Teabox

Not being familiar with many Kangra teas, I decided to go ahead and review this sample from the Wah Estate. I love exploring black teas from different estates in each of India’s tea producing regions, so I could not resist the urge to try this tea. I found it to be unique and somewhat earthier and a little more vegetal than expected. Apparently, the earthy and vegetal characteristics are trademarks of many Kangra black teas.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of earth and wood. After infusion, I picked up aromas of earth, malt, butter, toast, wood, and roasted almond. In the mouth, the liquor expressed a unique blend of roasted almond, toast, hay, earth, straw, malt, butter, and cream notes which quickly gave way to fleeting impressions of apple, yellow plum, golden raisin, lemon zest, lemongrass, violet, dandelion, and rose. The finish was very smooth and pleasant, featuring a nice mix of lingering roasted almond, hay, straw, and wood notes balanced by faint traces of butter, dandelion, yellow plum, and golden raisin.

Fortunately, this tea did not end up being super vegetal on the palate. The combination of fruit and flower notes made for an absolutely delightful surprise. Overall, this was a mostly earthy, nutty, malty, savory kind of black tea that offered very well-integrated, refined aromas and flavors. For me, it made an excellent introduction to Kangra black teas and made me want to try more in the very near future. I would recommend it highly to anyone looking for something exotic that is not too out there and/or an introduction to Kangra black teas.

Yet another sample from Teabox that I finished within the past couple of weeks and did not promptly review, this particular tea hails from the Lopchu Estate. Among the Darjeeling tea estates, Lopchu is one of the more consistently revered, producing teas that are generally known for their woodiness, smokiness, and unique fruity tones. Though this particular tea was not the highest grade among the Lopchu teas I have tried this year, it produced a truly exceptional cup.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced pronounced aromas of wood, earth, and cherry. After infusion, I found a mixture of dark wood, blackberry, black cherry, elderberry, brown toast, earth, damp hay, and malt aromas. In the mouth, I picked up a unique mix of herb, hay, brown toast, roasted chestnut, malt, black cherry, stewed apricot, Muscatel, raisin, brown sugar, blackberry, and elderberry notes balanced by touches of earth, smoke, and dark wood. The finish offered lingering black cherry, elderberry, and blackberry notes underscored by subtle malt, brown toast, smoke, roasted chestnut, and herbal impressions.

Even though I have not had a tremendous number of teas from the Lopchu Estate, I have never been disappointed by any of the Lopchu teas I have tried. Each has been very unique and complex, striking me as standing apart from virtually every other Darjeeling available. This tea was certainly no exception. I adored the dark fruit aromas and flavors it showcased. They blended beautifully with the other aromas and flavors displayed by this tea. Definitely check this one out if you are looking for a unique, sophisticated Darjeeling that entices and mesmerizes just as much as it challenges.

I am still trying to clean out my backlog. I have consumed so many samples from Teabox over the past 2 1/2 weeks that it is ridiculous. I haven’t counted in a while, but I kind of doubt I am any closer to catching up on my reviews than I was a week ago. At some point in the very near future, I will probably just take a day and post reviews. Until then, I will be posting one or two new reviews each day. So, with that in mind, allow me to get started on that. I finished a sample of this tea a couple weeks ago. It greatly impressed me, and I’m not one who is easily impressed by Nilgiri teas.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced mild aromas of eucalyptus, wintergreen, wood, and flowers. After infusion, I caught scents of fresh flowers, white grape, cucumber, butter, wood, watermelon, and wintergreen. In the mouth, I found an interesting and surprisingly complex, harmonious mixture of thyme, eucalyptus, wintergreen, cucumber, wood, fresh flower (lily), honeydew, watermelon, sweet basil, malt, toast, cream, tree bark, and white grape notes. The finish was very smooth, offering lingering impressions of melon rind, lily, malt, cucumber, eucalyptus, and wintergreen.

This was an incredibly nice Nilgiri black tea. It was totally not what I normally expect of Nilgiri teas. Incredibly complex, smooth, and challenging in a good way, this would be a perfect tea for someone looking to move beyond the typical, widely available Nilgiri black teas. Prior to trying this tea, I was aware that the Glendale Estate had a great reputation among Nilgiri tea enthusiasts, and now I understand why. Definitely try this if you are at all interested in the black teas that are coming out of South India.

A really wonderful oolong, one of my very favorites. The taste is complex and hard to pin down in just a few adjectives. I get notes of wood, clay, the slight bitterness of apple skins, the warm summer taste of dried hay… it’s all just rich and round and I love it a lot.

The steeped tea is a reddish amber, with scents of roasted nuts, fresh baked bread, autumn leaves, and sugar.

A light, mild darjeeling, with the typical muscatel but no astringency of darjeelings. There’s a slight smoky flavor, like grilled bell peppers or grilled zucchini, that makes it a great tea for autumn afternoons.

The steeped tea is a reddish amber. Its scent is like an autumn leaf pile, with woody notes.

Here we have yet another sample from Teabox. Prior to trying this tea, I had never tried a second flush tea from the Goomtee Estate. I had one of their first flush teas earlier in the year and was not particularly wowed, but as I tend to like second flush Darjeelings a little more than first flush Darjeelings, I figured this tea may be more up my alley. As it turned out, I was right about that. This was a very nice second flush Darjeeling.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any subsequent infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced woody, toasty aromas with a hint of fruitiness. After infusion, I detected a mix burnt wood, plum, Muscatel, toast, herb, and rose aromas underscored by a hint of something like chocolate. In the mouth, the liquor produced flavors of roasted nuts (almond and chestnut), burnt wood, toast, malt, cream, chocolate, herbs, raisin, plum, Muscatel, dandelion, violet, and rose. The finish was light, pleasant, and smooth, offering lingering traces of malt, toast, cream, roasted nut, and Muscatel flavors backed by faint impressions of herbs and chocolate.

Although this second flush Darjeeling black tea was not quite as heavy on the Muscatel aromas and flavors as some others, it had a lot to offer. All of its aroma and flavor components worked well together, it had nice body and texture in the mouth, and fortunately, I did not find it to be all that astringent. Overall, this was a very elegant tea, and compared to some of Teabox’s other second flush offerings, it was very reasonably priced. Price point to value, it actually had more to offer than some of Teabox’s higher end second flush teas from the same region. All in all, I cannot find anything all that negative to say about this tea. I would recommend it highly to anyone with an interest in second flush Darjeelings or Indian black teas in general.

A typical darjeeling. Has that pleasant deep rich flavor without the astringency of lesser black teas. There’s a slight bitterness, similar to some leafy greens like arugula or dandelion. A good tea for everyday drinking.

This was different. A first flush Darjeeling made from low grown Assamica bushes is not something you see every day. Knowing how atypical this tea was for the region, I knew I could not expect it to be exactly like many of the other Darjeelings I enjoy so much. Unfortunately, there was not really anything to which I could compare it. I guess I can only say that I found this tea enjoyable, but I think I favor the classic first flush Darjeelings over it.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, I detected aromas of grass and nuts coming from the dry leaf material. After infusion, I picked up on a mixture of grass, malt, wood, roasted nuts, herbs, and malt. In the mouth, I found notes of grass, lightly roasted almond, wood, malt, hay, cream, wintergreen, menthol, dandelion, marigold, and rose with some subtle Muscatel character in the background. The finish was nutty, malty, and for me, surprisingly dry. Beneath the lingering malt and roasted almond notes I could still find traces of wintergreen, menthol, grass, and hay.

This was not a bad first flush tea, but I do have to admit that I have had better. The fact that it diverged so much from the traits of many classic first flush Darjeelings worked both to its benefit and to its detriment. On the one hand, it was a unique tea and it was certainly memorable, but on the other, it lacked the appealing fruitiness and extremely pronounced floral character of other first flush teas from the region. For me, this tea was something for which I would have to be in the mood. It definitely would not be an everyday tea. In the end, I found this tea to be rock solid and worth a try, but unless you are the sort of person who goes looking for mostly nutty, malty, grassy, and herbal first flush Darjeelings, I kind of doubt this will be one of your favorites.

Yet another of the black tea samples I recently finished, this was another very nice second flush Darjeeling. Teas like this remind me that I tend to like second flush Darjeelings with a heavier Muscatel component more than some of the others which tend toward nuttier, maltier, woodier, and/or more herbal aromas and flavors. Though this tea was slightly simpler than a few of the other second flush Darjeelings I have tried this year, it was very nicely balanced and displayed a superbly integrated set of aromas and flavors.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted predominantly nutty, woody aromas. After infusion, I began to catch a prominent Muscatel aroma coupled with touches of malt and ripe plums. The bouquet was simplistic, but appealing. In the mouth, I found well-balanced notes of wood, malt, cream, roasted grain, roasted nuts, brown sugar, raisin, moist earth, and Muscatel underscored by grass, herb, and peach notes. Teabox’s tasting note suggested that there were date notes present in this tea, but what I found was more like peach. The finish was slightly astringent, but offered nice lingering touches of earth, wood, Muscatel, raisin, herbs, and roasted grain.

A truly nice second flush black tea that offered pretty much all of the aromas and flavors one would expect of a tea of this style, I could see this being the sort of tea that would satisfy new and experienced Darjeeling drinkers alike. I really liked how balanced this tea came across as being. There wasn’t anything that seemed out of place or out of focus. I would recommend this tea highly to anyone looking for a quality second flush Darjeeling with a clearly defined Muscatel presence.

Another of the Teabox second flush Darjeeling samples I recently finished, I found this one to be rather unique. It struck me as being woodier and more vegetal than many other second flush Darjeelings I have tried. As a matter of fact, I found it difficult to rate because of how different it was.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of wood, earth, and roasted grain. After infusion, I picked up emerging scents of cream, roasted nuts, and malt. The scent of the liquor was almost totally devoid of any sort of fruitiness, which was very odd for a second flush Darjeeling. I could pick up a subtle plum-like fragrance, but otherwise, this was grainy, woody, malty, and earthy all the way. In the mouth, I picked up an interesting combination of moist earth, wood, raisin, caramel, green bean, roasted grain, grass, plum, herb, and field green notes balanced by touches of Muscatel, violet, dandelion, rose, roasted nuts (mostly black walnut with a touch of almond), and leather. The finish was subtly astringent and somewhat thin, leaving fleeting impressions of grass, caramel, green beans, malt, toast, field greens, herbs, plums, and flowers.

This was a very complex tea, but it also diverged from the classic traits of the style to the point that it was difficult for me to evaluate. Overall, it was very well made, thoughtfully processed from a high quality picking. I just kind of wished the finish had displayed greater longevity and the body had been a bit fuller in order to better support the barrage of flavors the tea offered.

You know you have a lot of work to do when you look into your tea notebook and realize that you have 20+ unposted reviews. I do not recall drinking that much tea recently, but I was mowing down sample pouches at a ridiculous rate there for a while. For the most part, I found the samples I received from Teabox to be very hit or miss overall, though I must concede that I had more hits than misses. This was one of the teas I tried that I adored.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

The dry leaf material emitted herbal, fruity aromas. After infusion, I detected aromas of peach, malt, toast, wood, and of course, the trademark Castleton Muscatel. On the palate, I noted robust, expressive flavors of Muscatel, raisin, herbs, peach, toast, plum, pear, malt, wood, straw, and flowers (dandelion, marigold, viola). I also noted traces of roasted nuts (almond and walnut) and orange zest lurking in the background. The finish was somewhat astringent, offering lingering touches of Muscatel, straw, malt, herbs, wood, flowers, and roasted nuts.

Compared to the two other Teabox second flush Darjeelings I recently reviewed, this was more what I think of when I think of this type of tea. It should come as no surprise that I enjoyed it more than the other two and found it more memorable overall (I should also note that I am a huge fan of the teas produced by the Castleton Estate). If you like second flush Darjeelings with a very clearly defined Muscatel character, then this would likely be a tea for you.

Before I begin digging into this chai, allow me to state that, for the record, I have never been the hugest fan of chai blends. I used to actively hate the stuff, but an Indian restaurant in my hometown and exposure to a few solid blends changed that last year. I’m still not the hugest fan, however, and it is not something I aspire to drink often. I guess I’m still trying to find that one blend that gets everything right for me. Unfortunately, this one was not it.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of this chai blend in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I attempted no additional infusions. I first tried the infused liquor neat and then with additions of milk and honey.

Prior to infusion, this blend emitted strong aromas of malt, cardamom, ginger, and saffron underscored by touches of nutmeg. The infused liquor displayed all of the above plus touches of wood, brown toast, caramel, and molasses. In the mouth, this blend was biting, astringent, and quick to turn bitter. Notes of malt, cream, brown toast, wood, roasted walnut, caramel, and molasses from the CTC Assam base gave way to strident notes of cardamom, ginger, and saffron underscored by a somewhat gentler nutmeg presence. The finish was similarly biting and astringent with lingering maltiness, nuttiness, and touches of molasses balancing a more integrated spice attack. Typical of chai blends, this was definitely not meant for drinking neat.

With milk, this blend was a rather different beast. The astringency was tamed. Cream, malt, caramel, and roasted walnut rose to the fore while the saffron somewhat faded to offer a greater opportunity for the nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom to shine. I generally take my chai with milk and a touch of honey, but this was not bad with only milk. Still, I felt like the spice aromas and flavors were a little too toned down (to be clear, it was not like I added a ton of milk) and that the blend had lost a little too much of its previously ferocious bite.

With both milk and a touch of honey, I felt that this blend lost all focus. It became a bit too sweet, the saffron and ginger once again popped just a little too much, and the finish turned muddy. Of the three preparations, this one was perhaps my least favorite.

In the end, I was not really sure about this chai. No matter how much I played around with it, I could not quite get it to where I wanted it to be. To be fair though, it was a pretty simplistic blend, so I’m not surprised that it was hard for me to dial it in with additives. Perhaps an additional spice or two would have allowed for the retention of greater depth and complexity once additives came into play. I think cinnamon, black pepper, and/or bay leaf could have worked wonders in this blend. As it stands, I’m glad I tried this chai, but I doubt I would order it again.

Oh man, my backlog has grown exponentially since I received my order from Teabox. I have been mowing down Darjeeling samples at an unbelievable rate ever since. Naturally, I am now making an effort to start catching back up on my reviews. I think this was one of the free samples I received with my order. I’ve never been huge on teas from the Mim Estate since they always strike me as being a little too vegetal, but then again, I had only tried one prior to this one. Unfortunately, it did not change my opinion.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas that were somewhat floral, herbal, and vegetal. After infusion, I detected aromas of mango, wood, grass, hay, fennel, and Muscatel. In the mouth, there were notes of malt, toast, grass, hay, lemongrass, fennel, kale, and collard greens balanced by notes of fresh flowers, wood, mango, apricot, peach, Muscatel, and smoke. The finish was clean and vegetal, offering lingering flavors of grass, hay, greens, wood, smoke, and malt.

This tea started off in an interesting manner, but quickly became a little too vegetal for my liking. It wasn’t bad, but I did not find it all that appealing. I have no doubt that some people may really like this tea. I just do not think that I will ever be one of them. To me, this was pretty good and nothing more.

Yet another of the black tea samples from Teabox that I recently finished, this was listed as being a basic second flush Darjeeling suitable for beginners. I ended up buying it solely because I was impressed with the 2016 Turzum First Flush Darjeeling offered by Harney & Sons and because I wondered how a second flush tea from this estate would stack up to some of the others I have tried. I found it to be somewhat more complex than advertised, but honestly, it was a little too mellow for my taste.

As usual, I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material revealed subtle aromas of malt, wood, and herbs. After infusion, I picked up a mix of wood, herbs, Muscatel, malt, cream, straw and orange blossom on the nose. I had to dig a bit, but I was ultimately able to come up with a relatively pleasant blend of toast, malt, wood, cream, smoke, roasted almond, orange blossom, butter, straw, herbs, and nutmeg in the mouth. The finish highlighted lingering notes of straw, roasted almond, wood, and herbs. I was also able to find very subtle hints of black cherry and candied ginger in the background. Oddly enough, I could not detect any definite Muscatel flavor in the mouth despite picking up the scent on the nose.

I have to say that I agree with Teabox’s assessment of this as a beginner’s tea, at least for the most part. I got substantially more out of it than they did, but I think the reason this is best viewed as a beginner’s tea is the lack of a Muscatel presence in the mouth. It may be the aroma and flavor component most synonymous with Darjeeling teas, but I have heard of many people who find it off-putting. Without that component, this just comes off as a mellow, gentle black tea. I didn’t really dislike it, and I think that it would work as an introduction to second flush Darjeelings, but to me, it was missing what makes these teas so unique and appealing.

Would any of you believe that despite the number of single estate Darjeelings I have tried, this is the first tea from the highly regarded Giddapahar Estate I have gotten around to reviewing? That seems crazy to me. Anyway, I found this to be a rock solid second flush Darjeeling. It did not exactly blow me away, but it was quite good.

As always, I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped about 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, I picked up subtle scents of Muscatel, malt, and wood. After infusion, the aromas were still somewhat soft, more so than I would generally expect of a second flush Darjeeling. I picked up a subtle, relatively refined mix of caramel, butter, malt, Muscatel, wood, citrus, straw, and raisin. On the palate, I detected an interesting mix of mango, sweet orange, raisin, and Muscatel which gave way to pungent herb, straw, wood, grass, roasted almond, mild nutmeg, smoke, caramel, and butter notes. The liquor’s finish emphasized moderate astringency and lingering touches of malt, herbs, straw, wood, and a somewhat vague fruitiness.

Again, this was a very solid, appealing second flush Darjeeling, but two things held me back from rating it higher. First, I found the body to be thin for this style of tea. Second, I found the way the astringency built in the mouth to be mildly distracting. Now, I am well aware that the way I tend to brew Darjeelings brings out some astringency since I tend to use a little more leaf and steep somewhat longer than many people, but even when I tried a shorter steep time with this tea, I got very similar results. In the end, I found this to be a more or less very good second flush Darjeeling, but I also felt that there were a couple of negatives that held it back from being exceptional.

I finally got my order from Teabox around a week or so ago. Ordering from them ended up being such a huge fiasco. My address kept getting messed up and I was not sure if I was ever going to get my order. Well, after it arrived safe and sound, I decided to just go ahead and jump into the teas. I needed to know if the hassle was worth it. This was the first tea I tried, and I have to say that I was impressed. I have long liked the teas coming out of some of India’s lesser known tea production regions and this one was no exception.

This particular tea is a so-called cloud tea hailing from the state of Meghalaya in North-East India. Cloud teas are generally renowned for their soft, fruity aromas and flavors. I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped around 3 grams of loose leaf material in approximately 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted gentle aromas of malt, sandalwood, and fruit. After infusion, I immediately picked up a unique blend of tangerine, melon, and jackfruit aromas balanced by traces of roasted nuts, sandalwood, malt, and fresh flowers. In the mouth, strong notes of Canary melon, jackfruit, tangerine, pear, and white grape were immediately apparent, though undertones of lemon zest, papaya, and mango did not take long to appear. I also noted a nice, mellow blend of roasted almond, honey roasted peanut, malt, toast, sandalwood, herb, straw, and floral notes. Teabox compared this tea’s floral flavor to that of orchids, but I thought it was more reminiscent of a combination of marigold, chrysanthemum, and dandelion. I also noted subtle nutmeg and smoke notes lurking around the fringes. The finish brought out new flavors of butter and caramel to balance lingering touches of roasted nuts, toast, and malt.

A truly unique, fascinating tea with a pleasant flow from fruity to woody/nutty/herbal/grainy and then on to floral before finishing with a nice blend of savory and woody, nutty, grainy elements, it made the hassle of an extended wait for my order worth it. This was my first Meghalaya tea, but it will not be my last. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a unique, flavorful black tea suitable for pretty much any time of day.

Nothing premium about this. I would order the black tea from specific estates over this. Disappointed.

The second green tea I purchased from Darjeeling … good but nothing extraordinary compared to other Darjeelings.. much better than most generic green teas though

Little disappointing given Thurbo’s sterling reputation.. not sure if this tea was correctly sold as a Thurbo and could have come for a lesser known estate

Not one the finer Darjeeling teas I have had but good quality with the muscatel aroma of a Darjeeling tea

The tea looks like small green distinct leaves, with occasionally bright pops of yellow from the marigold petals. The scent of it is dusty and sweetly green, reminiscent of spinach. The steeped tea is a pale gold with a mild scent, mostly of basil and sweet greens. The taste is the same. Basil is by far the strongest note, with faint hints of floral and vegetal flavors underneath.

The dry leaves are large and very recognizable as distinct leaves, still dark green in color. They smell of a rich forest, with notes of wood, mushroom, and earth. The steeped tea itself is brownish-gold in color and still carries the mushroomy, woody scent. The taste is surprisingly grassy, given the depth and darkness of the aroma and color, with just a hint of that deep woodiness. There is a bit of astringency in the aftertaste. It’s a tea that really makes me think of autumn, despite being a first flush.

Overall, it’s a very excellent example of a strong, traditional Darjeeling. Unfortunately I personally prefer teas with a lighter taste, but I imagine this could be the favorite of someone other than me.

The dried leaves are curled into small pearls, and smell of raw spinach with a woody note. The steeped tea is a pale gold, and smells of spinach very mildly. The taste is overall very mild and subtle, with notes of cooked greens. It is bitter if oversteeped, but when done right is a very pleasant, refreshing tea. It’s a classic green tea, and is perfectly what it sets out to be.

Strongly aromatic dry leaf. rose, cardamom, candy cherry. All very bright, which carries through to tea. Tea liquor similar along with orane peel.
palate is light with more light cherry, slight eucalyptus, very mild malt and fine astringency.

perhaps lacking a little in mid-palate, but what an interesting flavour profile

Reminds me of some of hte HongYu teas from Taiwan.