a bit deeper with the Gopaldhara 2nd flush

Decided to try two Darjeelings alongside one another, and wanted to see how this new tea from Darjeeling Tea Express tasted in direct comparison to tea from another source.
The former is a Darjeeling 2nd flush FTGFOP1 from the Gopaldhara estate, while the latter tea was described as simply Tea of the Year 2010 and had the grade FTGFOP1, but it wasn't clear which flush it was.





Although the leaves of both teas were very dark green, the leaves of the second tea were lighter and even had a glimmer of light green leaves mixed in.

My preference in Darjeelings continues to be teas from the 2nd flush, and this was no exception. My suspicion is that the Tea of the Year was a 1st flush. The brewed tea smelled flowery, but the taste was simply not very memorable. Both teas have a very coppery cup colour, but the taste of the Gopaldhara 2nd flush was much fuller. There was also a light wood smell to this tea. Even though there was a bit of bitterness, it wasn't as much as with some 2nd flush teas.



The Gopaldhara is on the left, while the Tea of the Year is sitting nearby. This is definitely not an advertisement for either tea, but if you want to know where to find the Gopaldhara, here's where you can find this specific tea on the Darjeeling Tea Express website:

http://bit.ly/fukwlj

Am really enjoying spending more time with these teas that I had such a rushed introduction to during the tea tasting a few weeks ago. Thus far, this is the tea I like the most from the five we tried.