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After my highly disappointing first tasting of this tea, I decided to try using a reduced steeping temperature this time around. The results were a marked improvement—the astringency was reduced significantly, allowing me to get a much better sense of the flavor of the tea. I was still not particularly impressed, but it was much more palatable than my previous tasting.

Overall, I felt this tea was very promising. The dry leaves had a pleasant scent; the tea brewed to a rich deep red color and had a delicious flavor, but in this steeping, there was just a shade too much astringency for my taste. I will slightly reduce the steeping time in my next steeping. I hope that, with that minor adjustment, I will be able to recommend this tea.

This delicious tea brews unusually dark for a green tea, due to the fact that it is roasted. The flavor is terrific, and the scent of the leaves, particularly after steeping, is unparalleled.

In my first tasting of this tea, I noted promising flavors that seemed underdeveloped after steeping for 3:30. For this tasing, I steeped for 4:00, which seems to have swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction—those underdeveloped flavors were completely masked by an unpleasant bitterness that was completely absent in my previous tasting. I will continue to experiment with steeping time and temperature for this tea, but for now, I still cannot recommend it.

I didn’t get around to making tea until after lunchtime today, so I decided to take a break from my recent steady diet of blacks to return to one of my all-time favorites. The subtle but entirely unique flavor of gunpowder green never disappoints. One of my perennial afternoon staples!

After being thoroughly impressed with the scents of this tea as well as the flavor of the first few sips, I quickly encountered disappointment—not with the tea itself, but with the fact that, in steeping with boiling water, I seem to have burnt the tea. In spite of the burnt flavor, I could tell that this is a great tea; I will have to wait until I find a better steeping temperature before I can recommend it, however.

One of my all-time favorite teas. As soon as you open the package, enrapturing scents of chocolate and cardamom wash over you. One of a handful of teas that I keep in my cupboard at all times!

I accidentally purchased two samples of this tea (I purchased a sample of it, not noticing that the “Introduction to Fine Tea Sampler” that I ordered at the same time also included a sample of this tea), so I was very much hoping that I would like it. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed with my first tasting—the flavor was bland and boring, and the beginning of my second cup was quite bitter. I hope I can find a brewing method that produces better results; otherwise, these samples may sit in my cupboard for a very long time.

From dry leaf to final sip, this tea evokes all the best of autumn campfires. The dry leaves have a strong and wonderful aroma of wood smoke. This odor passes directly through to the cup with very little modification. The smoke odor and flavor are strong but never acrid. I did find this infusion to be a bit watery and plan to extend the steeping time to 4:15 for my next tasting. A hint of sweetness is left on the palate for a pleasant finish. I will certainly purchase more of this tea when the sample packet I ordered has been depleted.

I chose this Darjeeling for my first tasting of a tea from Upton’s “Introduction to Fine Tea” sampler. My steeping time of 3:30 seems to have been a bit too short for this tea—I detected delicate hints of greatness that seemed not to have fully developed. For my next tasting, I will give the steeping a bit more time.

The dry leaf has a fruity scent with robust nutty undertones. The wet leaf had a fairly weak scent when hot, but cooled to a pleasantly sweet, fruity scent with floral notes. The cup was a light reddish brown; the mild taste hinted at delicious fruity and nutty flavors that I hope will develop more fully with a longer steeping.