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Michael Plant

m5/12/06

> Hi all,
>
> I 100% agree here. I would say clonal teas from darjeeling are very
> similar/same in taste character and are missing deep character-full
> taste of china bush ones. I hate the fruity/spicy sweetnes of clonal
> darjeelings, it is soooo uniform and boring...
> But clonal bushes are much more resistent and have better crops and
> sooner shooting... So in my eyes, clonal darjeelings are strongly
> commercial teas with no or very low character - but they are more and
> more popular at market and its prices sometimes are horrible...
> OK - I know, taste is personal thing and personal preference - so no
> flame here :-) Just my opinion from more than 200 samples of 2006 FF
> from darjeeling I tasted this spring and many many samples from last
> years... For me clonal bush darjeeling is hard punishment of my taste
> buds :-D

Your and others' comments about the nature of tea brewed from clonal bushes
interests me as I hadn't considered that aspect. Their resistence (to
disease) though is temporary at best; when the little beasties mutate to do
them in, their goes their resistence and their goes every single one of them
since they are identical twins, so to speak, essentially. Sad little
buggers.

Michael