I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Today’s blog post is another review of the teas I received from Masters by Adagio Teas. Today I am reviewing the Balasun First Flush Darjeeling tea.
See here for my thoughts on Masters Teas and its website in general.
I took pictures of the tea before steeping and after steeping, but because the light is different on different days, I also included some rosemary and chocolate mint sprigs so you can compare the color of the tea.
Balasun First Flush:
According to the website:
“Our 2019 Spring Darjeeling is an early harvest black tea from the Darjeeling region of India. Different from later harvests, this first flush has a light body and layers of character that lean toward floral with a hint of fruity notes, and a crisp clean finish. Grown on the Balasun Estate, it has all of the classic notes of a first flush that are highly prized by connoisseurs across the globe.
Famous for producing some of the best quality teas, the Balasun Tea Estate (est. 1871) is spread across rolling hills with moderately gentle slope. The garden altitude varies from 365 meters to 1375 meters above sea level and temperature ranges between 44 degrees in winter to a maximum of 85 degrees in summer.”
“This tea contains a high level of caffeine. Steep at 212° for 2-3 minutes.”
The first time I made the Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha tea, I used a tablespoon and the tea was very light. So this time, I just weighed the tea when making my first pot. I used 3 g of tea in 235 mL (about 1 cup) of 212℉ water for 3 minutes.
The flavor was stronger than I expected, but elegant. It had a brightness and yet a hint of maltiness in the aftertaste that was very pleasant. Darjeeling is the only black tea I will occasionally drink straight, whereas with other black teas I will usually add milk and/or sugar. However in this instance I added a splash of milk, which surprisingly gave it a warm caramel mouth feel. I hadn’t expected the milk to enhance the sweetness quite so much.
The tea was decent when resteeped (212℉ water for 5 minutes), only a little weaker than the first cup and still strong enough to be enjoyable.
This was a delicious tea, faintly sweet, and I especially preferred it with just a touch of milk. The is probably one of the best Darjeeling teas I’ve tasted.
See here for my thoughts on Masters Teas and its website in general.
I took pictures of the tea before steeping and after steeping, but because the light is different on different days, I also included some rosemary and chocolate mint sprigs so you can compare the color of the tea.
According to the website:
“Our 2019 Spring Darjeeling is an early harvest black tea from the Darjeeling region of India. Different from later harvests, this first flush has a light body and layers of character that lean toward floral with a hint of fruity notes, and a crisp clean finish. Grown on the Balasun Estate, it has all of the classic notes of a first flush that are highly prized by connoisseurs across the globe.
Famous for producing some of the best quality teas, the Balasun Tea Estate (est. 1871) is spread across rolling hills with moderately gentle slope. The garden altitude varies from 365 meters to 1375 meters above sea level and temperature ranges between 44 degrees in winter to a maximum of 85 degrees in summer.”
The first time I made the Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha tea, I used a tablespoon and the tea was very light. So this time, I just weighed the tea when making my first pot. I used 3 g of tea in 235 mL (about 1 cup) of 212℉ water for 3 minutes.
The flavor was stronger than I expected, but elegant. It had a brightness and yet a hint of maltiness in the aftertaste that was very pleasant. Darjeeling is the only black tea I will occasionally drink straight, whereas with other black teas I will usually add milk and/or sugar. However in this instance I added a splash of milk, which surprisingly gave it a warm caramel mouth feel. I hadn’t expected the milk to enhance the sweetness quite so much.
This was a delicious tea, faintly sweet, and I especially preferred it with just a touch of milk. The is probably one of the best Darjeeling teas I’ve tasted.
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