Description
Darjeeling Rohini Emerald is a complex green tea from the Rohini Tea Estate. Made from specially selected tea plants, it has a smooth character with a fruity and vegetal profile. This tea, that is also known as Vintage Green, consists of select fine leaves, mostly comprising of two leaves and a bud. Like all our Rohini and Gopaldhara teas, we source it directly from Rishi Saria, the owner and director of Gopaldhara and Rohini Tea Estates. This FTGFOP1 lot is from the March 2024 harvest.
Rohini Tea Estate is located along the route that connects the towns of Siliguri and Kurseong. Surrounded by beautiful natural environment this estate produces tea from relatively young trees. The estate has had a chequered past, not actually producing any tea for a long period of time. Recently it has been replanted with young tea trees, so sometimes it is referred to as the youngest tea estate in Darjeeling. It is now going from strength to strength and is producing more and more interesting and quality teas. This green tea is a great example of what these new tea trees are capable of.
It is particularly worth noting that this tea is made from Yabukita green tea clones that have been specifically selected to have much lower tannin content. This is immediately evident when comparing it to other Darjeeling green teas. Most of these green teas tend to exhibit a character that has a degree of astringency present and often have a savoury, smoky edge. By contrast this tea has very little astringency and instead features a light yet complex character full of fruity and lightly vegetal notes.
This exquisite Darjeeling Rohini Emerald has wiry tippy leaves consisting of one bud plus 1-2 leaves. The liquor produced has a golden colour and a light vegetal aroma. The taste is superbly smooth, with just a touch of dryness. The vegetal and fruity profile has notes of blackcurrant leaves, stewed fruits and fennel. There is a tangy note present that makes us think of a forest berry compote. The aftertaste is clean and refreshing, providing a perfect finish to the taste. Overall this is a very unusual green tea from Darjeeling of supreme quality and a sure must-try!
This tea is best brewed at 80°C for 2-3 minutes and can be brewed multiple times. When experimenting with repeated steepings, you can gradually increase the water temperate and steep time to extract fuller flavour.
This Darjeeling Rohini Emerald green tea was first featured in our March 2019 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.