Sourenee Tea Estate, in West Bengal, India has been in operation producing highest-quality Darjeeling tea for more than 100 years.
We love the name Sourenee – it is a combination of the named, local hybrid tea bush (pron. ‘ser’) and the dialectic term for ‘queen of the valley’ (pron. ‘renny’). Grown in the steeply-sloped and dramatically-scenic Mirik Valley region, this tea will transport you to the exotic Himalaya … right in your chair, wherever you are!
During our sample tasting, we found the flavor of this 2nd Flush Sourenee tea to be a classic – fresh, simple, and smooth, without any harshness but with pleasant astringency. Having a solid aroma that demands further investigation (and then well-deserved appreciation) and a concentrated flavor that is reliable, familiar and complex, this 2nd Flush tea is stunning in its straightforward way, with the right amount of complexity to keep the most enthusiastic tea drinker interested. It is very ‘rich’, which is an adjective not usually associated with a 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea, (or any Darjeeling tea for that matter!), but it is very mouth-filling and full of wonderful, deep flavour notes. When steeped with a slightly generous measure (as we prefer to do) the liquor develops into a stunning copper/amber colour that we find mesmerizing. We are often tempted to steep a second cup too, and although lighter overall, we find it enjoyable and worth the effort.
This 2nd Flush tea from Sourenee is smooth, flavorful, and non-assertive. We liked it very much, and know that organic 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea that is as good as this one is can be hard to come by. A current goal of the owners of this tea estate is to further their established reputation for manufacturing world-class, delicious tea by the addition of organic certification (since April 2009). We celebrate their success with that!
Excellent drunk cool or iced (it is an excellent tea for blending into an ‘Arnold Palmer’) – and when enjoyed hot it can be drunk with milk, or any addition(s) that you choose, and of course, plain.