Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

2009 Hojo Lapsang Souchong

Lapsang Souchong appears to be the gateway to the world of tea for many people. Amidst a diet of no-name blacks and teabags it’s often the first tea people identify with a name and flavour. Perhaps because the latter is so much stronger than most other teas’?
Attila Homonna brewing Lapsang Souchong…
Even during a winery visit and tasting you can be treated to a cup of Lapsang, as shown by Tokaj vigneron Attila Homonna (read post about him here) when we met him in January. (To everybody’s surprise, being a champion of limpid dry white wines, Attila used a hefty dose of sugar with his Lapsang). 
…and enjoying it.

I threw in some Lapsang with my recent order with Hojo Tea, eager to pay a new visit to my own gateway to the world of tea. The remarkable Hojo website includes a very thorough description of this tea that literally whets one’s appetite. I was particularly curious about the dried longan fruit taste, and the declared balanced smokiness. 
To say this tea is unsmokey would be a gross overstatement. The smokey notes are very present and in a long brew of 2 minutes or more the aromatic profile is not so very different from a standard commercial Lapsang. It’s in the flavour that the gap is revealed: Hojo’s is a very clean tea, balanced, smooth and juicy, never degenerating into the bitter, woody, murky notes of cheaper Lapsang. The first impression is of a medium strong smokey taste applied to a fairly high-quality leaf. 
Akira Hojo interestingly encourages to taste this tea in a tasting glass. I found this inspirational, but instead of using the whisky sniffer-like stemless tumbler you can see on Hojo’s website, I used a tasting glass especially designed for sweet wine (Schott-Zwiesel Top 10 series). 

It’s really an interesting experiment. The colour of the tea appears much lighter than in white porcelain, and is a very transparent reddish. What this dessert wine glass does is to make all the aromas subtler. Although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly, there is a myriad of subtle understated aromas in succession: smoke of course, but also dried fruits, honey, nuttiness, smoked meat, baked fruits. One thing that doesn’t really work is taking a sip. It’s an often overlooked aspect of wine tasting glasses but a glass’s rim, or lip, vitally influences how the wine tastes in mouth. Here, the tea appears thin, tart and astringent, because the lip is far too narrow (compare mentally to a tea cup which is far wider, and makes the tea’s entry in mouth completely different). This particular glass was designed to make very sweet wines taste more balanced, and so it’s natural it emphasises acidity and tannins at the expense of sweetness. Lapsang would require just the opposite. 
But another conclusion of this tea-in-glass tasting is that this Lapsang benefits from being brewed very light. Moderate amounts of leaf and flash brewing times render a tea that’s less dominated by smoke and has good subtlety and complexity. But at $45 / 100g I found this a tad pricey. (A 30g purchase is available).
 Source of tea: own purchase.
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2009 Darjeelings (6): Autumn flush

As the first 2010 flush for Darjeeling tea is approaching, it seems fitting to summarise my feelings about 2009’s last, autumn flush. Autumn Darjeeling tea rarely gets any hype, and the tea lover’s attention usually focuses on first or second. I enjoy the former’s finesse and crispness, and the latter’s complexity and full-flavoured summer fruitiness, but I like the autumn teas quite a bit. With their herby, earthy depth and stronger oxidation, they often feel a bit more serious and no-nonsense than the summer flush where the sweet muscatel flavour can get rather repetitive. That’s my feeling, at least.

In any case I’ve enjoyed these eight teas that were sourced from online tea merchant Thunderbolt. Benoy Thapa is doing some great job on the internet including the very comprehensive company website as well as an informative blog and good activity on Facebook. Benoy also provided some exacting tasting notes on all these teas (click on the links to see these, and the excellent photos), so I’ll merely share my personal impressions.

All teas were brewed several times including competition style (2g / 100ml) and large glass pot (250–300 ml with dosage ranging from 2.5 to 5g).

2009 Arya Autumn Flush CL Ex

Arya Clonal Exclusive [DJ125]

[photo above] A well presented long twisted leaf, moderate fragmentation by Darjeeling standards. Dark brown leaves, modestly tippy. Aroma of dried herbs with an almost caramelly, milk-chocolatey sweetness. Glass-brewed with 4g, 2m30s: A peculiar tea, on the high end of oxidation, a little earthy, with autumnal, unsweet, not-too-fruity substance. But has a roundness and dimension of whole(ish)-leaf Darj that’s inimitable. Moderate colour and medium body; astringency is virtually non-existent. I actually liked this brewed lighter on less leaf, when it reaches a rounder, more almondy, less earthy expression: a round, soft, very balanced tea. This is very good not great, and although one of the pricier teas from this batch it’s actually fairly honest at $14 / 100g.

2009 Arya Autumn Flush FTGFOP1

Arya FTGFOP1 [DJ107]

[photo above] Standard machine-processed fragmented Darj leaf, not tippy but with a few unoxidised greenish leaf bits. Aroma is perhaps more nutty and chestnutty than usual. Warmed leaf is bready, sweet, less herby. Brewed leaf is rather green; some proportion of twigs. Brewed in glass pot (4g/250ml) this has a medium beige colour, a mild, fleshy, vaguely muscatelish aroma that is simple but good, and a mild balanced flavour with no special merits but pretty good quality for its fragmented leaf. On the finish there is a hint of dryness, atypically for my brewing regime. In fact it’s easy to overbrew, though even when quite bitter and drying on the finish it generates a sweet yun sensation. In a word this has a bit more guts than others autumn flushes, and is very good indeed, especially at $7.

2009 Castleton Autumn Flush FTGFOP1 TPY CL

Castleton FTGFOP1 Tippy Clonal [DJ312]

[photo above] A very conservative fragmented leaf grade, negligible tips, generic black tea & brown bag aroma. This is a bit less exciting to look at than other teas on this tasting. Brew has a nice colour, not too dark. A little summer-flushy in character with a ripe red fruitiness of red apples. Just some grip on end, even with a longish brewing. No muscatel: mostly baked apples and nuts. This is wholesome but a little generic and while not a pain at $7 / 100g, lacks a bit of personality to me.

2009 Giddapahar Autumn Flush CH Delight

Giddapahar China Delight [DJ58]

[photo above] Similar grade but even less distinctive than the Castleton TPY CL above, smaller and brownier leaf. However in the cup it is a different animal. You can push this quite far, the colour is not very dark and profile is better than expected. A light-bodied, grapey, sweet-fruity muscatelish style, broad and full on the palate (these characteristics are emphasises in a longer brew) but untannic, and even the autumnal herby character is very low. The fruit character and the suggestive muscatel note are really appetizing. Very good tea, and a bargain at $5.

2009 Goomtee Autumn Flush Light CL Tips

Goomtee Light Clonal Tips [EX26]

This, together with the Margaret’s Hope tea below, is quite different from the other teas in this batch in consisting of very well-handled large, wholish hand-processed leaf vaguely resembling a baimudan white tea, including silvery tips, brownish thin huangpian flakes, relatively few stems. The aroma is very herby and bergamottey, with a sweeter baked bread scent when leaves are warmed. Expired leaves are consistently green and rather thin, plantation-like.

2009 Goomtee Autumn Flush Light CL Tips

Logically this brews a lightish peachy colour that is only mildly black-tea scented. Flavour is light and fruity (apples, peaches) with no astringency and a touch of roundness, but also citrusy and bone-dry with good length. This is very well-presented leaf-and-bud quality, what Darjeeling should be doing more often to compare more favourably with the best Chinese blacks, but rarely does. Short of greatness but very enjoyable and more than fairly priced at $10 / 100g.

2009 Goomtee Autumn Flush Light CL Tips

2009 Margaret’s Hope Autumn Flush Thunderbolt

Margaret’s Hope Thunderbolt [DJ565]

[photo above and below] A variation on the above, but an even more impressive whole leaf grade, mixing white tips, some oxidised leaves, and quite a few flat unrolled greenish ‘flakes’. Aroma is faint, bergamottey, slightly reinforced into bready bake with warmth. Brewed competition style: A surprisingly light colour! (Although oxidising into a medium beige quite quickly in the cup). Aroma is faint, a bit oxidative / black tea-like. Clean, appley attack with succulent fruit. This is kept light but a black tea not an oolong, uncomplex and not so very fruity but has some impressive yun sweetness on the finish. Also some lovely spiciness. Really a delicious expression of Darjeeling. There’s another pleasant if less full and precise brewing behind.

2009 Margaret’s Hope Autumn Flush Thunderbolt

This is even more outstanding in a large pot (4g / 250+ml), with lovely transparency of flavour and again that Darjeeling typicity without extraction and astringency. This is one tea that I would like to try with a high dosage in clay pot, like a Wuyi oolong. $16 / 100g: expensive by regional standards but more than fair for the quality. ($16 would buy you a very average Wuyi oolong).

2009 Risheehat Autumn Flush SFTGFOP1 Wiry

Risheehat SFTGFOP1 Wiry [DJ562]

[photo above] True to their ‘Wiry’ name, leaves have an elongated straight aspect; small and fragmented. Quite some twigs, no tips. Not an exhilarating grade. Brewed leaf fragments are very small, uniformly brown, reminiscent of some gongfu grade Qimens or black Yunnans. Medium+ beige, a lighter colour than expected. A balanced cup with a nutty, typically autumnal character and just minor grip on end. But uncomplex and ultimately a little simplistic. Better balance in a larger pot, with the tannins kept at bay. This surely on the more oxidised end of the spectrum, with a somewhat malty, chewy character vaguely reminiscent of an Assam, but brewed light this can be kept at bay, though at the expense of complexity. This is good tea, but not quite my style. $7.

2009 Sungma Turzum Autumn Flush Clonal Wonder

Sungma Turzum Clonal Wonder [DJ22]

[photo above and below] Small leaves, minor tips, intense aroma. A reasonably good grade, but not that makes me ‘wonder’. Brewed light with 90s, a moderate brown-reddish colour and again a rather intense aroma of dried fruits and apple pie. The oxidation is very balanced and the dry, herby aromas of autumn flush are underpinned by an almost second-flushy fruit exuberance: apples, raisins, plums. This is definitely good, and showing that Darjeeling needn’t be a whole-leaf extravagance like the Margaret’s Hope above to deliver superior character. The only criticism is that this Clonal Wonder is a bit uncomplex. Especially when left too long in the cup or the decanting jug, when it loses its fruity breadth and becomes quite tannic, though not astringent. Through several brewing attempts I came to the conclusion that large pot and short steeps work best. If brewed stronger, this remains rather simple and becomes overtannic for my tastes, with muted fruit and a rather ordinary profile. Good value at $8.

2009 Sungma Turzum Autumn Flush Clonal Wonder

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2008 Dahongpao

Dahongpao is one of the four classic oolong teas of the Wuyi region. A status roughly equivalent to a Burgundian grand cru such as Richebourg or Clos de Tart. Accordingly, there are many imitations that make you wonder what the fuss is about. This expensive Dahongpao shows why the reputation is well deserved.

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Benshan clay pot, and how it performs

I have been looking for a Chinese clay pot to infuse my high mountain oolongs from Taiwan (and the little Anxi oolong from mainland China that I drink, as they are produced in a similar style). So far, I’ve brewed these rolled-leaf teas in a porcelain gaiwan, but I’ve been looking to expand the horizons of these teas a bit.

I have been facing two problems. One is that these oolongs are very high in aroma, often with lifted floral and exotic fruit notes, which tend to be slightly handicapped by brewing in certain types of clay (in my experience); the choice of a Yixing-style teapot usually aims at improving your tea’s mouthfeel more than anything. The mouthfeel of gaoshan oolong is important to me but so is the aroma.

The other dilemma is that some of those oolongs are very slightly oxidised and unroasted, essentially bringing them fairly close to a green tea, while others have higher oxidation and, importantly, a medium to high roast. My teapot of choice would need to work equally well with both types. Is it at all possible, I wondered?

Recommendation for rolled oolong teapot usually steer towards tighter, harder, less porous clays whose effect on the tea is a little more discreet and gentle. Zhuni pots are one match that seems to be recurrent among experts. But I already own a zhuni pot that I felt wasn’t doing a great job with the unroasted types.

Placing an order for 2009 puer recently with Yunnan Sourcing, I browsed their selection and found some green clay teapots made of Benshan clay (similar to duanni clay I understand, but more green-coloured). Green clay tends to get mixed reviews. Some people like it, while others dismiss it altogether even going as far to say it’s only good for display purposes. This ‘dragon egg’ shaped teapot was $35 so I thought I’d give it a go. It is not a masterpiece of craftsmanship but a solidly built piece of equipment with thick, temperature-retaining walls and a swift pour.

I must say it’s really performing well. I wasn’t expecting miracles but the difference in the quality of the brew is very clear from beginning to end. It actually happens to fit my purpose very well indeed, performing equally well with the unroasted and roasted oolongs.

Here are some summarised tasting notes from brewing two identical teas in both porcelain gaiwan and Benshan teapot. Parameters were 3.5g of leaf for 120ml boiling water, infusions of 40s and 20s (I didn’t continue the experiment beyond the second brewing).  

2008 Spring Fenghuang ‘Verger de Montagne’ oolong (purchased for Teamasters)
The gaiwan produces an unremarkable lid aroma and a simple brew aroma but the taste is very good, balanced, with plenty of yun sweetness. However on the finish there is quite a vegetal edge to this slightly stale 2008 tea perhaps. A second brew is again a very good quality cup, very nicely composed with floral-fruity sweetness and buttery density. Now more balanced, less vegetal than #1.
 In the Benshan pot, there is a considerable difference already in the aroma of dry leaves warming in the pot: while the gaiwan is emphasising the caramel and light roast, Benshan pot is exuding a lovely floral, clean, sweet aroma. Brew colour is also visibly darker. A sweet, fat, floral buttery lid aroma. The brew is obviously a little stronger than in the gaiwan, slightly more drying, less immediate and buttery-smacky but admittedly a little more complete. It definitely rounds off the vegetal edge. In a second 20s brewing, the difference is less pronounced, though the Benshan pot colour is still a little darker golden, and there is more dark honey spice sweetness, and obviously more complexity.  
Very similar colour of #2 brew in gaiwan (left) and Benshan pot (right).
2009 Spring Dongding ‘Classique’ [medium roast] oolong (purchased from Teamasters)  
Here again the gaiwan gives an entirely satisfying brew with a balanced roast, good creaminess both in aroma and flavour, and a bit of dryness on end. But the second brewing might have been just a bit too long here with 20 seconds, with the tea showing quite vegetal, drying and a little chaotic.  
In Benshan clay, the warmed dry leaf aroma before you pour water in is more exciting, with a more succulent roastiness and a touch of raspberry. And there is definitely more precision in the brew aroma, where the roast is mellowed and there are finer, subtler notes of white butter. It is a rounder, richer, more generous tea from this pot. A second 15s brewing is much heftier here, dark-coloured into orange, and dominated by roast, but seemingly less overbrewed and unbalanced than in the gaiwan.
Expired leaves of the 2009 Dongding Classique: what a skillful roast here.
Bottom line: the Benshan clay pot is doing a great job in removing some of the hard edges of the tea (though admittedly both teas I chose were extremely high quality and hardly in need of ‘correction’, so we’re talking minor fine details of aroma and flavour here). It works well both with the drying-tannic vegetality of unroasted types, and the throat-drying action of the less well balanced roast in the roasted types. At the same time the texture is enhanced, and the tea tastes rounder, more voluminous and complete. Importantly, my fears about the aroma being diminished found no confirmation. If anything, the aroma was more complex and precise from the clay pot than from the gaiwan. It was an interesting experiment and I think for any more inquisitive session, I will now be using the Benshan pot as a standard. 

Source of items: both teas and teapot were my own purchases. 

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2006 12 Gents Dabaihao

Time for more puer today. Here’s the 2006 Dabaihao cake from the 12 Gentlemen company, available through NadaCha for £28 / cake.

I reviewed four teas from 12 Gents back in March 2009 (see links below and archive link on the left). I have a weakness for their productions: they process some impressive leaves and have a very elegant, subdued, sweet style I enjoy very much. That being said, these are pricey teas, and brewing this sample from Nada made me realise they more often than not lack a bit of expression and oomph.

The dry leaves look very similar to the 2006 12 Gents Yiwu, and quite different from the 2007 Yiwu and Menghai: while the latter have small leaves and tight compression, both 2006 cakes are loosely pressed and consist of impressively intact, large, healthy leaves that have a glorious sweet tobacco & vanilla smell. Contact with the uninfused sample couldn’t really be better.
I’ve had several sessions with tea, both in porcelain gaiwan and in yixing clay pot (the latter surely more successful, with more body and juiciness). No matter how high you dose (I’ve reached 7g / 140ml which is about as much as I can put into my pot without squeezing the leaves) this tea is fairly unintense and light-bodied. The initial infusions are particularly puzzling, very simple, light-coloured, low on fruit, dominated by a beany profile, with a smokey hint on the finish the only real point of interest. Yet there is also notable patience in the xiangbei [aroma cup] which is one of the lovelier I’ve encountered of late, starting with sweet tobacco and evolving lengthily into caramel and candies; it’s really a very ‘long’ smell.

You have to push this tea quite a bit, with a high dosage and brewing times as long as 1 minute by infusion #4 to coax any intensity and character from it. A bone-dry tea, broad-shouldered, architectural, mineral, smokey, never too bitter though with more than a hint of dryness at end (emphasised not the lack of much flavour at mid-palate); notes of mushrooms, a bit of wood, white beans throughout the sessions, a mere hint of smoke.

I really wanted to like this tea in order to keep my positive feelings about the 12 Gents production. But in all honesty, as much as I was looking throughout the session for the tea to finally reach a satisfying extraction, it never happened. It just lacks content; it’s thin and vague. On the positive side it’s clean and noble in aroma, and both the dry and infused leaves are a joy to look at. But it’s just not enough to justify a £28 cake. 
Source of tea: own purchase. 
 
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Guest tea

Went to a friends’ house today. We’ve had cakes and Saracco’s 2009 Moscato d’Asti, and tea. I brewed my 2008 Otowa Karigane (it’s going stale now, but people enjoyed it nonetheless; a tricky tea to brew in a large pot, though) and 2008 Teamasters’ Oriental Beauty. The hosts also offered their own tea, and this is where the surprise came. They’ve been to China for business in November and brought back a pressed bing [cake] of puer tea, and a gaiwan with assorted cups. 
Well, it might not sound so romantic but I’ve never seen a bing of tea in Poland before. Even tea aficionados in Poland focus exclusively on black and green tea, and ‘puer’ here denotes a rock-bottom commercial loose-leaf ‘slimming tea’. So it was quite some fun to play an away game of brewing puer in someone else’s equipment. 
The tea turned out to be a fermented [shu] tea from CNNP: the ubiquitous Yellow Mark, most likely the latest vintage on sale (2005?). Fairly ordinary tea, though well-made with a reasonable leaf grade, and tolerant in brewing. Being unfamiliar with it (and drinking almost no shu at all) I’ve dosed a bit too high, and several 10-second infusions came out dark and concentrated but not too bitter or earthy; a good sign. Bonuses came in the form of the hosts’ porcelain kettle (first time I’ve used one; it actually yields a nicely sweet water) and some good exercise at pouring six cups from a 140-ml gaiwan (at home, it’s two or three). We learn every day. 
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A 1983 for 2010

37 years down the road this is drinking brilliantly. An aged Baozhong tea from Taiwan. Unique!

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1990 Menghai #9062 Brick

© Nadacha.

Overbuying tea is commonest of vices. Tea is cheap (mostly), vendors carry a large range of potentially interesting stuff, and then tea comes from far away where shipment often makes up a large portion of your payment (so it’s sensible to buy a bit more than you would from a shop next door). 
I ordered a dozen samples of aged puer from Nadacha in the summer, hoping to go through them in a few weeks and perhaps make some buying decisions. But soon afterwards I had four orders of 2009 Darjeelings, then a large batch of Taiwanese teas from Teamasters, and now I’ve just bought two dozen 2009 puer cakes from Yunnan Sourcing. And so the time to taste through the Nadacha samples has been very little! 
I must make it a commitment for 2010 to buy less tea and be more systematic in my tasting. I’m toasting to this ambitious undertaking with this 1990 Menghai #9062 Brick (see Nada’s product description). At £78 it’s a fairly inexpensive tea for its age and producer; this is because the brick itself is a mixture of sheng [‘green’ puer] and shu [‘ripe’, or artificially fermented, puer], lacking the dimension and complexity of a true sheng. 
Let’s look at the leaves. They are fairly dark, with minor amount of white ‘frosting’ of age, and have a faint smell: cavernous shicang [‘wet storage’, fermentative aromas] and decomposed wood. The spent leaves are interesting to look at: you can clearly see the mixture of sheng (the larger, dark brown leaves that unfold completely) and shu (darker, almost black leaves that remain rolled). Both components look like a reasonably high grade, with large, good quality leaves of which many are still intact; the shu leaves are not the usual non-descript mulch. The mix is quite rustic, however, including a generous helping of twigs and stems. 
I’ve brewed this tea several times with different techniques, and can say it’s quite unsatisfactory with long steepings. Anything beyond 30 seconds for your first brewing will result in a very wet storage-dominated profile with a vegetal decomposed-wood bitterness on end I’ve found unpleasant. 
The best approach to this tea is a classic gongfu series of short brewings in clay pot (I’ve dosed exactly 5.2g of leaf for 120ml of boiling water, rinsing once and brewing 15s, 15s, 25s, 30s, 30s, 40s, 3m). It’s hefty, powerful tea, delivering quite a bit of colour from the beginning, and a good intensity of wet storage-driven, stoney, mineral, woody taste. The first brewing also provided a nice warm mealy, fat textural touch, but afterwards the tea failed to deliver this promise and showed rather one-dimensional. 
First infusion (15 seconds) in yixing teapot.
It is quite unaromatic, and even using an ‘aroma cup’ that usually helps to magnify the bouquet only resulted in an interesting first progression from shicang through toasted grain to caramelised sweetness; subsequent infusions were pale and uncomplex. 
This tea is not very patient, as soon as the 7th infusion it’s become quite unintense and losing interest. Even though short steeps help control the vegetal bitterness on the finish, it’s still there in varying proportions, and is my greatest criticism about this tea. Although quite aged, it still has power left, and the sheng and shu elements are by now nicely fused, but there is no complexity or structure and essentially the tea has little to offer beyond its chunky shu-driven power. 
It’s an interesting opportunity to taste a mature tea from a leading producer but I feel no need to go beyond my 15g sample.

Disclaimer
Source of tea: own purchase

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Impressive tea from Nepal

The power of blogging. Although I don’t write about tea in Polish, my tea reviews on this blog were read by the good people at Polish web tea shop Čajografia, which resulted in a nice e-mail and a box of samples arriving at Domaine Bońkowski. Having tasted one of Čajografia’s excellent black teas in the past, I was excited at the prospect of tasting through their specialities: Nepalese teas. 
Aneta and Artur Woźniak travel the tea regions in search of good teas and people. They’re offering a limited range of interesting stuff from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Darjeeling and even Malawi. Judging by these five teas they really have a good nose. Their offerings are also extremely affordable, ranging from the equivalent of 4 to 5€ / 100g.
Green Hill (I assume 2009) is a Nepalese green tea from Ilam Tea Factory. For those familiar with Himalayan green tea e.g. from Darjeeling, this tea will come as a shock. It has nothing to do with the under-oxidised black teas that seem to be the common denominator in the region. Instead, it is made like a Japanese sencha, with moderately fragmented flat needle-shaped leaves being steamed and then fired. These Nepalese leaves are very well-processed. The steaming here has been light (asamushi), resulting in a transparent light green brew that would easily pass for a sencha in a blind tasting. It is perhaps a little darker in colour and stronger in flavour than a good asamushi, and the finish is less grassy, with an echo of nuttiness (as well as mint and lime) on the finish that is more Chinese in style (Longjing coming to mind). It also lacks the glutinous umami expansiveness that is typical of Japanese tea when brewed at lower temperature. Some bitterness here, although that seems easy to control with brewing parameters. My preferred ones are water at 70C, and 60 seconds. This is definitely good-quality tea and a very good imitation of a Japanese green. 
From the Jun Chiyabari estate comes this Himalayan Somabar black tea that is a 2009 SFTGFOP1 1st flush. Small Darjeeling-styled leaves with a mixture of brown and black colours, some tips, (photo above) and a strongly herby, almost sulphury aroma. The spent leaves are predominantly green in colour, showing some good careful processing (photo below). The colour in the cup is also rather light: more orange than ruby. 
This is a simple, rather unaromatic tea with a degree of tannic bitterness (perhaps derived from a bit of breakage in the sample). Bone-dry in taste, with a good moment of fruitiness (dried apricots?) and reasonable activity. Clearly losing a bit of freshness already, though surely not the most declined of 2009 1st flushes. Good. 
I also tried three teas from the Kuwapani estate in the region of Dankhuty. White Peony is, you guessed it, a white tea: looking at the dry leaf above it is easily identified as a Chinese baimudan style (containing both leaves and hairy buds). I drink little white tea and tend to go for the higher yinzhen grades when I do, but I’ve not seen such an immaculately processed baimudan before. There is not a single broken leaf, and the two-leaves-and-a-bud systems are impressively presented. There are minor signs of oxidation on the stem ends, otherwise you get tea leaves in a beautifully unadulterated condition (photo below). Brewed 4 minutes at 70C, this is a clean tea of good character, not very intense, showing a certain pea-like vegetality or even fishiness on top of the more usual flowery, herby notes. Unaggressive and seamless without the faintest shade of bitterness. Very flexible in terms of brewing parameters, this can also be infused 10+ minutes. Typically for baimudan styles this is not showing the ultimate finesse of yinzhen, with a bit of extra body and ‘grit’ on the palate. Really an enjoyable tea. 
The Makalu Mellow is a 2009 2nd flush black tea graded as STGFOP1 ‘Tippy’. The latter is certainly true, and the leaf is well-processed with moderate fragmentation in a Darjeeling style. Very good aroma: high-grade bitter chocolate and orange spice are added to the usual dried herbs. Infused leaves are a consistent high-oxidation brown. A clean good-quality cup: medium deep ruby colour in the glass, moderately intense aroma, getting rather chocolatey as it cools down. I like a longer infusion on less dosage here, for its thick body and impressive consistency. Not a very distinctive tea but as good as a high-profile 2nd flush Darjeeling (and remember this is very cheap). 
The star of the tasting is another black tea from Kuwapani, the Makalu Flowery (a 1st flush STGFOP1 ‘Tippy’ 2009). Opening the pack with its explosive dried herby, smokey, bergamottey bouquet reveals some outstanding tea leaves (see photo above). Huge leaf-and-bud systems are impeccably processed with no breakage whatsoever and little oxidation on the leaf. And look at the infused leaves: I don’t think I’ve ever seen such immaculate leaves in a black tea, anytime, anywhere. Predictably this brews a rather light peach colour, with the aroma of a light, herby, mildly firsty-flushy Darjeeling. The flavour on palate is expansive with quite a bit of power and bitterness on end, perhaps lacking a bit of mid-palate body and intensity (typically for a whole-leaf tea). But this tea holds back a lot, and can be reinfused several times atypically for a black tea, behaving more like a high-oxidation oolong (when steepings are kept short). There is also some outstanding huigan sweetness in the aftertaste. This is a tea of impressive integrity and fantastic personality, one of the best blacks I’ve tasted. What a surprise this should come from Nepal.


Disclaimer: There is a growing concern on the internet about the integrity of bloggers and hidden conflicts of interest. For the sake of clarity I will now be indicating the source of teas / wines tasted, trips made etc.


Source of the 5 teas reviewed above: samples provided by the importer.
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2009 Darjeelings (5): Makaibari

Makaibari is one of Darjeeling’s leading tea estates. Biodynamic farming is practiced here, an absolute rarity in Asia. I taste four 2009 teas, including two less-than-successful greens.

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