Darjeeling Mystic Black
The name alone suggests this won’t be just any ordinary tea, and since I’ve found myself drawn almost exclusively to oolongs and black teas lately, I had a feeling this one would be right up my street.
Appearance and Aroma
Opening the pouch only confirmed it. This is a properly black black tea (I’m repeating myself deliberately, because not every fully oxidised tea is truly black). There are only a few pale beige leaves scattered among the dark twists. The aroma already hints at something special: fresh wood drifting gently into sweeter notes, while opening up into a meadow-like fragrance. A shame I don’t own a countryside cottage — this is exactly the sort of tea I’d drink on a terrace, quietly watching the surrounding flora and fauna.
Steaming the Leaves
At this point, confidence turns into certainty. All the aromas have blossomed and, suddenly, Bacchantes appear carrying bunches of grapes. The tea glows like a bright summer morning. (Yes, I know summer mornings are often already unbearably hot — consider it metaphore.)
First Infusion
The Bacchantes dance off somewhere into the distance, and the flavour settles back into woody marzipan notes and something wonderfully comforting. This is not an adventure tea; this is pure ease — the kind of good tea you simply want to keep drinking, one that never grows tiresome and speaks to you like a purring cat. I steeped the first infusion for about a minute, though in this case I suspect it could easily take longer — I do enjoy tannins, after all. Here, however, they remain very much in the background, and that’s perfectly fine.
Second Infusion
I compensated for that with the second infusion, naturally bringing out more of the woody character. This is exactly what I love about tea — the way you can experiment with it and discover different sides to the same leaves.
Third Infusion
I completely forgot this one in the teapot for who knows how many minutes, yet I still didn’t need to dilute it. This tea apparently comes with an automatic safeguard against over-steeping. And that, too, is rather wonderful, because I gave up using timers a long time ago.