Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:11 pm
What a difficult market!
I remember when I was first looking for tea seriously, I talked on the telephone with people working at Upton about how hard it was to even choose tiny samples from the pages of choices in Upton's catalog. Difficulty was not just mine; Upton had trouble making recommendations. Your ?, "do you have preferred estates?" may not be very workable. I remember Margaret's Hope having many degrees of quality, many choices, was it the names of gems they used, sapphire, diamond, etc. to denote quality?
The "darjeeling" that I will buy, will come from Nepal from a vendor who knows what I like (for white tea). What he sends me does not always come from the same estate nor even the same part of Nepal. I have stopped buying darker "darjeeling" but have enough for myself for a long time. It is wonderful to be able to rely on someone.
Hopefully, your customers can describe what they want from tea; or, you can describe what your selection provides because as you know, each season is different. Knowing flush & estate may not be enough for enjoyment (but may work for selling). Good luck
I'm a little confused when you say your Darjeelings come from Nepal. Sure, there are similarities between the two given the close proximity of the eastern Nepali tea estates to Darjeeling, but from what you're describing, your preference seems to be for Nepali tea.
And I started this thread out of interest, because some of my buyers have VERY specific estates they buy from. There are higher altitude Darjeeling estates, with some of the best microclimes conducive for growing tea. Sure, there is a lot of gimmicky stuff with a variety of descriptors (you mention some of them, I've read words like "Supreme" and "King" to denote supposed higher quality), but for the most part, an FTGFOP or higher grade from a high altitude estate is a good bet.
I agree that knowing estate and flush are not indications of guaranteed enjoyment, but you add grade to that equation, and you
should have a good idea of what you're getting into. Will there be differences in depth of flavor, body, and so on? Definitely.
For years, consumers have paid higher prices for Darjeeling branded tea that in fact comes from Nepal. Which is kinda sad, because Nepal produces wonderful Orthodox teas that rival Darjeelings. In fact, my bestseller from last spring was a Nepali tea from Sakhira Estate. If I understand your comment correctly, you mean you get your Darjeeling fix from Nepali teas due to the inherent similarities?
EDIT: I think I better understand your position from your other posts.
) I have the daunting task to decide on what Darjeelings to source. I am careful about selecting the estates I source from, though I do need to have some leeway when it comes to specific invoices, because I can't always afford to stock the earliest ones. Also, I have found in some cases that the latter invoices present much better value. If I can't offer good value, then selling becomes tricky. 
