What Black Are You Drinking

[YatraTeaCo]

You're right - the Halmari Assam is the one I meant, not the Nepali black.

Tonight's choice is the Castleton white. I started at 185 for 15s and got nothing. I was worried it was the tea or something I did. I tried 4 or 5 infusions before it dawned on me that I couldn't taste anything because I had burned the roof of my mouth earlier at lunch and dinner with scorching hot pizza. Will try as soon as I can taste things again.

I will say that the Castelton white is definitely on the milder side. Thats not to say it is not flavorful - it has a lovely floral mouthfeel to it. But it definitely does need a longer steep time. Again, I brew my teas Western style. I've had good results with approx 2.7 gm steeped for 4 mins or longer at 190F, and sometimes, even a higher temperature.

I need to update the sampler labeling with these parameters. Your post just reminded me. It really is a delcious tea (and the most expensive one i sourced by a long shot), but it does benefit from a longer steep time. Or gong fu brewing with a higher leaf to water ratio!

[debunix]

I tried 4 or 5 infusions before it dawned on me that I couldn't taste anything because I had burned the roof of my mouth earlier at lunch and dinner with scorching hot pizza. Will try as soon as I can taste things again.

Been there, done that. I particularly hate when I burn my tongue on the first infusion of what is meant to be a tasting of many infusions.....done that too.

[Zealousy]

Puttabong First Flush 2018 black tea - dry leaf smells heavily of dark chocolate, nice!
Wet leaf is sweet and a little smoky per my gf's nose. Liquor is a lovely, bright, golden hue and smells honey - fruity sweet.
First taste a little bland... one note... but the more and more I drink it... the better and better it tastes! The taste deepens, the muscatel reveals itself as I get halfway through the cup, and oh the aroma! Heavenly!

Funny that the last black tea I try from the Yatra sampler ends up being my favorite. I can't get enough! There's even some cha qi, I feel a little sweaty and excited. My tongue is dancing.

[debunix]

the last black tea I try from the Yatra sampler ends up being my favorite

It's hard for me sometimes to get through those samples in a timely way.....too often I've realized that a late-opened sample is fabulous but already sold out. Hope you're in time to get more of your favorite!

[Ethan Kurland]

My tongue is dancing.

Great writing! Thanks.
I have been excited by tea but none have made my tongue dance. Cheers

[YatraTeaCo]

Puttabong First Flush 2018 black tea - dry leaf smells heavily of dark chocolate, nice!
Wet leaf is sweet and a little smoky per my gf's nose. Liquor is a lovely, bright, golden hue and smells honey - fruity sweet.
First taste a little bland... one note... but the more and more I drink it... the better and better it tastes! The taste deepens, the muscatel reveals itself as I get halfway through the cup, and oh the aroma! Heavenly!

Funny that the last black tea I try from the Yatra sampler ends up being my favorite. I can't get enough! There's even some cha qi, I feel a little sweaty and excited. My tongue is dancing.

Ah yes, the Puttabong. It really is a nice Darjeeling. I got a lot of positive feedback on that one. I've put some aside for my wife and I!

[YatraTeaCo]

the last black tea I try from the Yatra sampler ends up being my favorite

It's hard for me sometimes to get through those samples in a timely way.....too often I've realized that a late-opened sample is fabulous but already sold out. Hope you're in time to get more of your favorite!

This happens to me a lot as a small vendor that sources limited quantities. I often get an email months after I have sold someone a sampler saying how much they liked a tea but now its out of stock. Its too bad, because I'd love to stock more, but as a small business there is only so much cash I can tie up in inventory. Hopefully one day I can have my own space and fix that issue!

[debunix]

Wakoucha black tea from Obubu tea farm. Today I brewed up a thermos full, and it is mellow and brilliant, not at all threatening to be bitter. Gorgeous peachy fruity delight. I may need to order extra of this one.

[Excelsior]

Sorry, didn’t mean to correct you just wanted to clarify. I often refer to Taiwan Oriental Beauty as black, even though it is actually a highly oxidized oolong. YatraTeaCo how well would you say 1st flush Darjeeling age after packaging? Are intentionally aged or fermented Darjeeling a thing?

I have a couple of Darjeelings from 2017 set aside for this very experimentation. I can't profess to know a whole lot about aged Darjeelings, but the one that was an earlier invoice tea seems to have mellowed a bit (doesn't taste as green as it did in 2017). Not to confuse with having gone stale, because the flavors, aroma, etc. are still very much on point. The later invoice Darjeeling I kept aside seems to be more or less the same. But then again, I don't have the most trained palate! Also, I feel the Northeast US isn't the best place temperature wise to allow teas to "mature".

Vintage Darjeeling FF teas are gaining some popularity but the market for it doesn't seem to be vast. Also, there is some suspicion around whether it is vintage purely because someone wasn't able to sell it, or was it aged under proper conditions.

Generally, good FF Darjeelings sell out easily. Yield is decreasing, but demand, especially from Germany, France, and Japan is high. So I feel like a reputable seller marketing vintage Darjeeling tea must be doing so not because he/she is unable to move inventory.

If you go to Mariage Freres website. they have Darjeeling teas dating back to FF2014 which you can still purchase. They also have a separate vintage tea inventory which is not advertised on their website. I had to purchase the vintage Castelton FF by sending my card information by email. This was back in 2015 and was it better than the non vintage Castleton FF? No. I was comparing the taste side by side and I could not discern any difference.

I, myself, am still drinking and purchasing FF2016 Darjeelings because they still offer late DJ Pickings which I prefer.

I store my my teas in double lidded tea canisters, and even after two years, the teas have not diminished in taste.The Arya DJ4 has lost some of its "green" color and taste, developing a more nutty flavor. As for the Margaret's Hope DJ40 and the Singbuli DJ30 it they have barely changed in taste.

[Ethan Kurland]

ouple of Darjeelings from 2017 set aside for this very experimentation. the one that was an earlier invoice tea seems to have mellowed a bit (doesn't taste as green as it did in 2017). , because the flavors, aroma, etc. are still very much on point.

I, myself, am still drinking and purchasing FF2016 Darjeelings because they still offer late DJ Pickings which I prefer.

I store my my teas in double lidded tea canisters, and even after two years, the teas have not diminished in taste.The Arya DJ4 has lost some of its "green" color and taste, developing a more nutty flavor. As for the Margaret's Hope DJ40 and the Singbuli DJ30 it they have barely changed in taste.

It seems that if stored well darjeelings keep well. The particular harvest that I bought years back from Nepal (but very much a darjeeling except it always had hardly any astringency) from Nepal has become bolder in its flavors and produces 2 infusions to my liking now instead of 3. I use slightly less leaves and a lot less time steeping. "vintage" is a tricky word. Cheers

[swordofmytriumph]

if stored well

What's the best way to store black tea anyway? I've never really given it much thought since it doesn't tend to degrade as fast as greens, etc.

[Ethan Kurland]

What's the best way to store black tea anyway? I've never really given it much thought since it doesn't tend to degrade as fast as greens, etc.

What I try to remember with all packages of tea that have been opened is to get the tea to the bottom and whatever the tea is in closed at the top of the tea. So, a ziplock pack that could have a lot of space between the tea and the top, can have a lot less air effecting the tea if it is then held tightly closed just above the tea and air is pushed out, the package above the tea is flat. As you say, black tea does not degrade as fast as greens, etc,, but I once bought a huge amount of one.

While using a tea frequently, a simple foil pack can have tea pushed to bottom and then be rolled tightly and bound by bands. (This gives me an extra week of peak time for brewing with green gaoshan.) I am surprised sometimes to see people not taking the seconds required to take good care of excellent tea.

Of course, there are teas that we like to breath. Even then, perhaps there is an ideal amount of air so that one might consider the proper size of a tea caddy. I have not worked on that.

Cheers

[swordofmytriumph]

Cool thanks!

[d.manuk]

2018 Da Xue Shan Wild Red Tea from Essence of Tea. Very delicious and fruity! From my experience, Da Xue Shan is usually used to produce puerh and the ones I've had were rather fruity/tangerine flavor. The fruitiness definitely makes a great base for a red tea which just highlights more of that fruitiness. I really liked this and will probably buy more -- I don't drink much black tea but this one would be great for special occasions or to pair with some good Chinese food.

[teaformeplease]

Today I really enjoyed Yunnan Sourcing's Imperial Mojiang Golden Bud Yunnan Black Tea (Autumn 2018). It's super malty and sweet with some of the softest, blingiest leaves I've seen in a while. So many trichomes! Kind of regretting only getting 50g of it.