Helpful feedback on Phoobsering

Adam M, one of our regular customers from LA, has submitted another helpful feedback this time on our Phoobsering First Flush. We are grateful for your reviews that help our other customers to make better choices and also have a richer experience of our teas.

"One of the fascinating things about tea is how it can reflect and emulate other flavors and scents from the plant kingdom. This is especially true of Oolongs and Darjeelings, which are more similar teas in origin and processing than one might think. Phoenix Oolongs can evoke very distinct and differing fruits and flowers, and Darjeelings are often described as grape or peach like, as well as floral, with some teas suggesting even rose to my nose and palette.

Phoobsering brings a different spectrum of fruit flavors, which are best described as citrusey. This 2014 First Flush exemplar has, to my taste, a distinct lemon flavor to it, with notes of grapefruit, much like fine Sikkims, and to a certain extent some Ceylon Nuwara Eliyas I've had.  But it is much more delicate than either of these, probably due to the pure Sinsensis leaf. To the nose the dry leaf smells of grass, while the wet leaf falsely promises spinach. The liquor itself gives the first hint of lemon.

Because of the citrus notes it has a decidedly clean and refreshing taste, and it definitely shows its high altitude parentage in possessing a certain clarity. And like all the other Happy Earth teas I've purchased, it's difficult to over steep this tea. It just won't become bitter.

So now the decision of which Happy Earth First Flush Darjeeling to buy has become that much harder, with the only solution to buy a variety of them, to suit the many different occasions and moods of a tea drinker's life."