Description
Darjeeling Castleton First Flush 2021 is a high grade (FTGFOP1) tea that delivers all the best traits that First Flush Darjeelings are famous for with an extra special muscatel twist. This lot is from the Spring 2021 harvest.
Castleton Tea Estate is located next to the town of Kurseong, which translates as the “Land of the White Orchids”. The estate is very well known for its muscatel teas while also producing very fine first and second flush teas. Most of the tea plants here are from China and the Estate employs orthodox tea processing methods where the leaves are hand plucked and then carefully processed using mechanised equipment to ensure uniformity of leaves. The altitude of the tea estate ranges from 1,000 to 2,300 metres so there is a wide variety of growing conditions for different tea types and grades.
This Darjeeling Castleton First Flush has small neat tippy leaf. It produces a golden liquor with a floral muscatel aroma. The very soft taste has a muscatel profile and notes that are sweet, floral, creamy and a little stony. There is an intriguing herbaceous note throughout the tasting that nicely compliments the muscatel flavours. The aftertaste is brisk, smooth and clean without any bitterness or astringency but with more lightly herbaceous notes coming through. This is a great representation of a classic First Flush Darjeeling that would be well-suited to a fine afternoon tea pairing.
Darjeeling Castleton First Flush black tea is best brewed at 90°C for 3-4 minutes according to your taste. It can also stand at least one more infusion.