How Does the Coffee and Tea Production Process Shape Flavor?
The Risheehat estate's spring-picked Darjeeling first flush is a fully withered and fermented black tea whose leaves still look green. Long withering draws out intense floral and fruity aromas, with lily and citrus notes, a lasting sweet aftertaste and a layered mouthfeel. Stored for a few years, it develops honey and Muscat grape notes.
Risheehat holds both IMO and JAS organic certifications and is tasted each spring. Withering gradually removes moisture from fresh leaves over 12 to 24 hours, sometimes longer, and starts fermentation under dehydration stress. That longer withering leaves very low moisture in the leaf and produces the pronounced floral character.
Today I'd like to introduce a Darjeeling first flush tea we acquired this spring — a spring-picked black tea from the Risheehat estate. Risheehat is a tea garden that holds both IMO and JAS organic certifications, and every spring I taste their tea. The leaves of this spring-picked Darjeeling are on the greener side and look like green tea or a lightly fermented tea, but in fact they have undergone full withering and fermentation. The long withering gives the tea a rich floral and fruity aroma that brings Taiwanese oolong to mind. The liquor has a moderate aroma and a lasting sweet aftertaste, with notes of lily and citrus fruit, and a layered mouthfeel. Although the new tea is already delicious, if it is stored for a few more years, honey and Muscat grape notes will become more pronounced. Below, I'll take you through the picking, production, and tasting details of this tea.
This spring we purchased the Darjeeling first flush from the Risheehat estate. Risheehat is an organic tea garden certified by IMO and JAS, and I taste the spring-picked Darjeeling produced by this estate every year.
The leaves of this spring-picked tea are on the greener side, but the degree of oxidative fermentation is actually quite good. The main characteristic of Risheehat's spring-picked Darjeeling lies in its relatively light fermentation, with the brewed leaves showing a yellow-green color. At first glance, you might mistake it for green tea or a very lightly fermented tea. However, a greener leaf color does not mean insufficient fermentation. In fact, Risheehat's tea leaves have undergone full withering — a process that gradually removes moisture from the fresh leaves, usually taking 12 to 24 hours, and sometimes even longer.
The main purpose of withering is to initiate fermentation under dehydration stress. To use a somewhat imprecise analogy: if the pineapple you bought is still green, you can leave it in a room for a few days to let it ripen; tea leaf withering works in a similar way.
During withering, the tea leaves develop aromas reminiscent of flowers or fruit. For this reason, the Risheehat tea garden carries out a longer withering to obtain very intense floral aromas. I often find their black tea somewhat similar to Taiwanese oolong.
Because of the longer withering time, the moisture content in the leaves is very low. To make a Darjeeling spring-picked tea with emerald-green leaves, moisture content is key. Insufficient moisture leads to inadequate color development after rolling. This is why Risheehat's Darjeeling spring-picked tea appears green.
Picked in early March
The Risheehat tea garden produces its spring-picked tea earlier than any other Darjeeling tea garden. The batch I'm introducing this year was harvested in early March. The liquor of this tea has a moderate aroma, a strong finish, and a rich mouthfeel with lily notes among the florals and citrus fruit aromas. It also reminds me of a type of mountain vegetable in Japan — in spring, we eat a mountain vegetable called Koshiabura. I often think that the flavor of Risheehat is very similar to that of Koshiabura.
Risheehat Tea Garden
When Darjeeling tea is aged to a certain degree, the honey-Muscat grape flavor intensifies
This tea tastes good when fresh. However, for better flavor, it is recommended to store it for a few more years. After sufficient aging, the flavor becomes stronger and develops Muscat grape notes. If you want to age Darjeeling tea, store it in an oxygen-free environment and place it in the warmest spot in your home. The Darjeeling spring-picked tea I bought from the Risheehat tea garden last year is now more mature, and its flavor is more pronounced and intense. Still, I will keep it for a few more years to enjoy even better results.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
