Ya-Ya’s Tea-Board

Last weekend, I finally had some time to sit down and do a proper tasting of the two 2007 Darjeeling 1^st flushes we decided to offer this year. While I was writing this post, I resolved to regularly post my tasting notes of some of the tastings here on our blog to share my impressions with a larger audience. This decision was partly influenced by the inspirational tea tasting notes on some of the blogs I frequent (I’ll compile a list of great tea-related blogs soon) and by the fun I had writing this all up.
The teas under scrutiny for this tasting are the top-of-the-crop from a great vintage in Darjeeling. Despite some concerns about the extended winter period in Darjeeling with very low temperatures and a shortage in sunshine that led to a slightly delayed start of the picking period, Darjeeling produced some phenomenal first flushes this year! The healthy amount of winter rain paid off and we’ve seen (and tasted) great teas being produced. We’ve settled on 2 teas with a different character as additions to the range we offer at our teahouse: Margaret’s Hope Tippy Galore & Organic Puttabong Clonal Exclusive SFTGFOP1.
After last year’s revelation with the incredible Arya Ruby and outstanding Puttabong SFTGFOP1 Supreme 1^st flushes, I was very curious how these two compared.

Margaret’s Hope Tippy Galore
Well, the name says it all. This tea is composed almost exclusively of silvery tips (my guess is about 90% tips) with very few leaves mixed in. When I first opened the package, I instantly knew we had a winner in our hands - even before I saw the leaves. The dry leaves have a very strong aroma of chocolate (the “real” kind with > 70% cocoa), herbal and floral notes with a hint of magnolia. I remember having a similar first impression (although not as strong in the chocolate) of the Arya Ruby I mentioned earlier.

The dry appearance of this tea is almost perfect: surprisingly large, fat, uniform buds covered with an abundance of silvery-white fur and very few broken pieces.
Although I was initially inclined to brew this tea (7g for 500ml) with a lower water temperature of ~85°C (as a reaction to the delicate appearance of these leaves), I decided to stick to boiling water as I do with the majority of my Darjeelings. I started out with an infusion time of 3:30 minutes. The main reason for these parameters being the perceived similarity to the Arya which I found to make the perfect brew this way.
The infused leaves are very aromatic. They display a slightly floral smell emphasizing a bit more of the magnolia notes I noticed when smelling the dry leaves. Visually, they consist mainly of greenish tips with a small percentage of medium to dark brown leaves.

The liquor shows a very good clarity with a pale golden colour. The aroma of the fresh, hot infusion is strongly herbaceous with that hint of magnolia that the dry leaves promised. Surprisingly, the chocolate notes were completely missing in the hot infusion. But when I let the tea cool down a bit, the chocolate came back and became quite strong.

The flavour of this tea is incredibly complex. A mixture of chocolate, herbs (a generic herbal flavour rather than a specific kind, remotely reminiscent of fresh hemp buds) and magnolia. Unlike most Darjeeling 1^st flushes, it is extremely smooth with very little astringency. The taste unfolds mainly mid to back palate and coats the mouth, a sensation that persists for quite some time. The liquid is thick and has an almost velvety texture.

Overall impression: Last year’s Arya Ruby 1^st flush made its way to the top of my favourite teas instantly. The Margaret’s Hope Tippy Galore is a worthy successor in 2007!

Note: I usually drink my Darjeeling blacks with one infusion (”English style”, in a larger teapot). But to taste this tea with one of our customers in the teahouse, I prepared some in a gaiwan. I used relatively long steeps for the gaiwan method (2 - 2 - 3 minutes), but it held up surprisingly well to multiple steeps. While different infusions did not reveal new flavours, the aroma of the second infusion was much stronger than that of the first and the flavour was fully there. The second and third infusion pronounced the herbaceous and magnolia flavours while the chocolate notes had almost completely disappeared. Both of us were surprised how well it handled multiple infusions.
To see how many infusions I’ll get out of this tea, I’ll have to try brewing it with more gaiwan-like timings (e.g. 15 - 60 sec), but I wanted to taste this tea with our customer the way he’ll taste it at home.

Puttabong Clonal Exclusive SFTGFOP1 (organic)
This tea marks the best grade from Puttabong estate, a tea estate that has consistently produced outstanding teas in the last few years. It stems from a small, specially harvested and processed batch (hence it was christened “Exclusive” by Mr. Somani, the superintendent of Puttabong Tea Estate) from this garden’s organic section.
On a side note: Puttabong is currently converting to organic agriculture (yes, it seems the demand for organic tea is finally showing effects!), but a full conversion is a costly and lengthy process and it will be a while until all of Puttabong’s teas are organic.

But back to my tasting notes.
The dry leaves show the typical palette of high quality Darjeeling 1^st flushes: a mixture of silvery buds, dark brown and greenish leaves. The leaves are very uniform in size and a bit smaller than the MH Tippy Galore, their shape fine and wiry. Most leaves are intact, which indicates (especially in Darjeeling where often big portions of the fragile leaves are broken) a very careful processing and handling. The smell of the dry leaves - while not as heady as the MH - is very pleasant and aromatic. More fruity and floral, while lacking the herbal component.

I infused the tea (7g for 500ml) for 4 minutes, using ~90° C water (I chose the lower water temperature to slightly lower the level of astringency that this tea displayed when I prepared it with boiling water before). The wet leaves emit a sweet smell with strong fruity notes (Jackfruit?) and a pronounced floral aroma. They’re almost exclusively greenish in appearance with some leaves that show a light brown edge.

The liquor has a good clarity and is a light amber colour. It isn’t quite as pale as the MH but definitely on the lighter side even for Darjeeling 1^st flushes. It is slightly “thinner” textured than the MH, the flavours also develop mid palate and extend quite far back and linger for a long time. The taste is far less fruity than the aroma of the leaves suggests, more herbaceous with tones of almond.
The level of astringency is well balanced and less forward than most Darjeeling 1^st flushes (it becomes more astringent with higher water temperatures as mentioned above).
Overall impression: An impressive tea. More “classical” 1^st flush Darjeeling character than the MH and a definite must-try. While I personally cherish the subtleness of teas like last year’s Arya Ruby or the MH Tippy Galore, many people will prefer the more robust flavour of this tea (no, it’s not full-bodied as in the sense of Assam, but far more “tangible” than the MH). The fact that is is produced organically makes me want more of it even more.

Note: As with the MH, I tasted this tea with our customer prepared in a gaiwan. The second infusion exhibited more of the almond flavours and had a fuller flavour while it really was the 3^rd infusion that caught our attention. The tea displayed a strong citrus fruit flavour that none of us had noticed before. More tasting this way needs to be done…

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