Tea of the Month for June- Darjeeling

At the risk that you might be thinking that all I can think about is drinks and drinking, I am behind one post for the tea of the month and I simply must post it now. And there is still the one for July too...

The idea behind the monthly post about teas, was to ensure that I took the opportunity while living in China, to seek out the many kinds Chinese teas, and not just have the same well-known two teas over, and over again. I'm not done with that, but I am not in China right now, and I did not have the time to buy the tea before my trip, so I have decided to modify the tea post a little, for this post and the next.

The tea store on Granville Island where I bought that delicious ice tea has an extensive selection of black teas. When I lived here, I bought lots of tea from here, mostly as Christmas gifts for others. This time it is all for me; I bought enough to take back to Shanghai with me too. I am responding to a craving for black tea- it became stronger after I finished the Keemun tea that I was not able to replace (despite going back the vendor that sold me the original batch). I had some lovely assam, and ceylon in a very funky and well thought out tea house in downtown Madison Wisconsin, last month, and this only fueled my need for black tea. Got it now.

I purchased about 50 grams of Margaret's Hope Darjeeling. Granville Island Teas had a number of darjeeling teas so choosing presented a bit of a dilemma. I now have a rule of thumb for these kinds of decisions: if I don't know much about the tea/wine/coffee etc, I probably won't be able to distinguish the subtle differences in the grades of tea/wine/coffee, so I try one at a lower price, drink it and then go back, buy the grade up from it, and see if I can tell the difference then. Seems reasonable and cost effective to me.

So as with the Chinese teas, I did a quick search online about the background of this type of tea. Darjeeling, sometimes called the champagne of teas, still is a product of Camillia sinensis (C. sinensis sinensis) - in fact, is the same varietal used for Chinese teas. It is named after the geographic area in West Bangal India, where tea plantations date back to the mid 19th century as part of a British development of the area**. Margaret's Hope, so says the internet, is one of the many plantations (or gardens as they call them) in this region. The taste is described as "a thin-bodied, light-colored liquor with a floral aroma. The flavor also displays a tinge of astringent tannic characteristics, and a musky spiciness often referred to by tea connoisseurs as "muscatel.' " There are also grades of darjeeling that correspond to when they are picked:

• 1st Flush is harvested in mid-March following spring rains, and has a gentle, very light color, aroma, and mild astringency.
• In Between is harvested between the two "flush" periods.
• 2nd Flush is harvested in June and produces an amber, full bodied, muscatel-flavored cup.
• Monsoon or Rains tea is harvested in the monsoon (or rainy season) between 2nd Flush and Autumnal, is less withered, consequently more oxidized, and usually sold at lower prices. It is rarely exported, and often used in Masala chai.
• Autumnal Flush is harvested in the autumn after the rainy season, and has somewhat less delicate flavour and less spicy tones, but fuller body and darker colour. (source: wikipedia)

So earlier this week I brewed myself a cup for my early morning cup of tea. The aroma out of the paper bag is quite grassy with a hint of potato peels (perhaps not a really appetizing scent to some, but that's what I am calling it- others, with better olfactory sense might call it something else). The tea leaves are quite small, dark, flecked with gold bits of leaves. After it steeped for a couple of minutes, it produced this light reddish tea, that has a grassy smell too; the potato peel does not follow on the "nose." The taste is subtle and elegant- there is no overwhelming flavor or tannin. I had it with milk of course, but I think that it would be fine without since it is quite delicate. It is not a rich tea, and would be a nice afternoon tea to be had on its own; the flavors of the tea would be destroyed by anything other than toast or a sugar cookie. Just my opinion, mind you.

**(According to the Tea Board of India - "Darjeeling Tea" means: tea which has been cultivated, grown, produced, manufactured and processed in tea gardens (see 'Estates' section below) in the hilly areas of Sadar Sub-Division, only hilly areas of Kalimpong Sub-Division comprising of Samabeong Tea Estate, Ambiok Tea Estate, Mission Hill Tea Estate and Kumai Tea Estate and Kurseong Sub-Division excluding the areas in jurisdiction list 20,21,23,24,29,31 and 33 comprising Siliguri subdivision of New Chumta Tea Estate, Simulbari and Marionbari Tea Estate of Kurseong Police Station in Kurseong Sub-Division of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal, India grown on picturesque steep slopes up to 4000ft. )( so there!)