Michael,
Actually, Upton just sent an order of the DJ79 and DJ84 from the Makaibari
Estate, and I can attest to their quality. I cannot order from a German
supplier for comparison, but these are very good - as good as Kyela Teas,
although Kevin seems to concentrate on first flush and the Makaibaris are
seconds, and for their quality the price is reasonable.
BTW, Kyela's Gopaldhara DJ29 Oolong First Flush 2004 is, IMHO, excellent. I
got 50g and will probably go back for more. Very bright and well-balanced,
fruity and long. This is probably the best Darjeeling oolong I've tasted to
date.
Regards,
Dean
"Michael Plant" wrote in message
...
Karel,
I'd be very surprised if Darjeelings available here are generally as good
as
those available in Germany and in your country. Nonetheless, Kyela Teas in
Canada is a better bet for comparison. I wouldn't expect too much from
Upton
in any event.
I would have steeped less time and used just a bit more tea. But, that's a
personal preference.
Michael
Karel 11/7/04
This year, Upton Tea Imports proposes more than 40 different
Darjeelings. I decided to check more than half of them to see if the
other side of Atlantic has something better to offer in this field
than Old Europe. I describe briefly the results of my tasting which
are quite subjective and certainly influenced by my personal taste.
Samples (2 grams) were steeped for 4 min. in tap water (180 ml, 95?)
filtered with Britta filter.
The 25 tasted samples may be separated into four following groups:
1) Fine but rather pricey teas:
TD93 Castleton DJ-124, fine fruity flavor with overtones of exotic
wood. Light muscatel SF tea. Very fine tea.
TD83 Namring EX-5, sweet complex floral and smooth FF. Very fine tea.
TD77 Phuguri Tippy DJ-13, fine floral, "sweet green almond", flavor,
smooth cup
TD97 Sungma DJ-5, fine, complex floral flavor. Fine green leaf.
2) Very good, not overly expensive teas:
TD23 Puttabong DJ-91 fine floral smooth Second Flush
TD67 Puttabong DJ-94, fine floral, spicy, smooth Second Flush. Very
green leaf for SF tea (In-between-like). Better than TD91.
TD26 Nagri DJ-10, sweet floral (jasmine-like) smooth tea. Fine leaf.
TD31 Margaret's Hope DJ-33, rather rich sweet floral-fruity flavor,
smooth cup. Fine leaf.
TD51 Avongrove DJ-44, sweet, fruity with hints of exotic wood and a
trace of muscatel, darker cup. Good everyday DJ tea.
3) Good, average teas, sometimes more expensive than those in the
group No2:
TD52 Jogamaya Second Flush , sweet, fruity, medium-bodied and smooth
tea, gives rather dark cup, reminds classic SF type tea, good and
economic everyday tea. Fine leaf.
TD65 Phuguri DJ-91, fine fruity and smooth SF
TD27 North Tukvar DJ-53 sweet, floral, green medium-bodied and smooth
tea. Fine green leaf.
TD54 Namring Upper EX-111, sweet fruity, medium-bodied all-round tea
TD29 Risheehat DJ-24, fine floral, smooth First Flush tea
TD90 Puttabong Supreme DJ-6, green, fine floral, smooth FF. Fine very
green leaf.
TD58 Okayati DJ-10, fruity,a bit vegetal smooth tea with traces of
floral and spicy tones.
TD63 Arya DJ-1, fine green floral FF.Very green and fine leaf .
TD68 Puttabong DJ-271, sweet, fruity, medium-bodied and smooth tea
(SF)
TD59 Orange Valley DJ-74, sweet, fruity with hints of citrus, smooth
tea
TD88 Orange Valley DJ-4, sweet, honey-like flavor.Very green,fine
leaf.
TD62 Arya DJ-61, sweet, fruity average SF
TD37 North Tukvar DJ-19, fine floral good FF
TD91 Puttabong Supreme DJ-53, fine floral, smooth FF
TD54 Namring Upper EX-16, fine floral and fruity, very smooth tea.
Very good all-round Darjeeling tea.
4) Poor quality tea:
TD92 Sungma DJ-163, unpleasant off-flavor
It's not so bad. In fact, all these teas are drinkable with the only
one exception (TD92).
Karel Valter
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