Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Happy Earth Tea
Tea Description:
An enchanting Darjeeling first flush with a highly refined floral bouquet and well rounded flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was so excited to receive a selection of the fresh, spring harvested teas from Happy Earth Tea! This Organic Sungma Darjeeling Black Tea First Flush is the first that I’ve tried from their 2014 teas.
Ahh! It is crisp and invigorating when it washes over the palate. If your tea repertoire tends to be of the “usual” teas like blacks and greens, you really should incorporate a Darjeeling tea in there every once in a while. It really wakes up the palate!
And the flavor is smooth and sweet with notes of flower and fruit. I don’t get a strong “muscatel” from this Darjeeling, then again, it is a first flush and you can expect more muscatel from the second flush than the first. But this does have some wine-like notes that are muscatel-ish and make this fan of Darjeeling happy.
It has a nicely round flavor and less astringency than I would have expected from a Darjeeling. A really nice sweetness comes from the fruit notes. A sweet aftertaste. I find this to be more fruity and less woodsy than a typical Darjeeling.
Overall, this is one of the nicest first flush Darjeeling teas that I’ve tasted in a while. I love that it’s so fresh, I love that it’s Organic, and I love that it’s a Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance tea. I love Happy Earth’s dedication to our planet! Everything about this tea – rocks!
Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine Green Tea from David’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tea Description:
Made from premium green tea, our Silk Dragon is a limited-edition treasure. To create it, night-blooming jasmine is gathered in the morning and kept cool all day. In the evening, when the flowers burst open and release their scent, they are placed with the tea until midnight. This is repeated with fresh flowers over the course of five nights, infusing the tea with a most magical flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ahh, Jasmine. The last jasmine tea I had (a day or two ago) was made using a jasmine scented oil … and I know I’ve told you how much I detest that kind of jasmine tea. This Jasmine tea though … this Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine Green Tea from David’s Tea – it was scented properly. And when I have a jasmine tea that was properly scented like this one on the heels of a jasmine tea that has been flavored with jasmine oil … it makes me appreciate the efforts that go in to a properly scented jasmine tea all the more.
The jasmine here is sweet and soft … and absolutely LOVELY!
The green tea is earthy, sweet, and has a nice vegetative tone to it. It tastes slightly more on the “earthy” side than on the vegetative side … which is a bit unusual for green teas, but, I’m not finding it to be too earthy for me. It is smooth and has a very silky texture. It isn’t bitter, and there is very little astringency.
The jasmine is really pleasant. It isn’t an overly strong jasmine – those of you who don’t like an overly strong jasmine flavor would probably find this jasmine to be right up your alley. The jasmine notes are evident but not overwhelming.
This tea isn’t anything fancy … but then … sometimes, there’s nothing quite like a pleasant, simple cup of tea and that’s what I’m liking about this tea. It’s jasmine … and it’s a very enjoyable cuppa. I also like that this is an organic and fair trade certified tea. It’s good hot or cold, but, since the weather has been warm lately, I’ve really been liking this one iced!