The folks from Lochan were kind enough to send me some samples of some
various darjeeling and assam teas, and I gave them a try.

I want to say first of all that I drank all of these without milk or
cream, and that some of clearly are supposed to be consumed with milk.
A friend who drank some with me, for example, assured me that the Khongea
gold tip really opened up when she added milk to it. I can't abide milk,
so I'm probably missing out on something substantial here.

1. Lochan muscatel delight, 2nd flush darjeeling
This had that pleasant grassy flavour of a good darjeeling, but it
tended toward being very tannic. Still well balanced, and it seemed
to want to be brewed at a low temperature like 180'F.

2. Makaibari Royal Vintage Muscatel, 2nd flush darjeeling
Not as grassy, no cidery or woody flavour but very, very smooth
and with slightly spicy overtones. I liked the almost clovelike
flavour a lot.

3. Khongea Gold Tipped Assam, 2nd flush
I found this rather bitter with a long steep, but a short steeping
time gave a very mellow if light cup. Not tremendously distinguished.
Again, apparently this improves a lot with milk.

4. Doke Special Edition Hand Rolled Silver Needle white tea
Almost like drinking flowers. Very strong flowery taste, but did not
handle a second steeping whatsoever.

5. Sewpur Standard organic Assam
No cidery taste, but a slight chocolate flavour that is well balanced
by a slight bitterness. This tea also was unable to handle a second
steeping.

6. Lochan Assam Blend Royal Taste, 2nd flush
I just didn't find this exciting. It seemed very bland, really.

7. Doominee Wiry Assam Delight, 2nd flush
A much nicer Assam. It smells very strongly cidery in the bag, but
that flavour doesn't come across in the cup. A little sharp, but
very thick-feeling. The thickness is enough that it stands alone
very well.

8. Hattialli Golden Dragon Assam, 2nd flush
Much more cidery, medium thickness, very smooth flavoured and with a
slight 'brown spice' overtone.

9. Aarmutty Lion's Paw Assam, 2nd flush
This is something I found the best of the bunch to my tongue. Very spicy
but also with that strong cidery and vinegary flavour that keeps things
balanced.

None of these teas really blew me away or made me want to run out and buy
a truckload, but none of them were in any way really bad. I tried to drink
at least two cups of each under quiet conditions, and I have sent the
remainder of the tea to someone else on the newsgroup who may reply with
their feelings or not as they see fit. It's possible that if I drank with
milk I might be much more enthused about these, but the Rohini Enigma still
remains my favorite darjeeling...
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Rare is the black Assam that does not profit from a bit of milk; skim milk
may not satisfy fat-seekers, but IMHOP it is the better
backdrop for the full flavor of a milk-seeking black tea.
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
The folks from Lochan were kind enough to send me some samples of some
various darjeeling and assam teas, and I gave them a try.

I want to say first of all that I drank all of these without milk or
cream, and that some of clearly are supposed to be consumed with milk.
A friend who drank some with me, for example, assured me that the Khongea
gold tip really opened up when she added milk to it. I can't abide milk,
so I'm probably missing out on something substantial here.

1. Lochan muscatel delight, 2nd flush darjeeling
This had that pleasant grassy flavour of a good darjeeling, but it
tended toward being very tannic. Still well balanced, and it seemed
to want to be brewed at a low temperature like 180'F.

2. Makaibari Royal Vintage Muscatel, 2nd flush darjeeling
Not as grassy, no cidery or woody flavour but very, very smooth
and with slightly spicy overtones. I liked the almost clovelike
flavour a lot.

3. Khongea Gold Tipped Assam, 2nd flush
I found this rather bitter with a long steep, but a short steeping
time gave a very mellow if light cup. Not tremendously distinguished.
Again, apparently this improves a lot with milk.

4. Doke Special Edition Hand Rolled Silver Needle white tea
Almost like drinking flowers. Very strong flowery taste, but did not
handle a second steeping whatsoever.

5. Sewpur Standard organic Assam
No cidery taste, but a slight chocolate flavour that is well balanced
by a slight bitterness. This tea also was unable to handle a second
steeping.

6. Lochan Assam Blend Royal Taste, 2nd flush
I just didn't find this exciting. It seemed very bland, really.

7. Doominee Wiry Assam Delight, 2nd flush
A much nicer Assam. It smells very strongly cidery in the bag, but
that flavour doesn't come across in the cup. A little sharp, but
very thick-feeling. The thickness is enough that it stands alone
very well.

8. Hattialli Golden Dragon Assam, 2nd flush
Much more cidery, medium thickness, very smooth flavoured and with a
slight 'brown spice' overtone.

9. Aarmutty Lion's Paw Assam, 2nd flush
This is something I found the best of the bunch to my tongue. Very
spicy
but also with that strong cidery and vinegary flavour that keeps things
balanced.

None of these teas really blew me away or made me want to run out and buy
a truckload, but none of them were in any way really bad. I tried to
drink
at least two cups of each under quiet conditions, and I have sent the
remainder of the tea to someone else on the newsgroup who may reply with
their feelings or not as they see fit. It's possible that if I drank with
milk I might be much more enthused about these, but the Rohini Enigma
still
remains my favorite darjeeling...
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Nov 7, 3:33 pm, "john howison" wrote:
Rare is the black Assam that does not profit from a bit of milk; skim milk
may not satisfy fat-seekers, but IMHOP it is the better

BTW I tried heating the milk up before adding it to the assam and
it tasted much better. It might be because I usually add a lot of
milk and if it's cold, it makes the tea lose too much temperature.
I first tried this yesterday with coffee, and it came out much
better than usual, too. Anyone else try this?

-andrei

backdrop for the full flavor of a milk-seeking black tea."Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

... The folks from Lochan were kind enough to send me some samples of some
various darjeeling and assam teas, and I gave them a try.

I want to say first of all that I drank all of these without milk or
cream, and that some of clearly are supposed to be consumed with milk.
A friend who drank some with me, for example, assured me that the Khongea
gold tip really opened up when she added milk to it. I can't abide milk,
so I'm probably missing out on something substantial here.

1. Lochan muscatel delight, 2nd flush darjeeling
This had that pleasant grassy flavour of a good darjeeling, but it
tended toward being very tannic. Still well balanced, and it seemed
to want to be brewed at a low temperature like 180'F.

2. Makaibari Royal Vintage Muscatel, 2nd flush darjeeling
Not as grassy, no cidery or woody flavour but very, very smooth
and with slightly spicy overtones. I liked the almost clovelike
flavour a lot.

3. Khongea Gold Tipped Assam, 2nd flush
I found this rather bitter with a long steep, but a short steeping
time gave a very mellow if light cup. Not tremendously distinguished.
Again, apparently this improves a lot with milk.

4. Doke Special Edition Hand Rolled Silver Needle white tea
Almost like drinking flowers. Very strong flowery taste, but did not
handle a second steeping whatsoever.

5. Sewpur Standard organic Assam
No cidery taste, but a slight chocolate flavour that is well balanced
by a slight bitterness. This tea also was unable to handle a second
steeping.

6. Lochan Assam Blend Royal Taste, 2nd flush
I just didn't find this exciting. It seemed very bland, really.

7. Doominee Wiry Assam Delight, 2nd flush
A much nicer Assam. It smells very strongly cidery in the bag, but
that flavour doesn't come across in the cup. A little sharp, but
very thick-feeling. The thickness is enough that it stands alone
very well.

8. Hattialli Golden Dragon Assam, 2nd flush
Much more cidery, medium thickness, very smooth flavoured and with a
slight 'brown spice' overtone.

9. Aarmutty Lion's Paw Assam, 2nd flush
This is something I found the best of the bunch to my tongue. Very
spicy
but also with that strong cidery and vinegary flavour that keeps things
balanced.

None of these teas really blew me away or made me want to run out and buy
a truckload, but none of them were in any way really bad. I tried to
drink
at least two cups of each under quiet conditions, and I have sent the
remainder of the tea to someone else on the newsgroup who may reply with
their feelings or not as they see fit. It's possible that if I drank with
milk I might be much more enthused about these, but the Rohini Enigma
still
remains my favorite darjeeling...
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

writes:

On Nov 7, 3:33 pm, "john howison" wrote:
Rare is the black Assam that does not profit from a bit of milk; skim milk
may not satisfy fat-seekers, but IMHOP it is the better

BTW I tried heating the milk up before adding it to the assam and
it tasted much better. It might be because I usually add a lot of
milk and if it's cold, it makes the tea lose too much temperature.
I first tried this yesterday with coffee, and it came out much
better than usual, too. Anyone else try this?

You mean coffee? No, what is that?

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

On 2007-11-08, Lewis Perin wrote:
You mean coffee? No, what is that?

An aromatic and bitter tisane?


N.

Natarajan Krishnaswami writes:

On 2007-11-08, Lewis Perin wrote:
You mean coffee? No, what is that?

An aromatic and bitter tisane?

Ah, I see. Then we *are* free to discuss it.

/Lew, for the Ontopicity Police
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Natarajan Krishnaswami wrote:
On 2007-11-08, Lewis Perin wrote:
You mean coffee? No, what is that?

An aromatic and bitter tisane?

I believe it's a kind of bean soup. It's one of those California health
fads, but I don't think it'll ever catch on.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[John (I think)]
Rare is the black Assam that does not profit from a bit of milk; skim
milk may not satisfy fat-seekers, but IMHOP it is the better

[Andrei]
BTW I tried heating the milk up before adding it to the assam and it
tasted much better. It might be because I usually add a lot of milk and
if it's cold, it makes the tea lose too much temperature. I first tried
this yesterday with coffee, and it came out much better than usual, too.
Anyone else try this?

[Lew]
You mean coffee? No, what is that?

It's like a deep. dark brown. opaque tea brewed from beans. The beans are actually roasted to bring out flavors, not entirely unlike roasting tea. Some people who really care (or cared) about the quality of the drink brewed from this "coffee" actually roasted their own "beans." Curious, but true.
Michael