Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels "weak"
and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that produce
a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice that the more
fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st flush DJ's also
produces a few brews of more color and body.

[Yeah, I can hear people say .. Why don't you try and find out? But I
wanted to see why others haven't though of doing this before].

Actually, some people brewing the Chinese gongfu method do crush some
of their leaves.

Try this: crush some only, and not all. Let most of what you use be
whole leaves and crush the smaller ones with your hand (or collect the
bottom-of-the-packet leaves). Place the crushed leaves on the bottom
of your teapot and then place the whole leaves on top. Then pour your
hot water very gently so as not to disturb and stir the leaves too
much when pouring.

my 2 rupee

On Mar 30, 6:53 pm, Aloke Prasad
wrote:
Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels "weak"
and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that produce
a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice that the more
fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st flush DJ's also
produces a few brews of more color and body.

[Yeah, I can hear people say .. Why don't you try and find out? But I
wanted to see why others haven't though of doing this before].

Commercial Darjeelings are much stronger and more robust than estate
Darjeeling flushes. The CTC grade are lumps of coal. They meet the
definition of fully oxidized black Darjeeling. Estate flushes are
oolong in oxidation making them more mild. If you want a stronger
estate Darjeeling you add more tea. Crushing won't help. My
suggestion brew the flush longer.

Jim

On Mar 30, 6:53 pm, Aloke Prasad
wrote:
Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels "weak"
and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that produce
a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice that the more
fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st flush DJ's also
produces a few brews of more color and body.

[Yeah, I can hear people say .. Why don't you try and find out? But I
wanted to see why others haven't though of doing this before].

"Space Cowboy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Commercial Darjeelings are much stronger and more robust than estate
Darjeeling flushes. The CTC grade are lumps of coal. They meet the
definition of fully oxidized black Darjeeling. Estate flushes are
oolong in oxidation making them more mild. If you want a stronger
estate Darjeeling you add more tea. Crushing won't help. My
suggestion brew the flush longer.

Jim



I thought CTC only existed in Assam and some Kenyan teas?

Melinda

Aloke Prasad writes:

Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels
"weak" and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the
flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that
produce a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice
that the more fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st
flush DJ's also produces a few brews of more color and body.

I doubt you'll get an "adequate" color boost, even if you chop the
leaves fine and overbrew them. But really, isn't this beside the
point? Have you tried to get your doubters to ignore the color and
concentrate on the taste and aroma? How hard can it be to convince
them that color is unimportant?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Mar 31, 7:03 pm, Lewis Perin wrote:
Aloke Prasad writes:
Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels
"weak" and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the
flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that
produce a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice
that the more fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st
flush DJ's also produces a few brews of more color and body.

I doubt you'll get an "adequate" color boost, even if you chop the
leaves fine and overbrew them. But really, isn't this beside the
point? Have you tried to get your doubters to ignore the color and
concentrate on the taste and aroma? How hard can it be to convince
them that color is unimportant?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /

To get them to ignore the colour, you can always blind them

This whole colour thing actually reminded me of something that happen
to a family friend. When this family friend went to Taiwan a few years
ago, she bought her in-laws a quarter kilo of some award winning
$0.90/1g light roasted oolong as a gift for Christmas. In visiting the
in-laws a few months later, she asked whether they enjoyed the tea, to
which they replied bluntly that it was a really bad tea.

On further questioning, it turned out her in-laws had used the full
250g of tea leaves in one session to get the "right" colour brew, but
by then the tea was so astringent and bitter that they couldn't drink
it and so they had to throw all of it out.

On Apr 1, 3:25 pm, "sjschen" wrote:
On Mar 31, 7:03 pm, Lewis Perin wrote:



Aloke Prasad writes:
Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels
"weak" and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the
flavor.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that
produce a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice
that the more fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st
flush DJ's also produces a few brews of more color and body.

I doubt you'll get an "adequate" color boost, even if you chop the
leaves fine and overbrew them. But really, isn't this beside the
point? Have you tried to get your doubters to ignore the color and
concentrate on the taste and aroma? How hard can it be to convince
them that color is unimportant?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /

To get them to ignore the colour, you can always blind them

This whole colour thing actually reminded me of something that happen
to a family friend. When this family friend went to Taiwan a few years
ago, she bought her in-laws a quarter kilo of some award winning
$0.90/1g light roasted oolong as a gift for Christmas. In visiting the
in-laws a few months later, she asked whether they enjoyed the tea, to
which they replied bluntly that it was a really bad tea.

On further questioning, it turned out her in-laws had used the full
250g of tea leaves in one session to get the "right" colour brew, but
by then the tea was so astringent and bitter that they couldn't drink
it and so they had to throw all of it out.

Um, no offense..... but..... did somebody knock them over the head or
do they just have issues?

Any sort of common sense would tell these people that, maybe, just
maybe, the tea is light in colour anyway? In this day and age, a
phone call to check how to brew a tea really isn't that hard to do...

Besides.... you need a pretty big pot just to fill it with 250g of
tea. I mean... c'mon

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Um, no offense..... but..... did somebody knock them over the head or
do they just have issues?

Any sort of common sense would tell these people that, maybe, just
maybe, the tea is light in colour anyway? In this day and age, a
phone call to check how to brew a tea really isn't that hard to do...

Besides.... you need a pretty big pot just to fill it with 250g of
tea. I mean... c'mon

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN



Any more I ask people what they like before I go out of my way to get them
really good teas....most of the time I think my mother-in-law likes flavored
teas and herbals so....that's what she gets. Or a gift certificate, that's
best.

Seriously, if someone is going to spend that much money on a gift for
someone it is best if they ASK first if the recipient even wants it or knows
what to do with it, especially food items. Otherwise it's a good bet they'll
be disappointed with how the gift is received.

Melinda

Darjeeling produces 11.5 million kilos of tea - Approx. - 1.2% of the
total tea production of India.

89 gardens in total produce darjeeling tea.

Darjeeling " DOES NOT PRODUCE ANY CTC TEAS"

If you want a stronger darjeeling instead of crushing the nice Whole
Leaf grade buy the broken or fanings grade - these are available at
1/3 the price of the whole leaf tea and will give you a nice strong
cup.

Do not crush your fine tea - its utter wastage of fine tea through
incompetent manipulation!

If you really wanna get the best darjeeling from any vendor ask him if
he is selling a certified darjeeling.

The tea board of India issue a licence alongwith a number and inspects
all teas that the vendor buys from the country. These Darjeelings are
orignal - of the best quality called Certified Darjeelings.

www.lotusteahouse.com ----- is one of the vendors who has this
license in the USA.

Have a nice day!

Ankit Lochan
www.lochantea.com
www.doketea.com

On Apr 1, 11:56 pm, "Melinda" wrote:
Um, no offense..... but..... did somebody knock them over the head or
do they just have issues?

Any sort of common sense would tell these people that, maybe, just
maybe, the tea is light in colour anyway? In this day and age, a
phone call to check how to brew a tea really isn't that hard to do...

Besides.... you need a pretty big pot just to fill it with 250g of
tea. I mean... c'mon

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Any more I ask people what they like before I go out of my way to get them
really good teas....most of the time I think my mother-in-law likes flavored
teas and herbals so....that's what she gets. Or a gift certificate, that's
best.

Seriously, if someone is going to spend that much money on a gift for
someone it is best if they ASK first if the recipient even wants it or knows
what to do with it, especially food items. Otherwise it's a good bet they'll
be disappointed with how the gift is received.

Melinda

Evidently the in-laws wanted "chinese tea" and the family friend
decided to get best for them (filial piety?). Maybe it's a lack of
understanding on what tea they wanted or perhaps it it's her
assumption that these in-laws had some common sense in tea making.
Either way, the brew turned out horrid and family relations were
strained. The part that really got me was that before conceeding in
defeat, the in-laws also tried to redeem the brewed liquid with
Coffeemate and sugar.

Perhaps the in-laws, being 70 year old small town folks had something
to do with their tea making ignorance? Who knows? I just find it to be
an amusing story, and judging by the way things are in this world, I
don't doubt one bit that this story is true.

I think Lipton's Green Label is CTC. I drink their Connoisseur
version which is BOP. Assam is often CTC because it is the base tea
for Chai. I don't remember any Kenya tea being CTC. Ceylon
commercial teas are often CTC. I see someone else shouting Darjeeling
is Orthodox. Okay it doesn't do any good to crush fines.

Jim

On Mar 31, 2:29 pm, "Melinda" wrote:
"Space Cowboy" wrote in message

oups.com...

Commercial Darjeelings are much stronger and more robust than estate
Darjeeling flushes. The CTC grade are lumps of coal. They meet the
definition of fully oxidized black Darjeeling. Estate flushes are
oolong in oxidation making them more mild. If you want a stronger
estate Darjeeling you add more tea. Crushing won't help. My
suggestion brew the flush longer.

Jim

I thought CTC only existed in Assam and some Kenyan teas?

Melinda

I told the story of my sister-in-law chastising me in front of family
I couldn't be any tea expert if I didn't have any blossom tea she had
from her best friend who was no tea expert. As it turns out it came
from a box of Numi. I also had forgotten about my jar of Fairy Peach
Blossoms. I now have a big selection of blossoms. What did I learn?
Not to take the criticism from in-laws seriously.

Jim

On Apr 2, 3:51 am, "sjschen" wrote:
On Apr 1, 11:56 pm, "Melinda" wrote:
Um, no offense..... but..... did somebody knock them over the head or
do they just have issues?

Any sort of common sense would tell these people that, maybe, just
maybe, the tea is light in colour anyway? In this day and age, a
phone call to check how to brew a tea really isn't that hard to do...

Besides.... you need a pretty big pot just to fill it with 250g of
tea. I mean... c'mon

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Any more I ask people what they like before I go out of my way to get them
really good teas....most of the time I think my mother-in-law likes flavored
teas and herbals so....that's what she gets. Or a gift certificate, that's
best.

Seriously, if someone is going to spend that much money on a gift for
someone it is best if they ASK first if the recipient even wants it or knows
what to do with it, especially food items. Otherwise it's a good bet they'll
be disappointed with how the gift is received.

Melinda

Evidently the in-laws wanted "chinese tea" and the family friend
decided to get best for them (filial piety?). Maybe it's a lack of
understanding on what tea they wanted or perhaps it it's her
assumption that these in-laws had some common sense in tea making.
Either way, the brew turned out horrid and family relations were
strained. The part that really got me was that before conceeding in
defeat, the in-laws also tried to redeem the brewed liquid with
Coffeemate and sugar.

Perhaps the in-laws, being 70 year old small town folks had something
to do with their tea making ignorance? Who knows? I just find it to be
an amusing story, and judging by the way things are in this world, I
don't doubt one bit that this story is true.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Aloke Prasad wrote:
Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels "weak"
and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the flavor.

That's true.

So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
(like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that produce
a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice that the more
fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st flush DJ's also
produces a few brews of more color and body.

CTC does some interesting stuff in that it removes much of the flavourful
liquid from inside the leaf and gets it onto the outside of the leaf, where
it's dried out. This results in tea that steeps much much faster.

All grinding it up after the fact will do is increase the surface area.
This will get you more flavour, both good and bad, and it will reduce the
steeping time a bit. But I don't think it'll be the night and day difference
that you want.

[Yeah, I can hear people say .. Why don't you try and find out? But I
wanted to see why others haven't though of doing this before].

I'd bet if you call Makaibari and ask for fannings they might even have
some. There's not much of a demand.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Apr 1, 10:35 pm, "Ankit Lochan" wrote:
Do not crush your fine tea - its utter wastage of fine tea through
incompetent manipulation!

Matcha producers must be nuts! :-D

Phyll

On Apr 1, 10:35 pm, "Ankit Lochan" wrote:
Darjeeling produces 11.5 million kilos of tea - Approx. - 1.2% of the
total tea production of India.

89 gardens in total produce darjeeling tea.

Darjeeling " DOES NOT PRODUCE ANY CTC TEAS"

If you want a stronger darjeeling instead of crushing the nice Whole
Leaf grade buy the broken or fanings grade - these are available at
1/3 the price of the whole leaf tea and will give you a nice strong
cup.

Do not crush your fine tea - its utter wastage of fine tea through
incompetent manipulation!

If you really wanna get the best darjeeling from any vendor ask him if
he is selling a certified darjeeling.

The tea board of India issue a licence alongwith a number and inspects
all teas that the vendor buys from the country. These Darjeelings are
orignal - of the best quality called Certified Darjeelings.

www.lotusteahouse.com----- is one of the vendors who has this
license in the USA.

Have a nice day!

Ankit Lochanwww.lochantea.comwww.doketea.com

Few green teas are CTC - the process produces a very harsh liquor on
green teas.

Assams (North Indian teas) are in fact 91% made by CTC. Kenyans are
98.5% CTC (just Mimima and Kangaita have orthodox lines). Sri Lanka
is only 6% CTC. As a percentage of global black tea production (ITC
data 2003) CTC manufacture is 60.2%. This proportion climbed from 40%
in early 80's but has been stable for the last decade.

Crushing made tea is generally a bad thing to do - matcha excepted
(which nowadays is crygenically ground on the mass scale, or granite
stone ground under controlled temperature conditions for artisanal
matcha). But, for white tea at least, crushing will darken the liquor
color. I have not investigated why and as it coarsens the liquor and
imparts bitterness too I doubt its a good route to go.

Nigel at Teacraft

On Apr 2, 2:45 pm, "Space Cowboy" wrote:
I think Lipton's Green Label is CTC. I drink their Connoisseur
version which is BOP. Assam is often CTC because it is the base tea
for Chai. I don't remember any Kenya tea being CTC. Ceylon
commercial teas are often CTC. I see someone else shouting Darjeeling
is Orthodox. Okay it doesn't do any good to crush fines.

Jim

On Mar 31, 2:29 pm, "Melinda" wrote:



"Space Cowboy" wrote in message

roups.com...

Commercial Darjeelings are much stronger and more robust than estate
Darjeeling flushes. The CTC grade are lumps of coal. They meet the
definition of fully oxidized black Darjeeling. Estate flushes are
oolong in oxidation making them more mild. If you want a stronger
estate Darjeeling you add more tea. Crushing won't help. My
suggestion brew the flush longer.

Jim

I thought CTC only existed in Assam and some Kenyan teas?

Melinda- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -