Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine

2009 Darjeelings (2): Castleton

Castleton is one of the most famous Darjeeling tea gardens and according to a self-description you can read here, is particularly renowned for its intensely aromatic second flush muscatels. The latter found a confirmation in my tasting, with the additional advantage that the two teas tasted here are extremely representative of their flushes and genre. Both teas are sourced from Lochan Tea Ltd.
The 1st Flush FTGFOP1 Special (photo above and below) has small tippy leaves in a wide variety of green and light brown colours: it couldn’t look more 1st flush-typical. The wet leaf shows moderate oxidation and a good leaf selection. The dry leaf aroma is quite herby and earthy and less citrusy than many 1st flush Darjeelings this season.
The tea brews a surprisingly deep colour that shows this straight away to be one of the more structured 1st flushes, excitingly complete, dense and flavourful. But the texture remains light as befits a spring picking and so the assertive tannins that arrive at the end are really let loose. Their flavour is earthy, fully oxidised, less citrusy-bitterish than many 1st flushes. This is really good tea with plenty of personality. (Though on a side note, it seems to have deteriorated a bit since my first brewings in June; retastes this morning alongside the 2nd flush, it is now quite light, less flavourful at mid-palate, and tannins are sharper than before, though very clean).
The 2nd flush FTGFOP1 China Special (wet leaf above and below) is less tippy than the above tea, with a darker, more oxidative leaf appearance (consistent brown colours). The aroma is very intense, mixing chocolatey richness with mild herbiness. The milk chocolate aroma is reminiscent of a Chinese oolong tea from Wuyi.

This is showing classic Castleton character (as I understand it): balanced, stately, even lofty Darjeeling. It isn’t particularly aromatic in the brew and not so very muscatel-driven, but has a sweet fruity (dried fruits), almost honeyed flavour and dense texture at mid-palate that make it very attractive. Oxidation is rather high and the perception of the astringency is different from the above 1st flush: the tea tastes rounder, less drying, and the tannins are more walnuty in flavour than the earthy, woodsy 1st flush. Brewed alongside this ‘China Special’ is more complete and preferable to the 1st flush ‘Special’ (though as mentioned it might have to do with the latter sample’s freshness). It is not a particularly vivid or poised tea but for balance and breadth, is surely in the top league of Darjeeeling. (See Facebook discussion of this tea). 

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2009 Darjeelings (1): Margaret’s Hope

Over the next few days I’ll be posting reviews on a wide range of 2009 Darjeeling teas (interspersed with some wine talk for those uninterested in tea). All these are first and second flush teas sourced from Lochan Tea Ltd. but coming from renowned gardens, they can easily be obtained from other merchants. All teas were tasted several times including in competition standard (2g / 100ml boiling water / 5 minutes) and in large pot; my tasting notes are a summary of those several tastings.
Today I look at three samples from the Margaret’s Hope Estate, on which there’s information here.  
A. 1st Flush FTGFOP1 China Special  
B. 2nd Flush FTGFOP1  
C. 2nd Flush Muscatel (see Facebook tasting) 
 2009 1st and 2nd Flush assessment.
As a side note, I remain confused by the many subgrades and additional appellations of Darjeeling teas. While it’s more or less clear what an FTGFOP1 is, the difference between various FTGFOP1s from the same estate and same flush isn’t clear at all. Nor is it easily grasped what ‘China’, ‘Clonal’, ‘Special’ mean, while other categories such as ‘Tippy’, ‘Imperial’, ‘Muscatel’ are entirely discretional. 
It’s the usual practice of most merchants to offer a tea generically named Margaret’s Hope First Flush. There being several dozen second flush offerings from Margaret’s Hope, it’s always necessary to ask for a more specific name. But when, like in this case from Lochan, you learn that the tea in question is a First Flush FTGFOP1 China Special, how does it differ from a First Flush FTGFOP1 that’s not China and not Special? I’m often of the impression that even tea estate managers are rather vague on this. For easy reference and comparison it would be so much more useful to code teas with a ‘bin number’ or similar, so you’d know the First Flush FTGFOP1 #138 is the same you tried a few months ago from another source. Am I being too meticulous?  
1st Flush FTGFOP1 China Special and 2nd Flush FTGFOP1.
On to the teas. The dry and wet leaf shows some minor differences that can be summarised thus: ‘C’ is more fragmented than ‘A’ or ‘B’. ‘A’ and ‘B’ are similar in showing impressively healthy, intact young leaves, but ‘B’ has somewhat larger leaves. A seems to have a bit more tips than ‘B’, which has very few. The leaf oxidation on all three samples is moderate, leaves are of the lighter shades of brown, and show a pleasantly crisp, herby-spicy (bergamotty) aroma, although ‘C’ is a little fruitier, applier, with a hint of that elusive grapey ‘muscatel’ character.  
The above being said, the differences in flavour areminor. If tea ever has the bad luck to be rated on a 100-point scalesimilarly to wine, I’d score these teas less than 1 point apart.   
Tea‘A’ is the lightest of the three and has the most pronounced bouquet ofdried aromatic herbs (verbena / bergamot). It has good body and goodlength but very limited astringency. It shows a dynamism and poignancythat ‘B’ and ‘C’ are lacking. On the finish there’s a pronounced nutty(hazelnutty?) note.   
Tea‘B’ is best described as ‘complete’. It is a bit less punchy than ‘A’but adds just a bit more roundness and mid-palate filling. Thanks tothis, it seems even less tannic than ‘A’. There might just be a touchmore oxidation. Still light-bodied but deeper. Excellent tea.
2009 2nd Flush Muscatel.

Tea ‘C’ is centered around that faint grapey-appley ‘muscatel’ note. It is also a little drier on the throat, showing a more autumnal character than the 2nd Flush ‘B’. It is easier to overbrew (fragmented leaves), and contrasts with the light citrusy character of ‘A’. I’m much enjoying the second brewing here, which shows an exciting muscatel and bitter chocolate character. But in a way it’s the least eloquent of the three. A slightly lower grade?

This is a trio of seriously good teas from one of Darjeeling’s most famous estates. But I often find Margaret’s Hope teas to be somewhat on the safe side. Their aroma and flavour are consistently in the middle of the Darjeeling spectrum. The quality is very good indeed but I find them to lack the assertiveness of e.g. Castleton, the precision of Jungpana or the sprite of Giddapahar. The 2009 2nd Flush Muscatel is a good example. It has all you can expect from its appellation but somehow lacks sparkle.
2009 2nd Flush Muscatel.
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Some Assams


I rarely drink any black tea, and when I do, I tend to go for the lighter styles such as Darjeeling, or complex Chinese teas I have a weakness for such as Yunnan. So Assam – the strongest black tea in Asia – is never high on my list. 
It was interesting, therefore, to operate a full-immersion Assam course tasting six teas sourced from Lochan Tea Ltd. Two (teas B and D on the list below) are part of the ongoing online tasting on Facebook while the remaining four were part of the free 2nd Flush sampler pack I ordered back in June (and which is still available – see here). 
Let me just say that the tasting revealed an unexpected richness of styles. I was expecting all teas to conform to the deeply coloured, full-bodied, tannic, chunky Assam stereotype but several samples actually showed quite some complexity and elegance. Plus it must be mentioned these teas offer tremendous value for money: they range from $1 to $4 per 100g which is several times less than good Chinese black teas and 50% less than a good Darjeeling.
All teas are 2009 2nd flushes from Assam and all were brewed competition-style (2g of leaf / 100ml boiling water / 5 minutes). 
A. Budlabeta FTGFOP1 
B. Harmutty Golden Paw 
C. Harmutty FTGFOP1 Tippy 
D. Hattialli Golden Bud 
E. Rembeng FTGFOP1 Clonal
F. Sewpur SFTGFOP1
Top row, A to C, bottom row, D to F.
The dry leaf shows the great stylistic diversity of these six teas: 
A. Highish grade (but leaves larger than other samples), negligible tips. Subdued aroma, unpushy oxidation, dried fruit/spicy: mulled orange, minor chocolate; caramel and red fruit jam too from warmed leaves. 
B. Good grade, good proportion of golden tips/buds, but ‘Golden Paw’ is a little over-indulgent. Aroma not so oxidation-driven, quite sweet (brown sugar), minor spice, inviting. 
C. The name says it all: this is tippy tea! Dominated by orange-amber tips (>50%). Aroma close to a Darjeeling: subtly herby, spicy (bergamot), more lifted, far less chocolatey and charcoaly than Assam average. 
D. Good grade, deep black colour, around 20–30% tips yielding a brighter, orangey-spicy aroma to the deeply smokey, fully-oxidised aroma. Warmed leaf smell less attractive. 
E. Another über-tippy Assam, very well-processed, abundantly hairy, orange-coloured tips (~50%), remaining leaves more brown than black in colour. Distinctive, very sweet aroma, almost grapey (muscatel?), dried red fruits; little obvious oxidation, no herbiness. 
F. Good grade, conservative blend, small leaves, not very dark colour, negligible tips. Aroma subdued, earthy, herby, black-teaish, minor bitter chocolate. Expecting a bone-dry tea no-nonsense tea. 
As you can see the difference in colour between the infused teas is very minor: 
Tasting notes: 
A. Pleasant dried fruits aroma (prunes perhaps) but unremarkable flavour, black-teaish (later Chinese mushrooms and seaweed, odd). Ordinary with little personality. Not too tannic. 
B. Deepest colour of all. Meaty, chewy, deep aroma, Assam-typical with good depth of taste. Very tannic, easy to overbrew, a bit low on fruit. In the comparative tasting this is underwhelming and unbalanced. Lochan Tea recommend to brew this at 82C and as odd as it seems it makes sense: a much lighter version no black or purple hues, good fruit, echoes of dry leaf sweet treacly note; chewy, earthy Assam notes kept in the background. A little vague and unstructured with a chunky finish but better than with boiling water. 
Harmutty 2009 FTGFOP1 Tippy: almost looking like a Darjeeling.
C. Standard parameters bring an unexpectedly hefty tea but fairly complete, with unaggressive tannins and excellent length (as always with buds). Even better when brewed lighter, wonderful tea, subtly spicy, juicy, mildly Oriental Beauty-like in the incomplete oxidation, not really tannic. Brilliant value. But positively un-Assamish. 
D. Deep brown colour. Restrained aroma: rich, malty. Lovely balance in taste, very good tea, broad, voluminous and complete. Perhaps most tannic of six. Big, assertive. Here again Lochan recommend brewing at 90C giving some unexpected sophistication and softness in taste. Very different than C but excellent. 

Hattialli 2009 Golden Bud: a classic Assam colour.

E. Extra fruitiness on nose, orangey, citrusy, bright, open. Nice balanced tannins. Nuanced and balanced. Surely best of flight together with C. Easy to brew, the tannins are so balanced you have to push it hard to get any astringency. Fantastic value.
F. Simplest of six, linear and uncomplex. Unremarkable and somewhat diluted even at high dosage. Not so much power even brewed with a heavy hand. Decent quality, cleaner and preferable to A. 
Wet leaf appearance and final remarks: 
A. Expired leaves quite thick and coarse, high amount of stalks. Wet leaf smells very earthy with minor fruit sweetness. Ordinary tea and clearly a lower grade (so why is it called an FTGFOP1). 
B. Wet leaf is not bad showing an amount of tips, however this is a bit unbalanced and takes some extra care in the brewing to produce a good cup. Good not great. Best thing about this tea is the evocative ‘Golden Paw’ name. 
Expired leaf of Harmutty 2009 FTGFOP1 Tippy.
C. About the highest grade I’ve seen in a black tea: wondrously healthy bud-and-leaf systems with not a particle of broken leaf. Thoroughly lovely from looking at the dry leaves to finishing the second brew cup. And it’s only $4 / 100g. 
Expired leaf of Hattialli 2009 Golden Bud.
D. Nothing special about the wet leaf, seems less tippy than B but surely tastes better, a well-presented, balanced and complete tea, classic Assam with some extra elegance and character, recommended. 
E. Wet leaf similar to C, lots of tips, intact leaf. Clearly a special small lot production. Brilliant tea at a ridiculous $2 / 100g although in the end I preferred C by a minor margin. 
F. Wet leaf plain-looking, good grade with no fannings but nowhere the tippy extravagance of C and E. Small chopped leaves but at least not the coarse lower-grade leaf of A. Ordinary but not bad.
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Himalayan oolong

 

As part of the ongoing Lochan Tea Co. online tasting on Facebook (see here
for their profile and contact them if you’d like to enroll for the second
round, to be organised soon), I’m tasting the 2009 Oolong from Meghma Estate in Nepal, and thought I’d compare it
with a 2009 2nd Flush Oolong from
Glenburn Estate in Darjeeling which I got also from Lochan earlier this
year.
Darjeeling and Nepal have historically specialised in black teas. However
with the increasing popularity of new types of tea in the West, the market
pressure on Himalayan tea producers is to introduce green, white, yellow, and
oolong (semi-oxidised) styles. These remain marginal but it’s interesting to
compare them with the classic Chinese examples.
The usual feeling is one of disappointment. Indian greens and oolongs
are rarely exciting and often fall short of ‘the real thing’. It’s important to
say that non-black teas in the Himalayan regions are produced with the same tea
plants that yield black tea (in China, it’s almost always a separate tea
cultivar, although green and black tea are produced from the same leaves in
some regions, and classic oolong varietals such as qingxin and tieguanyin
are occasionally used for black tea in Taiwan). And it’s also often argued that
Indian tea makers lack the expertise linked to green and oolong production in
China – although tea manufacture might seem a simple task there’s a number of
intricate processing steps such as wilting, roasting and rolling that need to
be very carefully timed.
I think no-one would argue there’s no oolong in India at the moment that
can challenge the iron-cast structure and longevity of a Dahongpao, or the
inimitable buttery texture of a high-grown Lishan from Taiwan. Green tea is
more open to debate but being produced from tea plants suited for black tea,
with its tannins and deep taste, Darjeeling green teas usually lack the finesse
and lightness of the best Chinese examples. Yet I often feel it’s a bit unfair
to compare the two. Indian (and Nepalese) green and oolong tea need to find
their own original style. The two teas tasted here go some way along that path,
I felt.
The 2009 Glenburn Estate Oolong is a 2nd flush tea with strange  looks: as much as 40–50% tips mixed with small, fragmented, ‘black’
Darjeeling-looking young leaves, but with a silvery and green colour. Smell is
equally odd: a democratic mix of oxidative black-tea herby pungency and puer smokiness. The puer reminiscence continues on the nose and palate of the brewed
tea. 
Brewed competition-styled (2g of leaf for 5 minutes), this is coming
really close to a black tea both in body and in the chewy, earthy register, but
when dosed high at ~4g and brewed gongfu-style
like a Chinese oolong, the oxidation is lower (~50% I guess), the whole is
lighter, a little walnutty, and generally lacks grip. (I prefer a longer infusion
here). Not so much texture or intensity at mid-palate but a decent profile.
Perhaps wrong to expect this to conform to any known Chinese or Taiwanese
oolong type: it’s just tasting of a slightly less oxidised Darjeeling.
The 2009 Meghma Estate (Facebook
profile) Oolong (also a 2nd
flush) is another modified-Darjeeling ‘oolong’, but a more successful one. The
oxidation is higher (~70%), and the dry leaf appearance is quite different:
fewer tips, medium-sized leaves that seem a little larger than those used for
black tea. The dry leaf aroma is very smokey and mildly spicy, with a vague
reminiscence of Oriental Beauty from Taiwan. Really good leaf quality here: it’s
no coincidence the tea also tastes good. Look at the expired leaf
photo with its intact bud-and-leaf systems:
I followed the Lochan recommended parameters (4g of leaf / 250ml boiling
water / 3 minutes) and unlike the 2009 Doke 2nd Flush Silver Needle white tea
tasted on Facebook yesterday, found them very successful. While the steeping
is a bit longer than I would have dared on my own, the result is a flavourful
and balanced tea,  not overbrewed
and only medium-bodied, lighter in colour than expected:
A simple tea as befits its small-size leaf, this has in
fact quite a bit in common with a Darjeeling-styled black tea, including a
bergamottey and dried fruits spiciness, but lacks the tannins and remains a
little lighter. Interestingly but consistently with the wet leaf appearance the
subsequent brewings taste much like a ‘redded’ (partly oxidised before the shaqing stage of processing) puer, and share that crisp beany
character and a similar chewy constitution to the tannins. A gongfu session on lots of leaf and 30s,
20s, 30s etc. steeps yields similar results: initially very smokey, later with a
more pronounced black tea dryness.
In short, this has nothing to do with a Chinese or Taiwanese oolong but
builds a style of its own: that of a less-than-fully oxidised black tea,
lighter in body and less astringent but similarly flavoured to a Darjeeling (of
the more chunky style). Is there any interest in that? I would say so.
Glenburn 2009 Oolong (left, 1st infusion, 30 seconds), Meghma 2009 Oolong (right, 3rd infusion, 30 seconds):
the difference in oxidation is clear.
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2009 Doke Silver Needle

My first taste of a white tea from India: the 2009 Doke Silver Needle. Actually, a nice surprise: a pretty good imitation of Chinese yinzhen, or ‘silver needle’.

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