Description
Darjeeling Rohini Summer Beauty Oolong is a rare Second Flush ‘muscatel’ oolong from the Rohini Tea Estate crafted exclusively from AV2 clonal plants grown at an altitude of 900-1,200 metres. It consists of buds and smaller young leaves that are picked and processed entirely by hand to preserve the delicate nature of the tea leaves as best as possible. The plucking time and processing is specifically geared towards producing a flavour with a more pronounced muscatel aspect that is reminiscent of Taiwanese Oriental Beauty teas. Due to the tippy nature and lower oxidation the flavour of this batch is particularly delicate, with a very soft and sweet honeyed flavour. June 2020 harvest.
If you are intersted in trying a muscatel tea with a more robust flavour that is closer to a classic Second Flush Darjeeling, we can strongly recommend the Gopaldhara Clonal Ruby Oolong.
Like all our Rohini and Gopaldhara teas, we source it directly from Rishi Saria, the owner and director of Gopaldhara and Rohini Tea Estates. Rohini Tea Estate is located along the route that connects the towns of Siliguri and Kurseong. Surrounded by a beautiful natural environment, this estate produces tea from relatively young trees. The estate has had a chequered past, not actually producing any tea for about 30 years after it was shut in 1962. 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 higher quality teas. Most recently Rohini have been elevating the quality and flavours by focusing on smaller hand processed batches and more unusual types of tea.
It is made entirely from leaves picked from AV2 plants. The AV2 plant name stands for Ambari Vegetative 2, one of the various clonal plants popular in Darjeeling. AV2 is perhaps one of the most preferred clones in Darjeeling, even though it was originally developed in the plains. The popularity of this particular plants stems from the prominent fragrance and aroma of the finished tea. This plant is very prone to drought and insect attacks so the best teas come from plants grown at higher elevation in very good soil and that are picked during dry weather.
This Darjeeling Rohini Summer Beauty Oolong is a very delicate Second Flush muscatel oolong. It consists of very neat leaves with plenty of silver coloured buds that produce a bright, lightly golden liquor with good clarity and a sweet, fruity honey aroma. The predominately honey profile has a delicate and smooth flavour without any harshness, astringency or dryness. The tasting notes start on a more tangy citrus flavour. These then progress to a characteristic bug-bitten muscatel note of acacia honey. The aftertaste has a mouthwatering quality and is overall delicately sweet. There are also some tangy notes of red berries present that nicely balance the sweetness on the finish. It leaves an overall sweet impression with sophisticated flavours that are quite comforting and have a warming quality.
This tea is best brewed at 90°C for 3 minutes and can be brewed 2+ times. Like all top grade teas from Gopaldhara and Rohini, you can try experimenting with gongfu brewing.