My first Darjeeling. Lochan Tea Limited's 'Arya Ruby 2nd Flush 2015'

As a newbie and an admitted tea-tourist with hopes of becoming ever more entranced and educated with the tastes of the world's teas, I have my imaginary 'tea-passport' in hand and am ready to adventure in India through the taste of a handful of Indian teas!  I decided that after reading and seeing the BBC report, I should begin to get curious about Indian teas, and of course wanted to make sure I found a good, honest and honorable source. At this writing I have only had the initial pleasures of opening the package, smelling the tea in the bag which was wonderful! A bit of a 'Pow' factor, rich, dense, smoky? And weighing out the generous sample of almost 10 grams. I did my usual Gongfu parameters, 5 grams, in 120ml gaiwan, quick rinse, water temperature at around 195f.
Delicious first and second flash brew, wonderful scents coming off the gaiwan lid and a different yet even more wonderful scent coming from the gaiwan cup itself. Third steep getting a wee astringent, I think perhaps I will remove some leaves for the next few steeps, especially since I am flash-brewing, I bet this astringency can be dealt with in that manner.
And ten minutes later, I was correct! To gongfu brew in a small gaiwan do not use 5 grams, I took about half out, and the next brews were mellow and the astringency and bitterness were gone! As usual, 'It's not the tea, it's me' is a good motto!
I have no idea how this tea is generally consumed and will be checking that out soon. Certainly no milk and sugar for me please, never! Updates to follow as I learn more about steep options.
Time to learn about Darjeelings, and what Arya means! And Ruby!