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.
>
>
> TEA ONE
> -------
> Namring Estate Darjeeling FTGFOP1 (ordered from Upton's, TD35)
>
> The odor of the cup was flat and woody. The overall flavour was rounded,
> malty, and a little tannic but without anything distinctive. The second
> steep was even less distinguished.
>
> TEA TWO
> -------
> Puttabong Estate Darjeeling SFTGFOP1 MUSC (ordered from Upton's, TD45)
>
> The odor in the cup, rather than being fruity as you might expect from
> something that says "muscatel" on the package, was very strong of bamboo.
> It was as close to a grassy odor as any of these teas got. It was a
> somewhat flat flavour, but much more rounded than the others. The second
> steep retained that odor, but retained none of the flavour of the first
> steep. This tea was distinctly different than any of the others.
>
> TEA THREE
> ---------
> Margaret's Hope Muscatel (from Harrod's, item 955639)
>
> The odor was slightly fruity, holding up the muscatel banner properly,
> although that fruitiness was not retained in the cup. Very clean and deep.
>
> TEA FOUR
> --------
> Chamong Tea Estate Darjeeling (Fabindia Organics)
>
> The odor was flat but slightly strawlike. The second steep kept the odor
> and flavour well, definitely holding up better on a second steep than any
> of the others. Malty, less tannic than the others but not so fruity.
>
> Interestingly enough this was my everyday tea for quite a while and I was
> unable to identify it in the blind comparison
>
>
> CONCLUSION
> ----------
>
> I would drink any of these teas at any time and they are all of the same
> basic style. However, the Puttabong definitely stood out as being different
> in basic flavour profile, and the Chamong stood up better in the second
> steep.
> --scott

I think you'd have much better luck if your water was around 190ºF or
so instead of boiling.