Biodiversity research and wild origin teas

First published in TChing here and here

These types of themes usually run in just one direction, tied to a vendor claiming that their tea is “wild sourced” from naturally growing plants in the jungle.  Sometimes it really is.  Monsoon Tea in the North of Thailand specializes in that theme, and has worked with a Russian researcher, Alexey Reshchikov, who is doing research on assessing biodiversity and forest health, based out of China.

I just attended a talk by Alexey at a Monsoon location in Bangkok, with a video of that presentation here.  I won’t get far in covering what he said, and it’s easy enough to watch it, but a bit of summary will make a start.  Just bear in mind that I won’t do the fine points justice, this only comments on some parts.

Alexey does research into the health of ecosystems.  It’s possible to assess this by trapping insects and evaluating which ones are present.  Of course that would mean a lot more to a very specifically trained ecologist, which he is.  The idea is that the health of a forest depends on the balanced diversity of all forms of life present, the plants, the insects, and everything else living there, but the insects can provide a window into how the rest is going.

As an interesting related tangent, one particular kind of lack of health in a forested environment can occur when a new species is introduced into an ecosystem that isn’t already in balance with that insect (or animal or plant).  The US sees this happen from time to time.  There was a type of silk worm (gypsy moth) spread that destroyed a lot of Pennsylvania forests when I was younger, with that not an uncommon event, per this reference:

 

Collectively, oak, elm, ash, hemlock, butternut, dogwood, redbud, and chestnut trees died at a rate several times greater than that of unimpacted tree species. From 1991 to 2013, trees attacked by invasives accounted for about 25% of all tree death, measured by the amount of tree biomass lost…

 

trap system used to collect insects

Alexey mentioned a case in which a novel form of resolution for this had been utilized; researchers introduced an insect that disrupted the invading insect’s lifecyle, stalling the progress of destruction of entire forest areas.  In discussing a similar theme with Kenneth Rimdahl of Monsoon, related to Alexey’s research, he covered how one type of insect is actually a sort of guardian of the tea plants (trees).  It feeds on other insects that would feed on the leaves, protecting the plants, when present in significant numbers.

Truly natural environments find their own balance.  The role pesticides play in monoculture farming, moderating impact of insects, is replaced by naturally established relationships between organisms.  Alexey described how in evaluating the role pesticide plays in monoculture farming it is helpful to understand what that not-as-natural environment is like, what insects can live under such circumstances.  That would mostly be relevant to organic farming, since enough pesticide use strips the environment of most types of insects.  Such study is occurring through the Dali University that Alexey is a part of. 

Alexey and Kenneth discussed a related concern:  when farming using pesticide controls as soon as an insect gains tolerance for the chemicals it has unrestricted access to feed on the plants, requiring different chemical treatment to eliminate it.  It could potentially become a vicious cycle, requiring a series of changes over time, one with health impacts for consumers eating or drinking products made from those materials.

All very fascinating!  The entire talk is worth a watch, to catch the original form, or a related Tea Fauna Facebook page covers more, or the related Instagram version tells the story through photos.

In the end the goal is to promote preservation of truly natural wildlife areas.  Being able to assess the health of a local environment and knowing more about stages in between balanced, natural forests and ecologically stripped, monoculture farming environments could support this.  This early research work isn't necessarily building directly into a way to transition from monoculture farming back to more varied, organic approaches, or to use of truly natural environments as food sources.  It's about developing understanding and tools for analysis.

Beyond leading towards more natural organic approaches, another more extreme idea is that if wild forests can provide economic support, income for local people, that provides more incentive for protecting those environments.  The links and supports between original forest, least environmentally friendly farming (mono-culture approaches), more organic approaches, and re-forestation (the interim steps) make for a longer story.

Related to that one end point goal and sub-theme, Monsoon sells “wild” origin versions of Thai teas, as are produced all across South East Asia.  I'll mention a lot of examples of related teas here, without going into detail about character or background, with more information about them in linked materials.

The "wild" teas can be unusual.  Many of those have an odd sour taste, which is better once you are expecting it, and have a chance to acclimate a bit to the different style.  It’s not unique to their versions; I reviewed a wild Xiaguan sheng pu’er that was similar here (a 2005 version, so with some age), and a locally made sheng version produced by my favorite Bangkok shop owner (from 2012, so not “young” either), which I really liked.  

wild tea search in Laos, covered here, photo credit the Comité de coopération avec le Laos

I just reviewed a Yongde “ye sheng,” or wild origin material Yunnan black tea not long ago, but in that case I was talking about an unusual degree of tartness, not sourness.  It would depend on the mix of genetics in the plant material, and of course processing always affects outcome.  I reviewed a hill-tribe producer sourced Thai black tea last year that wasn't tart or sour, just quite good tea, maybe only a little more "rustic" than some more refined versions.  And I've reviewed a comparable themed version from Vietnam.  Again, differences in plant types and processing would factor in, so resulting character varies.

Those references relate mostly to black teas, since that's the general type I started on discussing, but wild and plantation produced sheng "pu'er-like" types come up across South East Asia too.  As of now the production and market for those probably aren't extensive enough to play a significant role in preventing further de-forestation.  But lots of little steps could add up, and help support retention of natural areas, including appreciation for forest-origin products.

a small tasting gathering after the talk

Myanmar sheng "pu'er-like-tea" gushu from Alex Phanganovich

 

I met a nice Russian guy recently at the Monsoon biodiversity study themed talk at a local Monsoon Tea shop.  Not Alexey Reshchikov, I don't mean, that researcher who presented there, although he definitely fits that description too.  There is a post in the works about that event, and forest biodiversity research.  Since that outing Alex and I met again at my favorite local tea shop, Jip Eu, and swapped some teas, and again between this tasting and the final post edit.  I'll try some of a tea that he passed on now, a Myanmar origin gushu sheng (which isn't pu'er, but it's made from the same plants in the same way, just one country over).

The gushu theme brings up some associations.  Of course it means old tea tree, and as I recall from back when I tried to pin down terminology more the age cut-off for the type can vary (normal usage; there probably is one clear convention).  Alex didn't play up the "wild" origin claims related to this, but if a tree really is over 100 years old it tends to not be growing in a plantation context.

There was a time when I thought I could identify aspects that were common to old-plant source sheng, more so than now.  The problem is that there are so many inputs related to final sheng character:  age of tree plant (it would make a difference), plant type, growing conditions (rainfall, soil related, sun exposure, etc.), and of course processing makes a lot of difference.  Storage changes a lot, even within a few months, but to a limited extent you can sort of "look back" to where any given aspects set probably started.  With that many variables it would be easy to get parts of it wrong, related to guessing out all causation, why a version is like it is.

I had thought that gushu sheng tended to be more intense in a limited sense, with more mineral undertone, often not quite as astringent, and potentially even slightly mild in flavor, again in a limited sense.  I thought that mouthfeel and aftertaste varied in characteristic ways, but then again the inputs all kind of mix.  I don't "get" feel effect, cha qi, enough to have ever been clear on that part.  The "wild plant" genetics issue complicates things, and variations in processing styles also do.  And trying teas presented as gushu that aren't really from old plants could throw things off; you can't identify clear patterns if your basic data set is corrupted.  

Now I tend to just not overthink things, going with whatever the experience is.  It helps in this case that I can't spend $1 / gram on teas I drink, so the subject comes up less frequently, and I don't have as much "skin in the game" as I might.

This is an odd case for me having tried this tea before, that day in the shop.  My reviews tend to never work out that way.  It's not because I think the more blind tasting is somehow better, although there are pros and cons to that, as there are to comparisons versus single tastings.  It's just how it seems to go.  If I buy a cake of something I could just as easily taste it a half dozen times before reviewing it, I just don't.  For samples there often is only two tries to work with.

This tea starts out really bitter, then that eases up after a few infusions, and really keeps mellowing out beyond that.  At one time I thought Myanmar sheng was like that in general, but I've since tried versions that aren't.  I think it relates to a plant type input difference, as with Lao Man E, but I don't know that.  Maybe I was more interesting to hear out when I thought I had more answers.  On with the re-tasting then.

Review:

First infusion:  brewed quite light, but still very bitter.  That's just getting ramped up too; the next round will probably be much more bitter.  I've made my peace with sheng versions being bitter but on the extreme side of that I don't like them as much.  The intensity and overall character is pleasant, beyond the bitterness, if that's not seen as an issue.  Related sweetness is nice, and flavors are clean, and overall balance is good.  I will surely like the range of effect after the third or fourth infusion better, once that intense bitterness plays through.  It's odd how it dropped out in this, the degree to which it did, in that earlier tasting session.  It's normal for some sheng to "loosen up" and be more approachable after 3 or 4 rounds but not so much for them to completely change character.  Transitioning a lot can come up though.

Maybe "bitter" is too vague; it comes in both degrees and types.  This isn't nearly as strong as I expect next round will be, but the actual taste is like biting into the flower from a dandelion.  Not as medicinal as taking an aspirin, but as pronounced in sharpness of the effect, just a little more vegetal.

Second infusion:  intensity picked up.  I went just over 5 seconds for brewing time, not short at all related to expected outcome, but I want to keep this part of the cycle moving.  It's actually slightly better for other range picking up, even though the bitterness did too.  Some vague warm tones increased, mineral range, and beyond that.  I suppose a warmer floral tone is the best description for that, with the sweetness of the dandelion (one other part of the floral experience) being joined by warmer toned floral.  This still needs two more infusions to be where I'll actually like the flavor.

This is a good place to re-visit how some people wouldn't focus on flavor at all, more on the body effect, or at least valuing mouth-feel and aftertaste a lot, the overall experience.  It might be possible for me to change lifestyle and become more in tune with the drug-like effect of teas.  Sitting at a desk for a work-week seems to not help, the mental sluggishness that goes with that form of unnatural experience, and the effect on your body that pairs with it.  I exercise a little to offset that, running, mostly, and had been doing yoga, but my instructor is back in India for now.  Meditation would probably help.  During the pandemic I had been meditating for 20 minutes most days, a fruit of recovered time from my commute dropping out.  Maybe I felt a little clearer then.  

Yesterday I went through an odd experience that is dropping my energy level a little this morning.  There are political protests in Bangkok now, related to people claiming that the last election wasn't fair.  The military oriented government just shut down the train system yesterday, during the Friday rush hour, to prevent access to those protests.  I walked 8 to 10 km through crowded streets and rain to get home (5 to 6 miles, for Americans).  I'm feeling it.  

Ordinarily grabbing a taxi would make sense, and it probably was possible to walk a mile or two directly away from the disruption, and then take an indirect route home, but I'd planned for my wife to pick me up in the middle, and complete gridlock extended to that area too.  Bad traffic is normal here but it was strange seeing block after block of cars just parked,  for miles.  The government had shut down some subway access too, and local bus service, intentionally crashing the public transit infrastructure; not so nice of them.  Luckily I like to walk.  This will just delay a run I would've probably did today.

it did take about that long

Third infusion:  coming together nicely; the next round will probably be more where I enjoy the aspects.  This is brewed for about 5 seconds, fast enough to be light, but even shorter would work at this proportion.  It's just a matter of habit to always brew the same tea proportion (a high one), but I could vary that.

It gains a little more depth, with that bitterness softening and integrating.  It doesn't have a strong floral punch, or a lot of sweetness, or intense flavor beyond those ranges, but that's not so unusual.  It could be gushu, or maybe it's not; I don't think I'd know.  Aftertaste intensity isn't really what I would expect for that.  Bitterness trails on after you swallow it but the general effect is a bit light.  Mineral depth is notable but it could ramp up more than this.  Really judging how the bitterness ties to the rest is what evaluating this tea is about, and quite-bitter sheng isn't my thing.  Personal preference isn't a necessary condition for evaluating a tea but it doesn't hurt if it works out to use that as a yardstick.

Fourth infusion:  this is more in a range I like, with the rest ramping up while bitterness drops off.  Probably one more round will be even better, with that transition that much further.  This includes warm mineral and floral range, along with bitterness, but the balance is still tipped towards that one aspect.  It's nice how much depth joins that, and overall intensity, and how clean the overall effect is.  It picks up a richer, "rounder" feel.  Aftertaste gains more duration and intensity, and it's less of just that one note coming across.  I'll break down next round to more of a list, given how I'm saying the transition stands.

Fifth infusion:  just as the tea is getting to where I like it more I'm losing attention span for making notes.  It still lacks some of the range that makes sheng really work well for me, the sweetness, floral and fruit complexity, hints of spice and such making flavors interesting, rich creamy feel adding depth, etc.  It's pretty good tea, it seems, but much better if someone is ok with bitterness playing a dominant role in the experience.  Which I don't love.  It's more balanced now, more complex, so there is more to appreciate, but mineral and very mild floral tone fills in along with the bitterness.  A neutral sort of fresh cut wood vegetal range adds more beyond that, but it's mostly the experience of depth, not so much that being positive, or leading to a great overall balance.

I think this does contribute a bit more heady feel than I usually pick up.  I eat along with teas in order to cut that range back, because I'm not into drinking tea as a drug-like experience, but I get it that many people tend to be.  My life's ordinary mental or physiological experience balance is fine, so I don't crave shifts in it.  If I want to relax I just relax; if I want to feel excitement or energy I do something exciting.  My kids are all about being on that latter page; I could go chase one of them around.

That reminds me of a funny micro-game my daughter has taken up playing.  She's on the agile side, a natural dancer, and has long since loved games where she just vanishes and hides.  Her latest twist is that she hides right behind me, out of my field of vision.  It sounds like it wouldn't work, and it doesn't when you know it's coming, but if I'm not thinking of it then it can, and she can mirror my movements.  I can't tap into quite that level of ongoing spirit of play, but it's literally going on around me all the time, so I can, through them.  For this moment zoning out seems nice, recovering from the long march home, and enjoying the ever-present monsoon rain.  I should probably be drinking a black tea.

yesterday's game was rolling them up in blankets like a burrito

Sixth infusion:  the best it has been, per my preference; I think it will level off for a few infusions like that.  The bitterness has eased up substantially, and that cut-wood tone is giving way to more mild but light floral range.  The balance works better.  I'm still done with taking notes, tired of writing.  You can imagine how I'd enjoy these next few rounds even more, and then stretch it out for a few more after that.  

It's good tea.  It's not a perfect match for my preference, and doesn't strike me as really high quality tea, the kind of version that really stands out, but it might be gushu, and it definitely has good intensity, clean character, and balance.  

Pairing that much bitterness with no traces of negative flavor or other range isn't a given; just a touch of off mineral or fungus would ruin this effect, or the wrong kind of smoke input would.  A little more sweetness would also improve it by the same amount; it is what it is.  To be clear I think my personal preference for type limits this more than the general quality level.

Conclusions:

Trying a different Myanmar sheng helped place this, a version from Chawang Shop that I reviewed awhile back.  Glancing through that review I think I like it a lot more now; it might've needed more time to settle after shipping in April, or maybe it just developed a bit for ramping up to this humidity level.  The short story is that it wasn't overly bitter; it balanced sweetness and floral tone, and overall flavor complexity and moderately full feel with a bit of bitterness.  At the same time the range it covered was also a bit limited, and all of those positives were only relative; it was good but not great. 

I'm not sure which tea was better in terms of some objective quality level.  Thickness of feel and aftertaste can serve as markers for identifying that kind of thing, or overall intensity, and sometimes a strong base mineral tone is present in gushu versions.  

That one bitterness note being so dominant in Alex's version made it hard to really appreciate the rest as much.  In those later rounds, even past the ones I made notes for, some creamy feel and a touch of lemon flavor stood out a little more.  Positive later-round infusions are a good sign, and it's more to enjoy.  It does kind of work to keep track of how many rounds a sheng brews, that are positive in character, and use that as a quality marker, but me not paying much attention or making notes for late rounds throws that off.

It doesn't seem like this ends with tidy conclusions; the teas were what they were.  Myanmar sheng is usually pretty good, relatively speaking, and these count as that.  This Kokang version also works as an example, which I didn't get around to mentioning here.  There is really positive other range, or greater depth and refinement, that the best Yunnan versions can exhibit, but that doesn't detract from how pleasant these two teas were.

Alex will move to the Chiang Rai area soon; stories about tea harvests and such should turn up as a result.  If you have leads for what to check out there pass those on and I'll let him know.  This blog doesn't have a "contact" section but the related Facebook page would work for that.

visiting with Alex at swim class; that avoids cutting a tasting short to go there

he met Kalani there; that doesn't come up too often

Gopaldhara winter harvest and Emperor's Choice

 

winter harvest left, Emperor's Choice right (in all photos)

Two more interesting teas from Gopaldhara.  The last teas I reviewed from them were really novel, two Indian oolong versions, among the best Darjeeling teas I have yet to try.  The Summer Beauty Muscatel and China Muscatel were also really exceptional.  Two others before that were closer to standard styles for Darjeeling, but again quite nice.

One of these is a little unusual in background, an early season tea made from the old leaves of winter growth, trimmed to clear the plants for new growth for the true first flush harvest.  It wouldn't be listed on the Gopaldhara website, more something different to try.

The Emperor's Choice was unusual for there being two samples of it included in that set (provided for review).  A second sample--that I didn't try yet--was listed as "rare," with their descriptions saying more about that:

Emperor's Choice:

Emperor’s Choice is a unique Darjeeling finest First Flush Tea from Gopaldhara Tea Estates, located in Mirik, is one of the highest elevated tea garden in this region & stretches up to 7,000 feet...

This Darjeeling finest First Flush Tea has a bright, rich, sweet, balanced cup layered with honey sweetness, in the floral range & is balanced by a complex flavor structure.The tastes is very clean & refined, simple in a way, but complex in a different sense. There is no astringency in the tea, and the flavor comes across as full with many notes.

The top elevation of Gopaldhara Tea Estates which stretches from 5500 to 7000 FT is planted with the best quality clone AV2. Also the bushes are fresh as they have just come out of hibernation from the prolonged winter of almost 4 months from December to March. During the first flush which also known as spring flush we have 100% growing shoots and get excellent buds with either single leaf or two leaves and a bud. The flavor is prominent as the weather is also very dry and cool which ensures very slow growth.

...The garden workers are very careful in their plucking by hand to make sure only the best shoots with prominent buds are plucked. Darjeeling First Flush Teas are known to be slightly oxidized. This tea is also made in the same way but it is sufficiently oxidized to ensure that all the exquisite flavors are prominently present.

I don't really get far with the theme in this review but that last part was a little unusual, placing this tea, because it's not as lightly oxidized as first flush tends to be, or as fully oxidized as second flush often are.  It doesn't include the heavier flavors of a typical second flush, but the character is different than a typical first flush for it being just a little more oxidized.  Not much more, as you can see from leaf and brewed tea colors, and flavor description.

A sample set description covers what the other "rare" sample is, that I didn't try yet:

Rare Emperor’s Choice White – Finest Darjeeling First Flush Tea Made from the best quality AV2 bushes at Rohini Tea Estates, finely plucked tippy whole leaf with a silvery appearance, A lively cup with traditional spring character having a tantalizing sweet aroma of ripe fruits with a finish of honey...

So from Rohini instead, a related estate, and white tea instead, so probably a bit lighter and fruitier.

In discussing this other "winter" version with the head of the plantation the character isn't typical of either first or second flush Darjeeling, because of the material type difference.  I didn't know that prior to tasting, and these tasting notes covered both without any background review first.  And they were a little rushed, because I was off to a swim class with my daughter

Review:

winter harvest:  bright and sweet.  This has an unusual combination of floral and vegetal tones going on.  It's pleasant, just not what I would've expected.  Straight-floral and high level of citrus have been standard in a lot of the other versions, but the vegetal range carries a lot of this experience.  It's like how a dandelion smells, the vegetal part, that edge.  

That's towards a spice too, something like fennel seed.  With the rest being light and floral, and it all being clean, it works better than that description would indicate, but then I feel like I have been spoiled by the blasts of sweet floral and citrus tones in their other teas.  I might stop short of saying this isn't as good, but it doesn't match my preference as well, at this stage.  The fennel seed part is interesting; mineral towards actual salt is probably pulling my impression in that direction, along with other flavor range.  It will be interesting to see how it changes.

Emperor's Choice:  warmer; in a completely different range.  A good bit of honey flavor comes across in this; it's rare for that to stand forward as a main flavor as it does in this.  Rich, complex floral tones fill in the rest.  From the look I thought this would be the normal story about one tea being more oxidized than the other, and warmer in tone, covering deeper flavor range, etc., and some of that story line plays out, but it's not just that.  This is pretty light in tone too.  

Interpreting this as fruit and floral range would work, along the lines of very ripe pear.  I say "very ripe" because the light, bright-flavored Asian pears are something else; this is the deeper, richer flavor that only ripe versions of Bosch pears bring across.  And floral, and warmer supporting tones.

Second infusion:

winter harvest:  very interesting.  This gains depth and complexity but across a similar flavor scope.  A bit of lemon fills in at the higher end; that works well. The fennel seed / trace of salt eases up, and vegetal range gives way to the floral scope.  It's better.  

There's a lot going on.  Floral range is probably the strongest, but that vegetal-into-spice range is on par with that.  Feel gains depth; there's a richness and smoothness to this.  A bit more sweetness might shift impression a lot, making it seem a lot more floral.  That being moderate (for their teas; still high in relation to some others) makes the other range stand out more.  An unusual form of mineral depth rounds all that out, making for a very complex experience.

Emperor's Choice:  also really interesting, also quite complex.  This also includes a lot of mineral depth that rounds out a lot of the rest.  It's hard to place this floral tone, and the other supporting range, although it does taste distinctively like Darjeeling to me.  I've not been saying terms like citrus and muscatel, and to some extent that applies, but not in relation to their other versions blasting out that range.  This seems closer to the grape input than the grape-wine input I take to represent muscatel (wine made from a muscat grape).  

It works well, the overall balance.  I'm not sure it's quite on the level of what else I've tried in earlier samples, but those had set a bar really high, being among some of the more positive Darjeeling versions I've ever tried.  These are both quite good, and only suffer in that particular comparison.  [This last statement seems more like a quality level assessment than it was probably intended; more at the end covers how a style issue changed interpretation of this tea experience.]

Third infusion:

surely brewed stronger, but using my old phone throws off consistent light interpretation

winter harvest:  maybe filling in just a little more.  It's interesting the way that fennel seed spice aspect combines with the rest, the floral tone.  This doesn't remind me of any other tea I've ever tried.  It wouldn't be for everyone but to me this balance works.  It's clean and well balanced, with decent sweetness, just not a lot of it compared to the others I've tried from them.  The feel is positive.  

I can't count that fennel spice aspect as a flaw, but it is unusual, and how someone takes it would depend on preference.  Other floral tone fills in beyond that, harder to split out, with a nice mineral base adding depth.

Emperor's Choice:  there's a nice warmth to this.  That could be interpreted as coming from warm floral tone range, like sunflower, but warmer.  Or from a warm mineral input.  Extended in the same direction by a lot it might tie to a dry feel, but it just doesn't in this.  The balance is really nice in this tea.  Including just a bit more sweetness than the other really shifts the overall effect.  The flavors are just completely different though, so it doesn't work well to compare the two.

Conclusions:

It's a little early for conclusions, based on writing this as notes before trying more rounds later.  These are still transitioning in interesting ways, and to some extent still improving.  I'll probably drink a couple of rounds and get back to write final notes, but I'm off to swimming class so I'll do the main editing while here, filling in the vendor description, smoothing out errors in the notes.

The main take-away, for me, is that the other versions of Gopaldhara teas I've tried recently were so exceptional that it just wasn't going to work to keep liking versions more and more.  These are good examples of Darjeeling, very positive and distinctive, and pleasant to experience.  To me they're not quite as much so as the last two rounds of other teas that I reviewed.  Then again to some extent different is better, and it doesn't really work to just expect more sweetness, more mellow character and fullness of feel, more citrus and muscatel.  

To experience that a few times is novel and very positive, the dialed-up range of most pleasant Darjeeling aspects, but variety is what makes teas interesting, and pleasant to drink and explore every single day.  

[Later]:  I tried both again for a number of additional rounds, and the first version fared less well through those for astringency picking up with extending the infusion times.  The leaves being a bit more broken would tend to lead to that.  It wasn't anything like the "this needs milk added" level; I mean in relation to teas I tend to drink.  Feel thickness was fine though, countering some of that for filling in depth of experience.  The Emporer's Choice stayed quite positive, maybe not really transitioning in any way, beyond fading later.

I never really did get around to sorting out the second version related to first or second flush character.  The oxidation level threw off a cue I tend to expect, with first flush being very low and second relatively complete.  It worked for where it was, in the middle, with "warmth" placed between the two.  

I suppose someone could potentially like that better, or feel that it didn't match up well with one or the other sets of expectations.  It might have seemed slightly more subdued, as it turned out, since typical first flush range character includes bright, light intensity, and second includes heavier fruit and deeper sweetness, with this splitting the difference, to some extent, and not necessarily achieving either.  I liked it, but maybe not as much as the last four offerings I've reviewed.

The other tea demanded a more complete reset for expectations; it wasn't exactly in the broader range for typical Darjeeling character.  I liked it too, but it will be nice to get back to trying other samples more on full blast for sweetness, intensity, and fruit character.