I was doing a vaxxed and masked visit with my father recently, and he was telling me how he had been sharing my blog with my brother and sister-in-law. He looked at me with concern as he said “you haven’t updated your blog since December.”
So I’m going to make and drink tea for dad. Cos I love him. Dad, this is for you.
The first tea I’m exploring is from Brodies Fine Teas. I came across this bag of Single Garden Darjeeling and a Scottish Breakfast at the Cargo Largo in Missouri. Darjeeling was my gateway into the world of tea beyond the bagged Lipton I grew up with. It has a distinct flavour that some compare to grape. It does not leave as much of the dry mouth feel as other black teas. Let’s learn about Darjeeling.
It is the Camelia sinensis plant, an evergreen shrub or small tree, if you are drinking black tea it is from India, China, Japan, and all over Asia. Darjeeling is grown in the wet, cool region at the foothills of the Himalayas. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us that Darjeeling is the top two leaves and the bud, picked between March and November. These 6 months give us four flushes. First flush is suitable for white teas. Second flush (my favourite) apparently has to be attacked by leafhoppers and moths to get that muscatel aroma.
I’m not sure what these bugs are doing on the leaves. are they eating them? Mating on them? But whatever nonsense these bugs are up to, the tea plant then produces something called terpene to repel them.
I need to sit with the knowledge that bug orgies and natural insect repellent makes my tea taste nice. I need a minute.
There are two other flushes, but honestly after learning about bug sex on the flush I like, we’re moving on.
I made two versions to enjoy today. Version 1 is a lovely hot cuppa in one of my favourite Royal Albert cups. One teaspoon of loose tea in a ball infuser, water at boiling in my electric kettle and steeped for 4 minutes on a timer.
Because we live in the Endemic Era (I feel the Pandemic Era ended sometime this past spring once vaccines began rolling out in earnest) I get to work from home full time. I enjoyed this cup at my desk.
The flavour of Brodies Single Garden Darjeeling is bright, slightly fruity, and does not leave a dry mouth feel. I keep drinking it to chase that not-quite-there muscatel taste. I made a big mug to chase this cup down.
Despite what my daughter and goddaughter tell people about me, I’m an American. As such I enjoy my tea iced on a hot day. I steeped 3 heaping teaspoons in a basket strainer in 16 ounces of boiled water for 4 minutes, then put it into the fridge for a few hours. I added a few ice cubes and poured it into a nerdy glass.
I found the pleasant muscatel flavour that I chased in the hot cups was tampered down by the cold. It tasted more like a regular black iced tea. Still enjoyable, but not the same flavour profile as the hot cuppa.
BTW – I’m recommending this tea. It’s really good.
I had never intentionally bought or consumed tea from Brodies. Let’s explore who they are…
The History tab on their About page has a nice infographic following the history of the company. The company was started in 1867 by ‘enterprising Scottish tea merchants’ (this is the sort of colonial nonsense that got both myself and Princess Diana great-grandmothers from India). The company was acquired by the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group in 2007. You can purchase coffees, teas, chocolates and gifts from their website https://www.brodies1867.co.uk/tea. But you can’t get these specific bags of loose leaf from the site. Amazon sells them. Brodies has their own page on Amazon where they sell bagged and loose tea as well as Scottish fruit cakes. The Darjeeling is listed at $13.89.
Dad, I hope you enjoyed this. Perhaps we need a poolside tea party at your house.
Tea and biscuits 