Springside Darjeeling Autumnal Flush
Black tea, Tea reviews
The penultimate adventure in my week-long exploration of Darjeeling teas. If you enjoy this post and don’t want to miss the final review, may I suggest subscribing to the blog?
After playing around with first flush teas from Puttabong and Arya Estates, I shift focus to autumnal flush Darjeelings. First among those: Springside Estate’s autumnal flush. Year unknown.
Springside Estate is at the southern end of the Darjeeling region and has a relatively small annual output. Before seeing it in my local tea shop, Tea Leaves, I’d never heard of it.
Throughout my life, I have been someone who saves the best for last. This week, on my virtual tour of Darjeeling, I ditched that principle. After ascending the wonderful heights of the Arya Ruby, I descend to a Darjeeling that lacks the depth and character I’ve enjoyed so far this week. Not that it’s terrible: it’s just not in the same league as the Arya or the Puttabong.
Again I learned the importance of infusing a tea long enough. After 3 minutes, I poured a small cup; 40 seconds later, I poured out the remainder. The first cup was dominated by astringency – I literally could taste nothing else. But with the second cup, I was amazed at how much character the brew developed in a mere fourty seconds. The astringency had decreased, allowing the tea’s muscatel note to emerge. After the disappointment of the first cup, this second one was lovely, fruity and light.
This feels like an everyday Darjeeling. It’s got that typical muscatel flavour, and the dry leaves emit a lovely aroma of stone fruit, but there is very little depth. For the price ($7.90 AUD for 100 grams), it provides pretty decent value.
