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Lewis Perin

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

>Oregonian Haruspex > wrote:
>>On 2014-09-12 17:09:12 +0000, Scott Dorsey said:
>>
>>> I tried two steeps of each of four fully-withered second flush darjeelings.
>>> None of these have the strong grassy odor that has become typical of modern
>>> first flush darjeeling teas, they were all selected for being dark
>>> and mellow.
>>>
>>> I took 30g of each with 250mL of boiling water, steeped for 2.5 minutes.
>>> I then followed the same procedure again for a second steep. Almost
>>> certainly the second steep should have been for at least a minute longer.
>>> This was performed single-blind.
>>
>>I think you'd have much better luck if your water was around 190ÂºF or
>>so instead of boiling.
>
>The thing is, these are all fully-withered teas, very dark and much more
>like an assam in processing than the modern almost-green darjeelings, so
>traditionally they are done with boiling water. I suppose I could try
>them with a slightly cooler water just to see, though. But they're not
>oolongs like most modern darjeeling is.
>--scott

Sorry, I have to disagree with your last sentence. Oolongs arent fully
oxidized/fermented, but not everything thats partially oxidized is an
oolong. Theres a lot of craft in making an oolong that isnt required
to make a black tea (even a €œblack€ tea that isnt fully oxidized - I
know, my head hurts, too.) Maybe thats why, when Darjeeling gardens
set out to make an oolong, the results tend to fall short.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://babelcarp.org