Teabox

This is one of the free samples that I got from Teabox with my “All the Darjeelings” sample boxes. This Assam has a lot of golden tips, but the ‘“broken” in the FTGBOP clonal grade is justified. The dry leaves smell fruity, but also dusky – hinting at their strength.
It is a highly caffinated tea, as Assam tend to be, but it lacks the trully deep, bass-y aroma of an excellent Assam. It reminds me of a strengthened fruity Ceylon, coupled with Ceylon’s astringncy and flavor profile. Not much malt in this tea, plenty of stone fruit.
Tasty, but not mind blowing.

We are working our way through Teabox’s All the Darjeelings sample box, slowly but surely. Today’s selection was Arya Ruby, which I can’t seem to find anymore on Teabox’s site. It is a very fragrant tea, on the verge of being perfumy. There is a very slight astringency to it, so you may want to sweeten it up a bit. A nice Darjeeling.

Sipdown from yesterday.
A lovely darjeeling that I will miss. Recommended to darjeeling lovers and to newbies, and added to my wishlist.

Had another cup of this this morning. A very good Darjeeling, one of the best that I’ve ever tasted.
Finished this cup during our weekly team meeting, and ten minutes later the sirens started blaring again. 5 rocket attacks in 30 minutes.
Where there is tea there is hope.

Backlog from yesterday. First time in about two weeks that there were no sirens in Tel Aviv. There’s talk of a ceasefire, but as this is the third time around that there has been talk of a ceasefire, we are weary of hoping. Meanwhile, we are trying to carry on with our lives, but the ugly realities of this conflict keep making their appearance. Sirens keep going off in southern and central Israel. A farmer hand was killed yesterday while gathering crops. Children are afraid of the color red (which is the code name for a rocket warning), and the mounting number of dead and the situation in Gaza makes my stomach lurch. Two friends have sons serving in Gaza now, and I can see the fear in their eyes. Soldiers that go into Gaza must leave their phones behind, as the Hamas uses them to pinpoint the soldiers’ location. It’s for their safety, but I can see their mothers going mad with worry and I feel helpless, because there really is nothing I can do to help.
Drinking tea is now a way to calm our nerves, so we are drinking much more now. Others are eating much more, especially chocolate. But for us it’s tea.
I had to look up what clonal meant before reviewing this tea. It’s a clone!
I’ve had not so great experiences with Margaret Hope Darjeeling in the past, but this one is very good. It’s not as acidic as the Margaret Hope’s that I didn’t like in the past, and there is the wonderful muscatel flavor.
Where there is tea there is hope.

Sipdown! Tried it strong, with milk and sugar, and it gained a not-so great perfumy flavor profile which I did not enjoy. I was able to finish the cup, but I am not going to buy more.

This arrived as a free sample as part of my All the Dajeelings sample pack from Teabox. It is not as smooth as other good Nilgiris, but it still a pleasantly soothing black, with some spicy background and no astringency. It’s too light bodied for milk. All in all a satisfying , solid tea.

Sipdown! A very good Assam, with or without milk. I most certainly intend to purchase in the future, once my “no tea buying hiatus” expires.

Had this plain today. A really good and interesting Assam, smooth, malty, with distinct fruity notes. A worthy candidate to replace my beloved stolen Whittards Assam Hazelbank.

A hearty Assam with a combination of fruitiness and maltiness, and plays fantastically with milk, but tasty without it as well. This was one of the free samples from Teabox, and it is good enough to make me add it to my wish list. One of the tastier and more interesting Assams that I have tasted. Well worth the try.