Golden Tips Tea, Arya Ruby Darjeeling Black Tea Second Flush

Golden Tips Description:
Our second flush 'Arya Ruby Black Tea' is a classic example of Darjeeling summer royalty. The well-made leaves are wiry and have a delightful appearance with plenty of silver tips. Manufactured to perfection, the tea boasts of an immensely complex character with abundance of muscatel flavor. The fruit-flowery notes flush your mouth with a sweetness that is pleasant and comforting. The aroma scents of rich caramel with a slightly woody character. The nose is sharp and slightly fruity which resonates muscatel richness. Overall, the tea has a fantastic texture, a balanced and rounded body with an extremely smooth flavor that leaves a sweet lingering aftertaste in your mouth. An excellent limited edition Darjeeling second flush black tea.

Sample provided by Golden Tips Tea

My Review:
I prepared this one yesterday but wasn't satisfied with my results. Today I am upping the amount of leaf, the water temperature, and the steep time and see how that changes my opinion. All the previous Golden Tips Teas have been very delicious. This one was a little too understated for my tastes. So let's have at it, again.

The sample came in a resealable pouch with all the pertinent label information, including the steeping parameters and even the picking date.

Opening the pouch, I smell tea, tobacco, and hay.

The leaf is long withered and slightly twisted pieces. There are some silvery tips present.

Yesterday, I used 2 grams of leaf. The water was heated to 195 F and I steeped for 3 minutes. Not being satisfied with the overly subtle result, today I am using 3+ grams, 205 F water, and a 4 minute steep. I used my Bodum press as the steeping vessel.

The result is a deep caramel colored liquor. It is not the dark orange/red one normally associates with black tea, but is typical of my experience with Darjeeling tea.

The wet leaf was a deep woodsy aroma. The leaf reveals itself to be large broken pieces even with the FTFGOP1 Ruby designation on the grading. I was expecting full intact leaves.

Up front I first notice a peppery bite. It is not overwhelming but enough to make you take notice. As the bite settles, the notes turn to woodsy autumn leaves. There is a small amount of fruitiness present.

This is pleasant enough, it just isn't making a memorable impression. I like subtle teas when I can detect great depth to them. Others have raved on this tea. It just isn't speaking to me again today.

I decided to add sweetener to pump up the cup. It did. Really this is quite enjoyable sweetened. I am not noticing any new flavors, just more off what was already in the cup. I could drink the sweetened cup often. My feeling is it would taste good iced as well.

As I said, other reviews on this are very favorable. For me personally, it was just OK.

You can find Golden Tips Tea, Arya Ruby Darjeeling Black Tea Second Flush, here.