Makaibari Grand Reserve Darjeeling First Flush SFTGFOP1 2011

Makaibari Grand Reserve Darjeeling First Flush SFTGFOP1 2011

Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, First Flush, Makaibari

Price; £ 13.00 for 50 grams from Pekoe Tea.

http://www.pekoetea.co.uk/

Review; Oh Darjeelings where to begin again. For those loyal readers that remember my passion, Darjeelings are crème a la crème in my eyes. And sadly this one disappoints. And doesn’t just disappoint on one degree but so very many. First Flushes are my favourite, (see post on Marybong which still remains one of my favourites to date) and yet this first flush lacks that distinctive pepperyness that I so crave. Bland. The flavour that does come through gives hints of vanilla, and maybe green apples, but hard to detect. For being a tea from the Rajah Collection that "is selected by Rajah, the estate owner as the best of the first flush season” just makes it even sadder. High promises leave broken hearts and in this case a broken taste.

The blame? Not Pekoe tea where this tea was purchased. This is the 3^rd strike of Makibari in my opinion; I have tried a 2010 First Flush “Grand Cru”, and their second flush, and none of them compare to some of the better known estates.

Makibari prides themselves on being one of the first “biodynamic” estates, and even going as far as to write a propaganda book titled “The Rajah of Darjeeling Organic Tea”. Sadly I can say I bought this book, and it was one of the biggest wastes of money. Full of bull and other crap little info was actually provided about the estate. Written from the perspective of a hippy about nature, it covers little of the realities of a tea plantation while painting a fairy land for people to dream of that “mystic India”.

So Makibari, I look forward to trying your 2012 pickings, but know that you are one of the bottom rungs on the ladder. Manjhee Valley which isn’t even a Darjeeling gives better muscatel tones than you.

Don't enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Type; Green, China

Price; £ 9.00 for 100 grams from Pekoe Tea.

http://www.pekoetea.co.uk/?pagename=Xin%20Yang%20Mao%20Jian

Review; When it comes to green teas, there are two main schools of thought, pan dried and steam-dry. These two schools represent the Chinese and Japanese ways of tea with Chinese teas being made predominately in the pan dried fashion resulting in the tell tale style undertones of chestnut, and the Japanese resulting in a crisp fresh green of freshly cut grass.

While this tea continues the Chinese traditional method of pan drying it is certainly one of the more unique teas. Relying on a Wikipedia article until my new book arrives, Xin Yang Mao Jian is suppose to be one of the top 10 teas of China. And this I can easily believe, crisp and fresh, little astringency. The light amber hue, tickling the tongue, Xin Yiang teas are wonderfully full of flavour. However despite being a Chinese green, my first thought would not be that of chestnuts, its…hard to explain. While that may seem like a lame response especially for a blogger review, if I try to explain it; sounds more like “the essence of the tea”. And by the “essence of the tea” I don’t mean the freshness or the greenness I associate with the essence of Japanese green teas, but just a slight curl at the edge of the tongue as it sits in ones mouth. Second brew still brings out many flavours, this is a superior tea.

Pekoe tea does a wonderful job of packaging their teas, and it does show. This tea was actually purchased months ago, however is still incredibly fresh. Vacuum sealed in plastic/metal packets this does add to the cost.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan (changing from Tea Fanatic to Fan, as I’d like to be less of a fanatic this year)