Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

A coworker, Gautam, was going back to India for a few weeks and asked me if
I wanted anything so of course I asked for tea. I asked for a fully withered
dark Darjeeling, the way Darjeeling teas were when I was a kid, and he went
into a couple tea shops and brought me back some very interesting stuff. I
have spent the past month or so drinking these along with a couple other
Darjeelings that I am more familiar with and here's what I have been sipping:

1. Fabindia "organic Darjeeling black tea," in bags. This claims in very
small letters to come from the Ambootia tea estate, and it's really very
nice for a bagged tea. The first cup I made was quite astringent but
later cups made with the same time have been fine. It has got a little
bit of woody burlap aftertone but none of the green flavour at all. It
clearly would benefit from having a little more tea in the bag, though,
or the bag made into a 6 oz. cup.

2. Fabindia "pure organic Darjeeling black tea" in a wooden box, labelled
below "OF O Tea Black Darjeeling Sycotta 100g." Same retailer as the
bags above, but this comes from the Chamong tea estate. Less astringent,
still not thick or deep but a very pleasant cup of tea, and it will
remain respectable on the second and maybe even third steep.

3. Basilur "Darjeeling tea" in a tin marked "Specialty Classics" and imported
into India by SVA India Ltd. Basilur is a Ceylon tea vendor, who apparently
blends Darjeeling tea and re-imports back into India.

This tea is very different than all of the others tried, it's got a much
larger leaf and is much more flowery-tasting. It has much more of a nose
to it, and given the amount of counterfeit Darjeeling tea out there and
the fact this was blended outside of India, I am apt to suspect that this
may not really be Darjeeling at all.


REFERENCE TEAS:

4. Upton DJ-141 "Makaibari estate 2nd flush Darjeeling" which is what Upton's
sent me when I asked for a fully withered Darjeeling. Clearly a higher end
version of the same sort of style. Much more malty and thick, but it also
has more of the green "grassy" flavour which I don't like so much.

5. Rohini Enigma which I got mail order from Lochan Tea in Darjeeling. This
seems to be a classic second-flush fully withered tea, and it seems very
close to the Chamong tea up above, maybe a little darker.


SUMMARY:

All of these were good in some way and I have to say I think I liked the
Basilur the best of the set even though I suspect it's not really a Darjeeling
at all.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

On Wednesday, November 13, 2013 9:07:39 AM UTC-6, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> A coworker, Gautam, was going back to India for a few weeks and asked me if
>
> I wanted anything so of course I asked for tea. I asked for a fully withered
>
> dark Darjeeling, the way Darjeeling teas were when I was a kid, and he went
>
> into a couple tea shops and brought me back some very interesting stuff. I
>
> have spent the past month or so drinking these along with a couple other
>
> Darjeelings that I am more familiar with and here's what I have been sipping:
>
>
>
> 1. Fabindia "organic Darjeeling black tea," in bags. This claims in very
>
> small letters to come from the Ambootia tea estate, and it's really very
>
> nice for a bagged tea. The first cup I made was quite astringent but
>
> later cups made with the same time have been fine. It has got a little
>
> bit of woody burlap aftertone but none of the green flavour at all. It
>
> clearly would benefit from having a little more tea in the bag, though,
>
> or the bag made into a 6 oz. cup.
>
>
>
> 2. Fabindia "pure organic Darjeeling black tea" in a wooden box, labelled
>
> below "OF O Tea Black Darjeeling Sycotta 100g." Same retailer as the
>
> bags above, but this comes from the Chamong tea estate. Less astringent,
>
> still not thick or deep but a very pleasant cup of tea, and it will
>
> remain respectable on the second and maybe even third steep.
>
>
>
> 3. Basilur "Darjeeling tea" in a tin marked "Specialty Classics" and imported
>
> into India by SVA India Ltd. Basilur is a Ceylon tea vendor, who apparently
>
> blends Darjeeling tea and re-imports back into India.
>
>
>
> This tea is very different than all of the others tried, it's got a much
>
> larger leaf and is much more flowery-tasting. It has much more of a nose
>
> to it, and given the amount of counterfeit Darjeeling tea out there and
>
> the fact this was blended outside of India, I am apt to suspect that this
>
> may not really be Darjeeling at all.
>
>
>
>
>
> REFERENCE TEAS:
>
>
>
> 4. Upton DJ-141 "Makaibari estate 2nd flush Darjeeling" which is what Upton's
>
> sent me when I asked for a fully withered Darjeeling. Clearly a higher end
>
> version of the same sort of style. Much more malty and thick, but it also
>
> has more of the green "grassy" flavour which I don't like so much.
>
>
>
> 5. Rohini Enigma which I got mail order from Lochan Tea in Darjeeling. This
>
> seems to be a classic second-flush fully withered tea, and it seems very
>
> close to the Chamong tea up above, maybe a little darker.
>
>
>
>
>
> SUMMARY:
>
>
>
> All of these were good in some way and I have to say I think I liked the
>
> Basilur the best of the set even though I suspect it's not really a Darjeeling
>
> at all.
>
> --scott
>
> --
>
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
I sort of gave up on Darjeelings after only trying a few- too weak, too flowery for me. And the Assams and Africans seem too strong. What I like are the Ceylons... Toci

Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

Rohini Enigma is good one. I tried that some time back. Gopaldhara Silver Needle is also worth trying

Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

On Monday, 18 November 2013 03:04:51 UTC+5:30, toci wrote:
> On Wednesday, November 13, 2013 9:07:39 AM UTC-6, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>
> > A coworker, Gautam, was going back to India for a few weeks and asked me if
>
> >
>
> > I wanted anything so of course I asked for tea. I asked for a fully withered
>
> >
>
> > dark Darjeeling, the way Darjeeling teas were when I was a kid, and he went
>
> >
>
> > into a couple tea shops and brought me back some very interesting stuff. I
>
> >
>
> > have spent the past month or so drinking these along with a couple other
>
> >
>
> > Darjeelings that I am more familiar with and here's what I have been sipping:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > 1. Fabindia "organic Darjeeling black tea," in bags. This claims in very
>
> >
>
> > small letters to come from the Ambootia tea estate, and it's really very
>
> >
>
> > nice for a bagged tea. The first cup I made was quite astringent but
>
> >
>
> > later cups made with the same time have been fine. It has got a little
>
> >
>
> > bit of woody burlap aftertone but none of the green flavour at all. It
>
> >
>
> > clearly would benefit from having a little more tea in the bag, though,
>
> >
>
> > or the bag made into a 6 oz. cup.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > 2. Fabindia "pure organic Darjeeling black tea" in a wooden box, labelled
>
> >
>
> > below "OF O Tea Black Darjeeling Sycotta 100g." Same retailer as the
>
> >
>
> > bags above, but this comes from the Chamong tea estate. Less astringent,
>
> >
>
> > still not thick or deep but a very pleasant cup of tea, and it will
>
> >
>
> > remain respectable on the second and maybe even third steep.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > 3. Basilur "Darjeeling tea" in a tin marked "Specialty Classics" and imported
>
> >
>
> > into India by SVA India Ltd. Basilur is a Ceylon tea vendor, who apparently
>
> >
>
> > blends Darjeeling tea and re-imports back into India.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > This tea is very different than all of the others tried, it's got a much
>
> >
>
> > larger leaf and is much more flowery-tasting. It has much more of a nose
>
> >
>
> > to it, and given the amount of counterfeit Darjeeling tea out there and
>
> >
>
> > the fact this was blended outside of India, I am apt to suspect that this
>
> >
>
> > may not really be Darjeeling at all.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > REFERENCE TEAS:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > 4. Upton DJ-141 "Makaibari estate 2nd flush Darjeeling" which is what Upton's
>
> >
>
> > sent me when I asked for a fully withered Darjeeling. Clearly a higher end
>
> >
>
> > version of the same sort of style. Much more malty and thick, but it also
>
> >
>
> > has more of the green "grassy" flavour which I don't like so much.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > 5. Rohini Enigma which I got mail order from Lochan Tea in Darjeeling. This
>
> >
>
> > seems to be a classic second-flush fully withered tea, and it seems very
>
> >
>
> > close to the Chamong tea up above, maybe a little darker.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > SUMMARY:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > All of these were good in some way and I have to say I think I liked the
>
> >
>
> > Basilur the best of the set even though I suspect it's not really a Darjeeling
>
> >
>
> > at all.
>
> >
>
> > --scott
>
> >
>
> > --
>
> >
>
> > "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
>
> I sort of gave up on Darjeelings after only trying a few- too weak, too flowery for me. And the Assams and Africans seem too strong. What I like are the Ceylons... Toci

Should try the second flush or the Autumn flush then. They are much stronger than first flush and less stronger in taste to Assam

Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

toci > wrote:
>I sort of gave up on Darjeelings after only trying a few- too weak, too flowery for me. And the Assams and Africans seem too strong. What I like are the Ceylons... Toci

The fully-withered ones are definitely less weak, but they are still very
flowery, which I like.

Which Ceylons do you like? It seems to me there's a huge difference between
the high and low altitude Ceylons.
--scott

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

Fully Withered Darjeeling
 

In article >,
> wrote:
>Rohini Enigma is good one. I tried that some time back. Gopaldhara Silver Needle is also worth trying

Tell me more about the Gopaldhara! I have never heard of it!
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."