Thurbo, Oriental Delight

So this morning it was the Thurbo, Oriental Delight from the Thurbo Estate, in Darjeeling. This particular tea is an oolong which is slightly unusual for Darjeeling, although there are more and more estates producing greens, and oolongs. The funny thing is that the greens and oolongs tend to taste a bit like the black teas. They're good offerings, but they usualy maintain that Darjeeeling "muscatel" flavor. Don't let this turn you off though, they still taste great, I just prefer to go with greens and oolongs from the folks that have been producing them forever (the Chinese, and Japanese). That's a little snobby, isn't it?

Well anyway, the Thurbo Oriental Delight is exactly what an oolong from Darjeeling ought to taste like. It's light and gentle, and it's one of my favorite teas for when I just want some tea, but I don't want to make much of a commitment. Due to it's lightness, it tends to be downright refreshing, and it leaves you feeling quite alright. It's so light that describing it's flavor is a little difficult. Lauren and I spent a few minutes this morning trying to describe it, and we sort of came up blank, except to say that it was perfect for today.

I doubt that this tea is still avilable anywhere, but it's worth looking around if this sounds good to you. It was produced in a limited batch, and we just happen to be in Darjeeling when some of it was available last winter.

The leaves are large and unbroken, and it looks great when you brew it. There are all kinds of nice greens and browns in the tea before it's steeped. Take a look at the pictures above, and you'll see what I mean. It's a really attractive, light bodied tea. I highly recommend it.

Kakra effect on Darjeeling Muscatel

On an earlier post I asked for confirmation of a "double fermentation" situation where Muscatel tea from Darjeeling was concerned. Apparently this "effect" is not isolated to the Castleton plantation, but is common to second flush teas that bear the description "Muscatel" in the name of the tea, not to be mistaken for the general description of Darjeeling teas as having a muscatel flavor to them. No! I'm talking about teas that are called "Muscatel".

"kakra” in local language means dehydrated leafs and this dehydration takes place when an insect called green fly bites the tea leafs and the leafs starts oxidizing on the bush as pores are formed on it, the leafs are further plucked when the soil and climatic conditions are perfect for the harvest and when the tea is further processed."

So that's it. That's pretty cool I think. What an interesting way for such an awesome tea to get it's flavor. If I can find out exactly what this "green fly" is I'll share that as well. There's this strange bug that lives on tea bushes, and looks like a tea leaf, but it doesn't resemble a fly at all so I doubt that that is it, but it could be.

Risheehat (flowery) second flush

This mornings tea was the Risheehat (flowery), second flush. Like all the good Darjeeling teas, it is nice and smooth, and doesn't need milk. Because it's a second flush tea, it's a bit darker than the first flush, and a bit sweeter. The term "flowery" must refer to the mild hint of jasmine, or something floral, that is lurking in the flavor. It brews into a nice burnt orange color, and it possesses a slightly complex aroma. I don't have the most sophisticated palate, otherwise I would try to give you an in depth description of the smell, but take my word for it; it smells great. Take a look at the picture above. It's not the best picture. but you can see how some of the leaves are a distinctly more orange, or brown, or green in color. That's how the aroma comes off.

I think that this tea is a little bit hard to come by at this point, because the Risheehat estate didn't produce much of it. That seems to be the story with a number of Darjeeling teas this year, thanks to the dry winter. I understand that the crops are rebounding somewhat, but that the harvest is still not what it needs to be.