The folks from Lochan were kind enough to send me some samples of some various darjeeling and assam teas, and I gave them a try.
I want to say first of all that I drank all of these without milk or cream, and that some of clearly are supposed to be consumed with milk. A friend who drank some with me, for example, assured me that the Khongea gold tip really opened up when she added milk to it. I can't abide milk, so I'm probably missing out on something substantial here.
- Lochan muscatel delight, 2nd flush darjeeling This had that pleasant grassy flavour of a good darjeeling, but it tended toward being very tannic. Still well balanced, and it seemed to want to be brewed at a low temperature like 180'F.
- Makaibari Royal Vintage Muscatel, 2nd flush darjeeling Not as grassy, no cidery or woody flavour but very, very smooth and with slightly spicy overtones. I liked the almost clovelike flavour a lot.
- Khongea Gold Tipped Assam, 2nd flush I found this rather bitter with a long steep, but a short steeping time gave a very mellow if light cup. Not tremendously distinguished. Again, apparently this improves a lot with milk.
- Doke Special Edition Hand Rolled Silver Needle white tea Almost like drinking flowers. Very strong flowery taste, but did not handle a second steeping whatsoever.
- Sewpur Standard organic Assam No cidery taste, but a slight chocolate flavour that is well balanced by a slight bitterness. This tea also was unable to handle a second steeping.
- Lochan Assam Blend Royal Taste, 2nd flush I just didn't find this exciting. It seemed very bland, really.
- Doominee Wiry Assam Delight, 2nd flush A much nicer Assam. It smells very strongly cidery in the bag, but that flavour doesn't come across in the cup. A little sharp, but very thick-feeling. The thickness is enough that it stands alone very well.
- Hattialli Golden Dragon Assam, 2nd flush Much more cidery, medium thickness, very smooth flavoured and with a slight 'brown spice' overtone.
- Aarmutty Lion's Paw Assam, 2nd flush This is something I found the best of the bunch to my tongue. Very spicy but also with that strong cidery and vinegary flavour that keeps things balanced.
None of these teas really blew me away or made me want to run out and buy a truckload, but none of them were in any way really bad. I tried to drink at least two cups of each under quiet conditions, and I have sent the remainder of the tea to someone else on the newsgroup who may reply with their feelings or not as they see fit. It's possible that if I drank with milk I might be much more enthused about these, but the Rohini Enigma still remains my favorite darjeeling...
--scott