Golden Tips Tea, Jungpana Premium Darjeeling

Golden Tips Description:
A first-rate Autumnal from the paradisiacal tea plantations of Jungpana. Amber liquoring with a riveting aroma, this is sure to become your favorite morning cuppa. Fittingly robust and bodied, the tea brings in whiffs & undertones of muscatel complimented by distinctive maltiness unique to Darjeeling black teas through the pre-winter harvests. Taste buds capitulate to the bold slightly-earthy character of the tea as it flushes your mouth with its dominant character. A slight palatableness engulfs as you roll the liquor. Floral and dark chocolaty notes are sustained during the entire experience. An excellent tea and among our best-sellers every season.

Sample provided by Golden Tips Tea

My Review:
Today we travel to paradise, at least according to the rather colorful description by Golden Tips for this autumnal flush Darjeeling. Let's see if it lives up to the words.

As with all the samples from Golden Tip Tea I have reviewed, the resealable pouch has one of the most thorough labels out there.

The dry leaf has a fruity scent with a slight sour grassiness.

The leaf looks like tea. It has more cinnamon coloring and even some green, than say a Ceylon or Assam. This is large broken pieces of leaf that is lightly twisted. You know, tea.

I used my French press as normal, with 200 F water. The leaf amount is 3-4 g. My steep time was 4 minutes.

Once steeped the leaf has notes of toast and chocolate, along with some hints of malt.

The brew is a dark honey/orange. This is how most of the Darjeeling black teas I have tried look once steeped. It is clear with no obvious cloudiness.

When tasting, I first notice the bite. It is not an overly tannin bite, rather more like a spicy gravely thing. Wow, that makes no sense. Taste it you'll see.

It is not bitter and the bite fades quickly into a smooth muscatel along with a woodsy flavor. I do get the floral notes mid sip and on into the sweet finish. The chocolate I get, but can't say if it is subliminal, due to the description and the wet leaf scent I experienced earlier. Maybe it really is there. Maybe I just want it to be.

This is a pleasant, easy to drink Darjeeling. If your first cup needs to shock your eyes open, then I would wait and make this a late morning, early afternoon, cup. Personally, I like a more gentle nudge in the morning. I could see me on the porch at 6:00 AM with a cup of this tea.      

You can find Golden Tips Tea, Jungpana Premium Darjeeling here.