Indian/Nepali blacks advice
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2020 4:04 pm
I know next to nothing about teas from India and Nepal, and while I need another thing to look into like I need a hole in my head, I'm curios. So, some advice/knowledge/correction from others would be greatly appreciated. I've had some of the Jun Chiyabari orange tea and I really liked that and I tend to only see good things about their teas, but I'm curious what else I should look into. It seems like a tricky area to dive into without some suggestions with some teas being blacks, while there is also a lot produced that is technically being closer to oolong or even green depending on processing (though maybe they don't actually categorize it as black then?), and some pretty wide variety of flavors from different regions, estates, picking times, so on...
Someone please correctly me but I get the sense from poking around a little bit that if I tend to enjoy more malty or dark flavors I probably want to look more at trying second flush teas? or maybe autumn? also that Assam might be a better fit over say Darjeeling? do some flushes have better shelf life than others, or maybe even benefit from resting for a bit?
Also I'm clueless about brewing. I'm guessing glass or porcelain is the way to go, but do most of these teas tend to favor what we'd think of as closer to western style brewing (lower leaf, much longer times) to get the best out of it? or somewhere in the middle, more like how you would make sencha?
Someone please correctly me but I get the sense from poking around a little bit that if I tend to enjoy more malty or dark flavors I probably want to look more at trying second flush teas? or maybe autumn? also that Assam might be a better fit over say Darjeeling? do some flushes have better shelf life than others, or maybe even benefit from resting for a bit?
Also I'm clueless about brewing. I'm guessing glass or porcelain is the way to go, but do most of these teas tend to favor what we'd think of as closer to western style brewing (lower leaf, much longer times) to get the best out of it? or somewhere in the middle, more like how you would make sencha?