Organic Darjeeling Estate Black Tea from Mighty Leaf Tea

I have just now enjoyed my first taste of 2009′s first flush Darjeelings, courtesy of Mighty Leaf Tea. This year, Mighty Leaf have chosen Mim Estate for their single-estate Darjeeling offering. It’s a great choice: Mim Estate’s first flush serves admirably as a well-rounded black tea and a great example of that quintessential Darjeeling flavour.

Long time readers of Tea Finely Brewed will know I’m a fan of Darjeelings. (If not, you might enjoy digging into my Darjeeling tea archive and reading over the series of reviews of single-estate Darjeelings I wrote earlier this year). This is my first experience with Mim Estate, which is based in the eastern reaches of the Darjeeling region. So far, I’m very pleased.

The tea came bundled in one of Mighty Leaf’s silken tea pouches. This of course simplifies the brewing process, though I must admit I still prefer the classic loose leaf approach. But these tea pouches are a wonderful option for those looking to delve deeper into the world of tea without necessarily wanting to give up the convenience of tea bags.

Anyway, back to the tea. A four minute steep brews the leaf into a dark reddish brown – “a hardy appearance”, I write in my notes. It’s a colour that suggests strength and briskness.

The colour, it turns out, doesn’t lie. This is a tea rich in tannins, with a drying mouth feel and a subdued astringency. The nose had given deep hints of grape and citrus fruits, and these are present in the flavour, though not overwhelmingly so. I am struck by the lack of sweetness in this tea; those fruit flavours lean towards tartiness rather than sweetness, the hind regions of the tongue rather than the front regions.

Organic Darjeeling Estate Black Tea is available from Mighty Leaf Tea. It costs $12.95 for a 3 oz. bag of loose leaf tea, or $9.95 for a pack of 15 pouches.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Darjeeling First Flush 2009 from Mighty Leaf Tea | One comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: Darjeeling, first flush 2009, Mighty Leaf Tea, Mim Estate

Shincha. Photo by geekgirlunveiled.

In a world where supermarkets stock a never-ending supply of tea, have we lost the thrill of anticipation? Do we remember the feeling of waiting for a new harvest to yield a fresh crop of tea?

An email from O-Cha this morning reminded me: 2009′s first harvest is drawing near. And O-Cha have four shinchas ready to pre-order, from four different Japanese tea gardens.

Shincha is the year’s first harvest, alternatively known as first flush. Once plucked, it’s immediately packaged and made ready for sale. It doesn’t get any fresher than this.

Given that it is only produced for a few days every year, shincha is a rare treat for tea aficionados. I decided to splash out and take advantage of O-Cha’s $2 early bird discount: one 2009 shincha from Kagoshima prefecture will be coming my way sometime in May.

This year, I’ll enjoy the thrill of anticipating a fresh tea harvest.

Pre-Order 2009 Shincha from O-Cha

• Shincha – Kagoshima Yutaka Midori: $24.95 for 100 grams.
• Shincha – Shizuoka Sencha Hatsumi: $22.95 for 100 grams.
• Shincha – Uji Kirameki: $37.95 for 100 grams.
• Shincha Fukamushi Supreme: $22.95 for 100 grams.
• Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori: $24.95 for 100 grams.

Order any of these before April 21 and you’ll get $2 off.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Shincha: Anticipating 2009's First Japanese Green Teas | 7 comments |
Post categories: Green tea
Post tags: first flush 2009, Fukamushi Supreme, Japan, Japanese teas, Kagoshima Yutaka Midori, Sencha, shincha, Shizuoka Sencha Hatsumi, Uji Kirameki