and benefit issues, trying to make sure that health care is available, and retirement support.

Both Suzana and Rishi mentioned regional factors and cultural issues that keep it all from being simple, competing broad forms of employment by regions, and patterns in work preferences that all employers need to work around.  Since this was a shorter discussion, not explored in depth in terms of causes or potential resolution, it seems as well to just set it aside here.

It's interesting to consider how those issues went in relation to covid changing things, but we didn't get to that.  Assuring worker safety must have been a nightmare, a complete impossibility to fully accomplish.  Throughout all the discussion more focus was on tea though, especially on what Gopaldhara and Rohini are trying to do that's a bit different and challenging, which really seemed to work out well.

Gopaldhara Darjeeling Jethikupi and Thor, 1st and 2nd flush

I'm reviewing two more samples sent for review by Gopaldhara.  All the others have been really exceptional, some about as good as conventional first and second flush versions seem to ever get, some really novel oolong versions.  

Picking what I'm reviewing as sets randomly hasn't led to natural type-overlap themes, and again that holds up, again comparing first and second flush versions (so contrasting them?).  Luckily I can review two dissimilar teas without that throwing me off, an outcome from trying to do that a few dozen times in the past.  If the two (or more) versions don't share much for common ground the experience of one doesn't inform much about the other, eg. highlighting a feel difference, or minor flavor character, but it doesn't really hinder the review process either.

I'll cite the vendor descriptions for these and get straight to the review notes, since it does add up.

Rohini Jethikupi White – First Flush 2020

...Rohini is mostly the first garden to produce the first flush teas in Darjeeling. The workers carefully pluck the tea leaves while making sure that only the best shoots with eminent buds are plucked. This season the growth of Darjeeling tea is very slow and the workers could only bring in a very small quantity of leaves that are very special. The plucking of tea leaves is of such fine quality that the tea is mostly hand sorted with very fewer machinery works involved.

The tea bushes are grown and harvested at an elevation between 1500-3000 feet. The bushes are fresh as they have just come out of an extended period of remaining inactive cause of the prolonged winters of almost about 3 months from the month of November to January.  The low temperature experienced during winters has given a very well defined character to the tea.

This tea is made from the best quality P-157 clones which is one of the best clones planted in Darjeeling. The dry leaves are bright green in appearance and consist of two whole leaves and a bud. The teas are very mildly oxidized and are delicately processed to induce minimal damage. All oxidation done is overnight and natural with nothing being induced vigorously.

This Darjeeling fresh First Flush Tea is very light on the palette, having a very mouthful flavor that leaves a clean note with smooth finish having an abundant flavor. The flavor is full and leaves a very pleasant and distinct aftertaste with zero astringencies. The infusion has to be kept absolutely green.

In some past reviews I've talked through typical first and second flush character but I skipped that in these notes; no need to keep going through it.

Gold (Thor) – Rare Hand Rolled Second Flush 2020

The tea is extremely full and expertly fully oxidized to extract all the flavor. It takes a lot of different processes to oxidize, without crushing and cutting the leaf. Every time you crush and cut the leaf you introduce harshness to the cup. This tea is very clean with absolute no hints of astringency and harshness. It is honey sweet with a very well rounded Muscatel finish and notes of ripe fruits. It has been the best lot in the second flush muscatel category.

It is 100% handpicked with no machinery involved. The garden workers are very careful in their plucking to make sure only the best shoots with prominent buds are plucked. The top elevation of Gopaldhara Tea Estate which stretches up to 5500-7000 Ft is planted with the best quality AV2 bushes, the most preferred clones in Darjeeling.

This Darjeeling muscatel tea is super fine to taste and has all the characteristics of a premium tea. It brews into a very bright orange and clear cup having smooth fruity taste and muscatel character. The finish is long, honey sweet & captivating. It is one of our finest second flush teas and a must try for every summer tea lovers. 

I don't really make a big deal of these not including much for astringency in the notes, just enough feel to give them richness of body.  Again that's because I'm doing the third or fourth review, and I've just went through all that in others.  In doing dis-similar combined tea reviews I tend to narrow aspect focus down more just to flavor, usually mentioning mouthfeel and aftertaste aspects, but not much.  Probably what I consciously experience of those aspects narrows in trying to take more in too, and to write it all down.

Review:

I skipped taking the dry leaf photo; strange.  This is an earlier 1st and 2nd flush set.

Jethikupi: interesting for tasting like spice, like fennel seed. These are offset a lot in oxidation level, so this isn't a normal comparison of similar versions [with them being 1st and 2nd flush, as one might expect].  This is quite pleasant, although match to personal preference at this stage would relate to a take on that spice flavor.  Richness and fullness fills in general character, and the flavor is complex. One light part leans towards lemon zest. Some light mineral gives it a nice base. Something like cured hay fills in some range in between, with all that integrating well.

Thor:  a bit unusual. Warm tones I expected from the color, and some fruit and floral range, all present. There is a but of other earthy range that I didn't expect, towards cured tree bark. It's not bad, not musty or off, just not part of the profile that a expected, a light, sweeter, citrus range. Since these early rounds are still evolving I'll break that to more of a flavor list next time.

2, Jethikupi:  evolving well; the fennel seed spice is still present but a lot of citrus kicked in. This is now mainly lemon range citrus with light floral and some fennel spice supporting that, instead of the other way around.  That distinctive brightness and intensity I had expected is there. The feel even has a fullness to it, and the citrus trails a bit as aftertaste. There is no astringency to contend with; whole leaf processing seems to drop almost all that out. This doesn't have a lot of feel structure to it but the rich fullness works, versus that being a lot more edgy.

Thor: this ties together and evolves to be better too. A bit of earthy edge drops back to be a base, with sweeter tones filling in complexity.  There is some citrus but it's not dominant at all, like a light blood orange tone, a milder variation of ruby grapefruit. Warm floral is along the line of rose. It seems a hint of spice joins, or maybe it's that an initial earthiness has already transitioned to warm spice. For these both shifting that much early the next round should be different too.  Feel is full and pleasant, with no astringency beyond that fullness.

3 Jethikupi: richness ramped up, and the citrus; this is much more intense. Probably brewed a few seconds longer too, although in both cases it seemed just under 10 seconds to me. For using a much lower proportion that short timing would need to be doubled. The same flavor list in last round applies, but the proportion of those flavors is different. This is really citrus intensive now. Given that I love fruit flavor in tea best that works well for me. 

You can't even notice a spice aspect in this now but it seems likely that input range gives it a complex effect. Even though it's mostly lemon citrus it doesn't come across as one dimensional. Probably that light tone of warm cured hay fills in the experience of depth too. This is relatively sweet and very clean in character, but how it all balances stands out more than any one input. It's good.

Thor: this version is more balanced across a broader range of flavor aspects. It's not the same as last round; it is shifting. A warm, sweet, rich flavor range like apple cider stands out. It's natural to try to interpret the current round in terms of the last round so it could seem like warm citrus, rich floral, and spice instead. To me it's onto apple cider range, with a trace of brown bread relating to the evolving earthier range.

This reminds me of a tea reviewer who writes long, round by round reviews, in which he seems to describe different teas each round, Mattcha's blog. I think he's focused on the opposite theme, on changes, and is mostly communicating only what is different, even though commonality runs through the infusions. It's probably both a bias towards noticing change and a communication issue. Taken for what it probably really means it seems likely to be accurate, and is interesting. 

The other side of that is that imagination does come into play when reviewing teas. You need to disassociate with expectations, to some extent, and to connect experiential and analytic (verbal) parts of your experience that more typically never link. Interpretive bias never fully drops out, so you need to try to work around it instead, to make allowance for it, and factor it in.

4 Jethikupi: richness and warmth picks up; the range shifts. That fruit tone is still mostly citrus but a bit of watermelon joins that. The neutral-tone depth I've described as cured hay picks up. Seeing that as similar to crysanthemum instead would make sense, as a relatively neutral floral tone. It integrates better than it might sound, citrus, watermelon, chrysanthemum, and cured hay.

Thor: a bit more malt tone pulls this towards a more standard black tea profile. It's interesting how citrus is present but it doesn't dominate, how lots of range balances. Again feel is pleasant, and overall balance. A hint more dryness might join that malt tone but it's on the opposite extreme of being astringent. 

I'll give these a slightly longer soak and leave off; my patience for writing notes is running out.

5 Jethikupi: integrating even better maybe. Mineral depth bumps up a bit brewed just a touch stronger. No negative aspects show through at all; that's nice. Citrus input, the balance, is lower but it's still a main flavor.

Thor: I could almost write a new flavor list for this, like "Matt" does in that other blog that I mentioned. A number of inputs all balance, with none standing out. It's not so different than the earlier list but the effect is different, the way it shifts to not emphasize any one or two parts. That list again: citrus (just not much of it), warm floral, touch of soft malt, some underling warm mineral, fruit. To me the fruit is more like dried mango at this point.

Conclusions:

All in all good teas. They did brew a number of additional rounds, that was just a good place to leave off taking notes.  They were not exactly what I expected, more complex and novel, not just sticking with those dominant citrus and floral tones. That's probably a good thing, Gopaldhara's tea versions including that diversity of outcomes. This description probably doesn't convey how integrated and well balanced those flavor lists came across, or how the feel contributed, but so it goes with verbal description of experiences.  

I think as with the last Wuyi Yancha version I just wrote about I tend to be more blown away when I try a version within a different range again, then after reviewing some it just seems normal for one to be so exceptional.  These two tea versions really could re-write what Darjeeling potential is all about for someone, but since I've reviewed a half dozen recently it's just the range that they all fall in.  

They are right that whole-leaf preparation, versus the more conventional chopped leaf form, makes a huge difference.  There is no "brewing around" astringency, or liking the tea in spite of that harsh edge.  It would never cross anyone's mind to put milk in them.  For the lower oxidation level first flush range that wouldn't even match very well, but it just wouldn't make sense for the Thor second flush version either.  They are just right as they are.  Probably best brewed Gong Fu style, but I would imagine these would be great prepared Western style too, it just wouldn't optimize them, per my preference.

I just saw a post about their fall harvest teas, just now released.  It wasn't in this set, of course, but their Red Thunder has probably been my favorite among all their teas in the past.  It's hard to say why, and really not fair to comment a lot on a tea version I've not tried from this year.  People who are a fan of autumn harvest Darjeeling already know what I'm talking about though.  They might give up a bit of intensity to first and second flush but they can gain even more back in complex and well-balanced character.  

Their Red Thunder description is a biased take (of course) but it will pass on some idea of that:

A limited-edition Darjeeling Autumn flush produced from frosted leaves from the best clone of Darjeeling also known as AV2. It is the rarely special as not many bushes of AV2 can be found at these high peaks. Extreme cold weather conditions which in the night can touch 0 degrees at the high elevations of Gopaldhara induces special and complex flavour of ripe fruits into the tea. The tea brews into a bright orange cup with a very rich character and full rounded and dense fruity flavour. The aftertaste is very clean and sweet with a prominent finish of Honey.

a recent biking outing in a Bangkok park (rot fai, railroad park)

lots of that park is beautiful but these trees stand out as interesting

my tea circle (photo credit to Suzana)

both kids had birthdays this month (7 and 12 now); here giving alms to monks in observance

Rohini Enigma and Enigma Gold, Darjeeling second flush teas

Enigma Gold left, Enigma right

I'm comparison tasting Rohini Enigma and Enigma Gold.   These are good teas.  They're completely different than the lighter style of the first flush versions I've been reviewing, reminding me a little of the effect of Oriental Beauty, a nice range.  Both are a bit more oxidized than typical lighter Darjeeling first flush styles but not completely in the range of black tea, maybe not as oxidized as second flush teas tend to be, but then styles vary.


They really don't remind me of a second flush tea in terms of other aspect character either.  The citrus element could relate to muscatel, although it seemed different to me, a bit lighter and brighter, and there's quite a bit of bright fruit range.  The Gopaldhara site, that lists some versions produced by Rohini, a related plantation, doesn't list these.  I'll say at the end what it is, and what the producer mentioned about it, but for now I'll leave it as a riddle wrapped in a mystery.

Review

The Enigma version is nice.  The base flavors are warm and sweet, with light, clean earthy aspects, with a bit of bright citrus balancing that.  One taste aspect is just a bit off cinnamon, maybe in between cinnamon and nutmeg.  Fruitiness is hard to summarize, complex, a bit like cooked mango, but with more range.  It all really works.

teaberry!

The Enigma Gold pushes all that to the next level (although of course that's partly my interpretation; they're similar but not the same).  There's one taste aspect that really takes me back:  teaberry.   Those grow wild where I'm from--in Pennsylvania--and nothing has ever tasted like that, until now.  That taste is bright and sweet, and distinctive.  It tastes a little like those sweeter tones in the old scratch and sniff kid's products, which I haven't seen for a long time.




There's a lot more going on than just teaberry.  The aspects set takes what the Enigma version was doing and extends it.  One part is a little like cinnamon, and another a brighter citrus tone.  A bit of mineral balances all that,  not presented as astringency, not even as feel or structure; it's in the range of taste.  It gives up a little of that cooked mango fruit range for adding those layers but has more going on, and is probably a little fruitier, just in a different range.

Enigma Gold left, Enigma right

On the next infusion the Enigma doesn't transition much, still well balanced, not different.  The feel is nice, with good lingering flavor after, even brewed lightly.  That mango aspect reminds me a little more of pineapple this time, a little brighter.  It definitely includes citrus too, just not as heavy as muscatel typically comes across, in a lighter range.  I could guess an orange type to attribute it to but that would just be making something up to get an idea across:  blood orange?

The warmth picks up in the Gold version.  How those aspects balance really can't be described, it has to be experienced, but of course I'll start in.  It shares some of the feel of a lighter black tea, more in a Chinese style range, but it's not exactly like that, with a brightness and complexity coupled with flavors depth and range that only compares to Oriental Beauty (Taiwanese oolong, Bai Hao, Dong Fang Mei Ren, you know).

Enigma brewed leaves, colorful

If this was sold as a Darjeeling attempt at OB it would seem like they had some success with matching that style, or at least in interpreting it.  It wasn't; I'm just using that to help explain it.  The set of flavors--citrus, spice, other fruit--is the same, and the mid-level oxidation isn't far off either.  This must be slightly less oxidized than a typical OB (70-80% oxidized for those, as I recall, as much as specifying that even makes sense).


Brewing these a little longer to keep the intensity up--on the fourth infusion--the mineral and earthiness of the Enigma extends to a light dryness, picking up a trace of wood, but it still works well.  The sweetness and citrus balances those aspects.  The citrus aspect still isn't completely different than muscatel, maybe drawing closer, but it doesn't seem identical to that, to me.


The intensity of the Gold version picks up, brewed a little longer, along with the mineral element and feel.  Brewed stronger these resemble black tea more, but per my preference their optimum is to be prepared a little lighter. It's not as if you need to work around astringency or bitterness, they would be fine prepared in different ways.  It is strange to prepare them Gongfu style in the first place but as I keep saying it's just the page I'm on now; it's interesting to keep messing with that.  With transitions a bit limited it wouldn't change much to use Western style brewing, although I'd expect the aspects range to shift just a little based on even a minor parameters change.  A tea like this one would probably change character quite a bit brewed at different temperatures, for example.

The Enigma tea was nice, unique, positive, well-balanced, with great characteristics, it just suffered a little in comparison since the Enigma Gold had just a little more going on.  The Gold was a little fruitier, slightly more complex, with a little more spice, a combination that was interesting and positive.  Both were great teas, not exactly like any others I've tried, but the Gold really stood out as something different.

wild turkeys (where that teaberry picture was taken, in PA, the same day)

It's a bit of a tangent, but I ran across this looking up teaberry background:


The fruits of G. procumbens, considered its actual "teaberries", are edible, with a taste of mildy sweet wintergreen. The leaves and branches make a fine herbal tea, through normal drying and infusion process. For the leaves to yield significant amounts of their essential oil, they need to be fermented for at least three days.

Those do taste a little like wintergreen!  Too bad no one living in that house in the picture is remotely as obsessed with tea as I am; those plants in the other picture are growing almost in the frame, a few steps from that one turkey, with lots more around.  This part was interesting too:

White-tailed deer browse wintergreen throughout its range, and in some localities it is an important winter food. Other animals that eat wintergreen are wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, northern bobwhite, ring-necked pheasant, black bear, white-footed mouse, and red fox. 

Those turkeys might have been snacking on it.  It is tasty; I ate a few of the berries that day too.

What the teas are

Per the Gopaldhara manager the harvest timing is really in between first and second flush.  These are made from AV2, the plant type I'm familiar with from other Gopaldhara types, capable of making some amazing, soft, fruity, complex teas.

The preparation style seemed in between what's typical of first and second flush to me as well, which was interesting.  According to him the oxidation level is unusual, more medium than is typical, low for second flush.  You just never see that much fruit and that much spice from the same tea, unless it is a Taiwanese Oriental Beauty, and then that would be typical.

Shiv Saria, tea man (credit FB profile)

I asked the manager of the Rohini plantation, Shiv Saria, about the teas,  (a really nice guy, and unusually knowledgeable, probably even as tea-makers go), and he mentioned some background:



Enigma is made in 2nd Flush from AV2 leaves.

Unlike other Darjeelings, it is lightly rolled in small batches in China rollers to avoid heat generation and prevent the cup from being opaque and coloury. 

I visited Taiwan and imported oolong machinery including a panner, from there.  Prof Kunzo Sakata, of Kyoto, Japan, was trying to get us to produce OB teas in Darjeeling.

The withered leaves are fixed before rolling and final drying is also done in a panner.

Enigma Gold, is slightly lighter withered, for a more coloury cup and is made from leaf from section no 5, AV2- higher elevation and weaker bushes due to poor soils.

We do not sun the plucked leaf, as is required in oolong manufacture


Fascinating stuff!  Some of that would mean more to me if I actually made tea but it's still interesting.

In further discussion he confirmed this production processing is still far removed from that of oolong, but per this input it draws on processing experimentation and equipment use from different sources, and lots of experience.

Based on drinking those teas it all seemed to work out nicely.

Rohini Estate first flush Darjeeling Jethikupi white tea

Jethikupi White, Rohini Estate first flush white Darjeeling

This tea was presented as a Jethikupi White Darjeeling from Rohini Estate, a first flush tea.  This is a good time to touch on the basic differences between a white tea and black tea, related to a graphic showing minimum processing steps per type:

World of Tea processing steps chart (credit)

Given that first flush Darjeelings aren't typically fully oxidized (true black teas) there's even less character difference than for more conventional black teas, related to those rolling and oxidation steps dropping out.  On to review.


The tea looks and smells great, with very light leaf material and buds.  The scent is fresh and fragrant, floral with a good bit of citrus.

The taste of the initial infusion is very bright and fresh.  Flavors are subdued due to going light on this infusion, basically using a light steeping / long rinse to get the tea started, but it’s clear where it’s all going.  The brightness and freshness stands out the most, and beyond that individual attributes, floral tones, a bit of citrus, sweetness that ties in light fruit aspects with the floral range, even a trace of light dried hay for complexity.

same leaves, closer up

The second infusion works out even better for picking up infusion strength and intensity, although still brewed lightly.  I initially wanted to brew this straight Western style, to match expectations and maintain more repeatability for readers, but ended up using a light version of Gongfu style, or Western style using a gaiwan and more infusions (sort of in the middle, between conventional styles).  The end effect won't be so different, typically, but I like the outcome better using shorter infusions at a higher proportion of tea to water.


The tea has a round type of feel and sweet, drinkable character which I’ve come to associate with the AV2 plant type characteristics (although it's not exactly that; the plant type is listed as 157 clones).  That freshness seems to relate to capturing a floral tone in a unique way, like a light and sweet wildflower scent and taste, bright, but hinting towards the bright and light vegetal range.  I don’t mean this tea tastes like kale or spinach, quite the opposite, instead that the scent of a picked flower would include a lightness from both the petals and also some hint of leaves and stem.  It’s not astringent, at all, very soft in effect, so nothing like the dandelion taste (for anyone that’s tasted those), on the far opposite side of that range too.  It's also fruity, it's just not obvious which fruit or fruits to include as a list of aspects, something bright, perhaps with enough complexity maybe more than one.


For using relatively low water temperature and limited infusion times the tea has plenty of flavor and character.  Lighter seems to be the way to go for this tea, not as for sheng pu’er because that’s going to balance out the astringency and bitterness that normal brewing intensity turns up, but because it provides lots of taste prepared that way; it just works well.  It’s as for Wuyi Yancha; brewing a strong infusion of good versions of those teas would almost waste them, spoiling some of the effect of presenting the attributes in their most natural balance.

brewing

On the next infusion the floral picks up even a little more.  It transitions from a light wildflower floral scent to heavier, moving just a little towards a richer flower type effect, lavender or orchid, or something like that.  I’ve still not resolved that floral scent memory issue, so I don’t have a broad flower impression bank to draw on.  There is still a lot of other range giving the tea complexity, including a nice citrusy high note, in addition to other fruit, in the range of orange zest, but so light that it’s in between tangerine and lemon instead.  Even though the tea is light and bright it’s also complex, with more taste range filling in depth that is harder to notice but present, something like dried hay or sunflower seed, but subtle enough that pinning down specific related flavors is difficult.

It’s too early to push the tea to try to get more out of it, even though 3 or 4 infusions in, but I went slightly hotter on the water for a slightly longer steep to see how the tea balanced brewed this way, while it still had a lot to offer.  It’s quite intense made this way, but not overdoing it.  I still think lighter is the right way to enjoy this tea, for me, but it’s interesting seeing the change.  The floral picks up strength to become perfume-like.

only the smaller one is a tea drinker, at this point

That hint of vegetal trace, like a very light flower stem aspect, not really a bitter version of one though, picks up a lot too, altering the feel.  It’s hard to describe what that means, how it comes across, but almost as a touch of dryness.  This tea can’t really be astringent, per it’s base character, although hitting it with boiling point water for a four minute soak might enable that.


Floral is still heavy but even more fruit undertone joins in, similar to that taste in juicyfruit gum, bright, sweet, and complex.  That taste is a little towards pandan leaf or Fruity Pebbles cereal, if that gum reference doesn’t ring a bell.  The fruit aspect is pronounced and complex but I've not done it justice isolating it; it seems best described as a mix of different fruits, maybe something like tangerine / lemon citrus with peach and apricot, just a bright version of those, complicated further by floral tones joining in.



It’s described as a white tea but the character is interesting.  It reminds me some of the Nepalese whites I’ve drank in the past, the best versions.  That’s backwards, that comparison, isn’t it?  Those should be trying to be like this.  Either way they achieve some related effects, a lightness and brightness, good sweetness, lots of floral character and fruit, and nothing negative to detract from all that.  This may just be a little cleaner and brighter, but then I have tried a couple of really nice white teas from Nepal.  Let's check on the vendor description for more insight:


It has a tantalizing sweet aroma of ripe fruits with abundant fresh flavor.  The cup is very fruity and mellow with rich notes. The flavor is full and it leaves behind a very pleasant and distinct aftertaste. The low temperatures experienced during Winters impart a very distinct character to the tea.


That's it, but as can happen the aspects and flavors list approach doesn't really do justice to how bright and fresh the tea comes across.  It's intense.