What Black Are You Drinking

[Excelsior]

This is interesting. In what way were they better? I usually prefer Darjeelings picked mid first flush with invoices like DJ40. I’m drinking 2016 Margaret’s Hope DJ40 FTGFOP1 Organic now, and have been drinking this along with 2016 Singbuli DJ30 SFTGFOP1 Organic, for the past two years now since my preferred retailer never got a hold of mid first flush 2017 Darjeelings.

Even with an early invoice numbers like DJ1, I’m curious to know how they taste. Although the prices are quite a bit higher for 2018 they have lots of Darjeelings, DJ1 to DJ7, EX1 to EX14 to choose from.

[Victoria]

This is interesting. In what way were they better? I usually prefer Darjeelings picked mid first flush with invoices like DJ40. I’m drinking 2016 Margaret’s Hope DJ40 FTGFOP1 Organic now, and have been drinking this along with 2016 Singbuli DJ30 SFTGFOP1 Organic, for the past two years now since my preferred retailer never got a hold of mid first flush 2017 Darjeelings.

Even with an early invoice numbers like DJ1, I’m curious to know how they taste. Although the prices are quite a bit higher for 2018 they have lots of Darjeelings, DJ1 to DJ7, EX1 to EX14 to choose from.

As I only casually enjoy Darjeeling, have gone to the expert, Salvador Sosa, his reply; “Aroma, taste and the quality of the leaves are something special. Deep floral aroma, rich and deep flavor. The leaves still look fresh and a lot of tips and greener leaves.” FYI, Salvador is also a taster for a very large tea retailer.

[joelbct]

I’ve enjoyed having Singbulli DJ 1/18 SFTGFOP 1 China Supreme, a gift from tea buddy and super steeper Salvador. He shared that Darjeelings this year were better because of the strike last year; “in 2017 they didn't produced 2nd flush and Autumn flush, so the plants had a long time to rest. This years 1st flush is amazing, with record production.”

Interesting! Thanks for the intel.

I usually prefer Darjeelings picked mid first flush with invoices like DJ40.

I seem to prefer the early spring special EX batches, c'est la vie. Expensive tastes...

[Victoria]

Tasting a Nilgiri handmade tea, from southern India. The leaves are long and wiry, producing an amber liquor with notes of chocolate and plum in the first few infusions, later moving into a less complex black tea. Gung fu’d this one per Salvador’s recommendation, the flavors are richer and denser this way. Steeped in a Shawn McGuire Great Wheel Studio wood fired shibordashi, and using Taisuke Shiraiwa‘s yuzamashi to cool the boiling tea, before sipping out of his masterfully crafted feather light cup. Thank you Ferg and Salvador.

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[Victoria]

Started the day with Glenburn 1st flush Darjeeling. A good thirst quencher brewed western style. Has a pleasant aroma, light peach effervescent liquor with notes of moscatel. For some reason black tea makes me think of the 19th c so I pulled out my great aunts Buchecker & Co. Lucern dainty tea cup, and Seto-ware vine handled pot.

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[Ethan Kurland]

Sometimes I use "dainty" teacups that are usually associated with having a "proper" cup of "British" tea. Made of good porcelain & much wider at the top than the bottom, aroma easily comes up, weight is light, feel & look are pleasant; so, why not use them for any tea when we feel like it! You have a such a variety of beautiful teaware!

[Victoria]

Sometimes I use "dainty" teacups that are usually associated with having a "proper" cup of "British" tea. Made of good porcelain & much wider at the top than the bottom, aroma easily comes up, weight is light, feel & look are pleasant; so, why not use them for any tea when we feel like it! You have a such a variety of beautiful teaware!

Yes Ethan, perfectly said. Darjeeling brings up memories of black tea shipped by the British East India company and aristocratic society ‘tea socials’. From the instructional below it seems the British used very little leaf to water ratio and steeped it for 15-30 minutes, also did not add milk. I won’t be doing it that way, but next time I’ll try pre-heating the porcelain cup, with caution though because it is very thin .

From wiki;
The British East India company made its first order for the importation of tea in 1667 to their agent in Bantam, and two canisters of tea weighing 143 lbs 8 oz arrived from Bantam in 1669.[19] In 1672, a servant of Baron Herbert in London sent his instructions for tea making, and warming the delicate cups, to Shropshire:

• The directions for the tea are: a quart of spring water just boiled, to which put a spoonful of tea, and sweeten to the palate with candy sugar. As soon as the tea and sugar are in, the steam must be kept in as much as may be, and let it lie half or quarter of an hour in the heat of the fire but not boil. The little cups must be held over the steam before the liquid be put in.[20]

The earliest English equipages for making tea date to the 1660s. Small porcelain tea bowls were used by the fashionable; they were occasionally shipped with the tea itself. Tea-drinking spurred the search for a European imitation of Chinese porcelain, first successfully produced in England at the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, established around 1743-45 and quickly imitated.

[Psyck]

I wonder why people pre-warm their drinking cups. I mean it makes sense from a ceremonial point of view or for cleansing the cups; but does it also have any practical value? Surely it would only serve to delay the time it takes for the tea to attain drinking temperature, so why would that be desirable?

[Bok]

I wonder why people pre-warm their drinking cups. I mean it makes sense from a ceremonial point of view or for cleansing the cups; but does it also have any practical value? Surely it would only serve to delay the time it takes for the tea to attain drinking temperature, so why would that be desirable?

in the cold climate of Europe it makes sense. The pot is already going to be struggling to stay hot, pour then tea into bone cold bone china and you get lukewarm cup at best...

[Psyck]

Ah yes, that makes sense, especially if they have left the tea cooling in the pot for 30 mins

[Ethan Kurland]

We are also told that when milk was first put into cups before the tea was poured, that it was as there to cool the tea as well as for flavor. Who knows for sure?

What impresses me about stories of tea & spices, is how desperate people were for flavor! There was so much less around. Traveling by ships with sails & packed in barrels, one can only imagine how quality of tea suffered. Tourists here in Boston being told about the Boston Tea Party, hear that the tea thrown into the harbor that day was so adulterated, none of us would drink it. Yet, people clamored for it then & paid high prices for it.

[Bok]

We are also told that when milk was first put into cups before the tea was poured, that it was as there to cool the tea as well as for flavor. Who knows for sure?

What impresses me about stories of tea & spices, is how desperate people were for flavor! There was so much less around. Traveling by ships with sails & packed in barrels, one can only imagine how quality of tea suffered. Tourists here in Boston being told about the Boston Tea Party, hear that the tea thrown into the harbor that day was so adulterated, none of us would drink it. Yet, people clamored for it then & paid high prices for it.

Story goes that poor people had to put in milk first as their tableware was of bad quality and would have sprung otherwise. The nobility had good bone China so did it the other way round. Class system all along in good old Britain. The Queens own butler insists on tea first as just recently read.

[luchayi]

Jin luo "Golden snail" black tea from guanxi. Really interesting tea, the taste is something between a Dian hong e a Jin jun mei.

[debunix]

I can imagine some epic tastiness between Dian Hong and Jin Jun Mei.

[luchayi]

I can imagine some epic tastiness between Dian Hong and Jin Jun Mei.

Haha yes is a good tea. Sweet potato, choccolate, malt but with also a fruity note. I usually don't like vegetal notes in black teas but in this jin luo it was delicate and only over the 4th steep.
After 1 year it was less vegetal and less astringent, more "warm" taste...