A question about Darjeelings and an introduction.

Welcome Dustin,

I'm not a Darjeeling nut, but I do enjoy a number of DJ's from time to time. There are a number of folks here though that are very dedicated to DJ and can give you much more in-depth insight. My general advice is about 2g (or a teaspoon) per cup and about 2-3 minutes steeping in just under boiling water. However this all changes with different types of Darjeeling. What kind are you drinking? First Flush, Second Flush, Lipton Green Label DJ, etc.? Full leaf tea will be fine with the above general advice, broken (BOP) will need much less time some as low as

30-45 seconds or up to 1-1.5 minutes. It also depends on what you are doing with the tea, adding sugar, lemon, milk, etc. There are no hard and fast rules where x type of tea needs y minutes in all cases, it varies greatly from tea to tea even in the same family.

I wouldn't think Yixing would enhance or otherwise benefit Darjeeling, but I own a Yixing teapot that I use for Jasmine Green tea which would also fall under that same category but it doesn't stop me. In fact that teapot has been in use for over 6 years and has a great aroma all by itself. Your standard ceramic white teapot would do just fine though.

- Dominic

Hi Dustin,

I'm new myself. In a recent thread (mostly) about Darjeeling, Lewis Perin said he usually uses a gaiwan. This led me to research gaiwans and procure one. I haven't tried Darjeeling in it yet but a gaiwan seems ideal for brewing DJ for one person, for three reasons.

1. By brewing in small quantities (4oz at a time) you can enjoy multiple steepings easily.
2. Also because of the small quantity, it's easier to get the amount of tea right.
3. The leaves have plenty of room to infuse.

An infuser mug shares these benefits if it's not too big, has a decent quality infuser, and a decent lid.

Cheers, Gavin

I strongly second gavin's gaiwan suggestion. Darjeelings, while considered black teas by some and thus not suitable for multiple infusions, are actually more of an in-between in body and character. Kind of a greenish black tea, I guess. Whatever the case, I have found through years of experience that a gaiwan is an ideal vessel for brewing Darjeelings. They can be infused at least three time, and I find they actually should be as the astringency melts away into sweetness on steep number three. The gaiwan also allows you to play with your tea, which is always alot of fun.

I sort of think about darjeeling teas today as sort of like a more robust and thick kind of oolong. When I was a kid, darjeelings were about as black as Assam teas, but these days the current fashion is toward much lighter fermentation. So try making them the way you're making oolongs, with water that is a little bit below boiling, and see how you like it.

If your infuser mug is something like the People's Brew Basket where the tea is able to move around in the mug freely, I think that's about the optimal way to brew these teas.

If you get a brew that is too bitter, try dropping the water temperature and brewing for longer. If it's not thick enough, try increasing the water temperature and shortening the brewing time a little.

--scott

Speaking of gaiwans, I have one for sale on eBay. It's brand new; I got it as a part of a set of 2 in another eBay auction, but I really don't need 2, so I'm attempting to get rid of this one. I've got a starting bid of $ .99 or a BIN price of $5.50. As for shipping, I don't inflate the shipping charges--just the actual shipping itself.

If you're interested, you can search under auction #320003433923; my username is book-junkie.

It's a good deal if you've never used one before and are curious about trying one.

HeatherB

Heh, I bought a set of two from a Chinese bric-a-brac store, wondering what I'd do with the "other" one. Since they're the same size, it makes a perfect cup :)

Gavin