My biggest question about Margaret's Hope tea wasn't what it would taste like but how it got its name! And this particular story appears on several web sites and has the ring of familiarity about it, in case you're like me and didn't remember how this tea got its name.
Category: British Legacy Black Tea
Purveyor: Upton Tea Imports
Dry leaf appearance: Varying bits of mostly dark brown leaf with a few lighter pieces scattered about.
Wet leaf appearance: Chopped greens.
Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 190 degrees, 4 minutes.
Scent: As with last week's Darjeeling, this one's dry tea scent reminded me of freshly cut wood, with a sharp, fresh scent. Once it was steeped, I also detected a sweet, almost fruity "grape juice" scent.
Color: Medium orange-brown.
Flavor: Despite appearing to have so much in common with the Singbulli Darjeeling from last week, this tea was a letdown. First, the flavor had an odd taste to it that I can't quite define. It was a faint but almost bitter taste which, again, I can only compare with what I think liquid wood might taste like! I also detected more astringency than I am accustomed to. The second cup, taken with milk, was tolerable, but only tolerable. (And I had wanted to like this tea because I like the name!)
Additional notes: This tea has something in common with Fanciest Formosa Oolong in that part of the tea's flavor comes from the fact it has been munched by leaf mites!
Next week's tea: Himalayan Tips SFTGFOP1 Second Flush
That is an interesting story on how the tea came to be called Margaret's Hope. I have tried it a couple of times and did not care for it very much. I'll have to find out more about the role of leaf mites in tea production. :-o
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great tea review.
Thanks for sharing the review. I too had wondered how this tea got it's name. I've had it before and found it ok, not something I would buy again.
ReplyDeleteI got a bit teary-eyed reading about how Margaret's Hope was named after the daughter who died hoping to return there. I guess it's her love for tea that makes me feel it. --Teaternity
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's the tea, sometimes it's the purveyor. Poor Margaret. Normally, the tea I have obtained from this garden is quite good, but the temperature of the water I used was always a good boil. The bushes there came from China. Now in the last year or so, the tea manager moved to manage another estate. I wonder how old the tea is that you had? I don't know about those mites as my leaves look just fine. Thank you for letting me know. I will try some again this evening. For the time being I will not buy from your purveyor.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!! I'm not sure I would want to know more about leaf mites and tea!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have wondered about the name of this tea since I first heard of it years ago. Thanks for the explanation and the review.
ReplyDelete