Comparing three Arya Estate '09 Darjeelings

It's moments like this that remind me why I drink tea. I've come a long way from avoiding stale teabag tea, to being able to experience (at once) three of the premiere teas of Darjeeling. It's hard to express how lovely is the aroma I'm experiencing. It's like springtime; it's like a mountain of spices.

I have before me three cups of Arya Estate Darjeeling, provided very kindly by Thunderbolt Tea, via TeaViews.com, where I am a contributor. The three teas are:

Arya SFTGFOP1 China '09
Arya FTGFOP1 Clonal '09
Arya SFTGFOP1 Sample '09

What surprises me is how different the tea leaves appear, but how alike the liquors themselves are. The aroma rising from the three cups is intoxicating.


Arya SFTGFOP1 China '09
Slightly bitter, complex, astringent, leads to sweet aftertaste. High notes of cherry or berry fruit;

• Dry leaves: Twisted green-black leaves. In terms of oxidation, the middle.
• Wet leaves: Quite large leaves , nice tobacco aroma.

Arya FTGFOP1 Clonal '09
Richer taste than the first and third; deeper flavor. because of more oxidation? Cherries. Spun sugar.

• Dry leaves: Orthodox preparation, darkest oxidation; mostly black, a little green.
  
• Wet leaves: darkest oxidation of the three; a rich red-green. A bit difficult to discern the aroma, in comparison with the other two.
  

Arya SFTGFOP1 Sample '09
Brightest, most astringent sample. Brilliant example of a high-end Darjeeling.

• Dry leaves: Leaves appear as oxidized as the China '09. However, the smallest in size of leaf.
  
• Wet leaves: Lightest oxidation, almost entirely green; beautiful garden-fresh scent, like my Grandpa Allison's rose garden.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
As I compared the three Darjeelings, I was struck by how difficult the tea taster's job must be. My palate, though much more sophisticated than it was a few years ago, was simply overjoyed by what it was drinking, but trying to explain the subtle differences among three teas of the same estate, grown at the same time, sitting next to one another was challenging. I had hoped that this review would be really in-depth, an exploration of the movement among the leaves of these plants. Instead, I discovered that being a tea taster would be a job for a more highly skilled drinker than I. When I read that tea shop owners will cup 60 or 100 different, nearly identical teas in a day, and then be able to make value judgments among them, I start to understand what that would entail.

For my interest, questions I am left with: What are the differences between the clonal and the Chinese varietals? How do these differences affect the final cupping? Are there characteristics I would expect to find that would help me when making purchasing decisions?

I know, not much useful information here for a tea connoisseur, except for me saying that a tea cupper's job is a challenging one, and I can only imagine how much practice and training it would take to become one.

REVIEW: Thunderbolt Tea, 2009 Arya SFTGFOP1

When I drink a Darjeeling that is produced like Thunderbolt Tea's 2009 Arya Estate SFTGFOP1, I'm very aware that this tea has been anxiously awaited all year by people all over the globe, because the Spring flush in Darjeeling, India is unique. These teas comprise perhaps 2% of the entire India tea crop, and are typically handcrafted, specially produced teas.

These are not intended to taste the same from year to year, season to season, as "commodity" teas are. Yes, it is quite a skill to blend, say, a Tetley tea to taste exactly the same with every one of the millions upon millions of cups drunk every year. Instead, this tea is special. Each estate, each season, even each invoice-- the batches the teas are sold in, when they appear in the Darjeeling market-- is unique. It's amazing, and even sometimes a little sad, because you realize this exquisite thing you're drinking, once drunk, will be gone forever, and will never be exactly reproduced. There are characteristics that most great Darjeelings follow-- an ascerbic, very bright tone; a floral quality, a crystal-clear cup.

Now, that being said, I've had Arya estate Darjeelings before. Second flush, to be exact. Exquisite. The Arya estate has just about the highest standards for tea production, and they do make an attempt to follow organic farming.

This year was a bit difficult for the Darjeeling farmers, because there was a drought. When we in the Midwest of the U.S. have a drought, it's awful for the farmers, and can cause a serious drop of income for the region, and it might drive up the costs of, say, soybeans or corn. But the commoditized corn is produced elsewhere, and it will taste about the same. (I do not speak of specialized sweet corn, which can be quite special indeed.) But if the Darjeeling first-flush harvest flush were to fail, that's it. There is nothing that can replace it.

Anyway, in Darjeeling this year, there was serious concern that 2009 might not really have a first flush, because the drought was so rough. But at last, the rains came through, and there was a complete, if somewhat constricted, harvest. This means stocks are a bit low already, and many of these teas will already be purchased and gone by the time anyone reads this review.


ARYA ESTATE, DARJEELING
SFTGFOP1

Appearance of the cup: Rich, crystal, amber-gold

THE LEAVES
Olive green leaves, cut appearance. Very light aroma-- slightly floral, not very pungent.

THE CUP

• Delightful, dry mouthfeel, bright berrylike flavor, with a full dark note
• Honey sweetness, which remains in the lingering aftertaste
• Light and airy, very pleasant
• The aroma is rather faint.

The tea packs a kick on second cup, which as I've said before, is the "sweet spot" in any pot. The brightness is such a serious part of this tea! Smooth, even though there is this sharp quality. I am noting a brightly berry-like flavor in the high notes.

THE SECOND INFUSION
Still a lovely golden-amber color, though not as deep. The tea has lost a bit of its oomph, though, which is mostly manifesting in less of that sharp brightness. There is a more mellow, melon-like fruit note, and there is a buttery nut flavor-- a bit like the ghee I sometimes use to cook, though more like a faint echo of the flavor, without any heaviness. Very light, very transparent flavor. The tea is by far the best when drunk fairly hot, as it seems to lose something as it cools.



Web site:

ARYA SFTGFOP1 - 100% ORGANIC DARJEELING TEA (2009)

Dry Leaves:
Arya SFTGFOP1 is amongst the first invoices from Arya Tea Estate. As is every Darjeeling First Flush tea, the dry leaves bear a greenish appearance with some amount of silver tips. Has a sweet, buttery and honey fragrance which is in turn nutty and flowery in nature.

Infused Leaves:
The infused leaves are green which appears fresh and raw. Has a sweet - resembling honey - a hint of fresh grassy and minty characteristics.

Cup:
Most of Darjeeling First Flush teas have a weak cup that appears quite translucent in nature, but highly aromatic. This does not differ from the above statement. The cup is light and bright with some amount of astringency (this characteristic strengthens with longer steeping time, which is the case with all First Flush teas). It is highly flowery and nutty in its characteristics which is buttery and almondy. Has a sweet aftertaste.

REVIEW: FreshDarjeeling.com, Arya Estate Darjeeling, Premium First Flush 2009

Darjeeling from the Arya Estate, Premium First Flush 2009.

I love this cup of tea. I love it. And it is sent to me by Sonam Paljor Lama, who lives in Darjeeling and operates FreshDarjeelingTea.com (opening soon) and his blog, http://blog.freshdarjeelingtea.com/ Sonam was kind enough to send me a sample, which I am really enjoying right now. Thank you, Sonam!

THE TEA
The tea comes from the Arya Estate, and is the brand-new 2009 spring tea. As a first flush, I expect the tea to be light and bright, with an airy flavor. Let's see how that expectation bears out.

THE PREPARATION
Filtered, boiling water into my cast-iron Tetsubin, over 4 teaspoons of tea, for 3 minutes. This tea can go for maybe up to 5 minutes, but I'll go with a shorter infusion for my first time.

DRY LEAVES
The dry leaves are tightly furled, ranging from forest green to a brighter spring green. When opening the package, such an unusual smell-- a smell of vegetal decomposition, almost pine. I love smelling things that seem unidentifiable but beautiful.

WET LEAVES
What a wonderful, strong scent comes from the wet leaves: like ash, like honey, tobacco-sweet. The leaves opened up into beautiful green-brown leaf fragments.

THE CUP
Beautiful amber-brown cup, transparent and clean. The flavor is bright and intense-- nothing relaxed about this tea. It seems like it's shouting, or dancing. It has a very pleasant astringent dryness that moves across the tongue, and the flavor is so caught up in the fragrance. Sonam suggested the tea is like roasted honey, and I am inclined to agree with him. But to say that seems to make it seem cloying, when it is bracing instead. What an exciting cup of tea! This is why I drink Darjeelings.

THE SECOND CUP
As I pour the second cup, I must come back to the leaves. As they've sat a few minutes, they have become more floral, with a grape arbor scent. Imagine sitting under a grape-leaf canopy in northern Italy, smelling the fragrance and taking in the scenery-- that's what this makes me think of.

The color of the cup is still the same richly brown-amber appearance, clear to the bottom of the cup.

Now that the cup has had a few minutes to cool, and as it allows the complex chemistry in the pot to deepen and add layers to the flavor, I definitely notice a honey scent that strongly makes me think of a beehive. Rather pungent and delicious. There is a roasted flavor as well. (And that sounds exactly like Sonam's description! Remind me not to read other people's reviews before I make my own.)

The flavor seems to lock in immediately, and then stay intense all the way through until the aftertaste, where it remains a sort of bright tingle at the back of the mouth and throat. Even after the second cup, I am not losing the intensity. But rather, there is a mellow smoothness developing in the cup as it cools slightly.

This is an extraordinary and intriguing cup of tea, the best I've had in quite a while. This seems like just that perfect Darjeeling-- bright, sharp, sweet, layered, and unique.