Castleton Autumnal Tulip Black Tea (2013 Autumn Flush) from Darjeeling Tea Lovers

CASTLETON AUTUMNAL TULIPTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Darjeeling Tea Lovers

Tea Description:

CASTLETON AUTUMNAL TULIP, as the name suggests is an AUTUMNAL TEA or THIRD FLUSH tea from the estates of CASTLETON TEA ESTATE.

This tea comes with Malty, Muscatel & spicy notes smooth yet complex in flavour. “LIGHT & BRIGHT” is an ideal way to describe this tea. It has a very smooth cup with plenty of sweet muscatel notes. An ideal tea for your breakfast.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The aroma of the dry leaf is sweet with some spice notes and floral tones.  The brewed tea has a fruitier fragrance, smelling a lot more like fruit than flower.  I still pick up on sweet and spice, but mostly, I’m picking up on a delightful grape-y scent!  You know what that means, right?  Muscatel!

Oh yeah!  And this tea has the muscatel that you’re looking for!  It has a very wine-like taste, with bright, fruity notes that taper to a slight dryness at the finish and the aftertaste is sweet and fruity, with notes of grape and black currant.

The sip starts with a sweet yet spicy note.  The malty notes of this tea accentuate the sweetness, although I’m not finding this tea to be overly sweet.  I think that the spice notes add enough contrast to the overall flavor to keep this from tasting like your average Darjeeling.  This is – in my humble opinion – head and shoulders above that average Darjeeling.  I love the muscatel notes here, and I love the crisp, light flavor of the cup.

This is not a heavy tasting black (not surprising, it is a Darjeeling, after all!) and it would make a great tea for mid-morning or early afternoon.  The above description suggests this as a breakfast tea, and I could see that too, there is a certain briskness to this cup that is quite invigorating.  Although, I wouldn’t add milk to this cup – it would overwhelm the fabulous flavors going on.  So, if you’re one who wants milk in your breakfast tea, save this one for the second cup of the day when you are ready for some unfettered tea flavor.

As I continue sipping, I’m picking up on some bright citrus notes that arrive just after mid-sip, and re-emerge in the aftertaste.  I don’t usually associate citrus flavors with Darjeeling, but this tea has some sunny notes of lemon!  Nice!

There is some astringency to this cup, but, it’s a fairly mellow astringency.  It isn’t leaving the insides of my cheeks feeling puckered or dry, although there is a gentle “clean” feeling to my palate.

Another delightful autumnal flush from Darjeeling Tea Lovers!