How are the rainfalls this year in Darjeeling?

Hi Aloke, rfdters, good news.

pretty nice and the harvest is in full swing. Quite the opposite to the situation last year. Sheesh, how I wish I were there, but if everything falls in place over here, I´ll be back for the second flush and some "live reports". Anyway, I could forward some of the 2007 FF grapevine, I just need to spend some more time on the phone and wait for the first samples.

Best wishes, Karsten

I have started ordering Makaibari products on faith every year. It is too risky to try out the so many different products from different gardens without prior knowledge on how their individual products have turned out to be.

I am the only one in my family using single-brew DJ's. Others in my house blend a bit of Lipton's Red and Green Labels and boil the tea for a traditional Indian tea. So my total purchase of high quality tea is not that high to begin with.

I wish some> >> I hope the 1st flush will be better then last year's. How are things in

Aloke,

I totally agree on Makaibari, apart from their cheaper greens I can´t remember a single pack I didn´t enjoy. IMO each year their teas are getting better and better, Mak is among my alltime top five DJ estates. Like every year I can´t wait for the first samples to come in, I´ll certainly post some lines.

Thought about that myself, but wasn´t too sure about how much sense it would make. Just think of the list of problems involved apart from the time and effort to set up such a site. Problems with availability, especially of certain invoices. The tea you ´re raving about could have been sold out without further notice and so forth. How much sense would that make. For years I´ve been dreaming to start an international forum on teas but there were just too many arguments that kept me away from doing it. I remember a website with tons of reviews but where have I seen it ??? In the end there´s good old rfdt. How about an "official" rfdt homepage of some sort [FAQ, reviews, news, user bios, ...] ? Would such a site make sense ? At least we could post some pics that way. Anyone interested ? The seniors ?

Best, Karsten

That's what keeps me from getting excited about reviewing most kinds of tea, especially small-invoice Darjeelings.

/Lew

Aloke,

I totally agree on Makaibari, apart from their cheaper greens I can´t remember a single pack I didn´t enjoy. IMO each year their teas are getting better and better, Mak is among my alltime top five DJ estates. Like every year I can´t wait for the first samples to come in, I´ll certainly post some lines.

Thought about that myself, but wasn´t too sure about how much sense it would make. Just think of the list of problems involved apart from the time and effort to set up such a site. Problems with availability, especially of certain invoices. The tea you ´re raving about could have been sold out without further notice and so forth. How much sense would that make. For years I´ve been dreaming to start an international forum on teas but there were just too many arguments that kept me away from doing it. I remember a website with tons of reviews but where have I seen it ??? In the end there´s good old rfdt. How about an "official" rfdt homepage of some sort [FAQ, reviews, news, user bios, ...] ? Would such a site make sense ? At least we could post some pics that way. Anyone interested ? The seniors ?

Best, Karsten

Yeah, all true. However, if most reviews came from readers.. almost like a BBS

"Hey I just bought XYZ from abc and it was great/terrible". One could use this sort of information.

I need to buy 2-3 lbs of tea a year at the most. I could order sample sizes from numerous dealers, and then order most of the supplies from 1 or 2. But it is too much work. And I feel that I am missing out on un-discovered great DJ's out there :-(

Up in Darjeeling I always enjoyed those numerous samples I´was able to collect, not from a cheapskate perspective but as a way to broaden my DJ horizon that would otherwise still be pretty much keyhole shaped. But however many DJs [and tobaccos] I´was lucky to taste over the last x years, I can´t help but feel exactly the same :) Darn gazillons of invoices, again I´m most probably missing out on the best there is, my dream DJ. Sometimes you just can´t win :)

Up in Darjeeling I always enjoyed those numerous samples I´was able to collect, not from a cheapskate perspective but as a way to broaden my DJ horizon that would otherwise still be pretty much keyhole shaped. But however many DJs [and tobaccos] I´was lucky to taste over the last x years, I can´t help but feel exactly the same :) Darn gazillons of invoices, again I´m most probably missing out on the best there is, my dream DJ. Sometimes you just can´t win :)

Up in Darjeeling I always enjoyed those numerous samples I´was able to collect, not from a cheapskate perspective but as a way to broaden my DJ horizon that would otherwise still be pretty much keyhole shaped. But however many DJs [and tobaccos] I´was lucky to taste over the last x years, I can´t help but feel exactly the same :) Darn gazillons of invoices, again I´m most probably missing out on the best there is, my dream DJ. Sometimes you just can´t win :)

Actually, I think that's exactly how you win. :)

N.

TeaWiki anyone?

I think a wiki might work, it could serve as a centralized encyclopedia about tea, and articles on individual teas could include user reviews...