My first enjoyable Darjeeling

Gavin, welcome!

Although some consider it heresy, I find a little sugar offsets any trace bitterness, allowing longer steep times. I also recommend using water around 88-93 degrees C, especially for FF. Using lower temperature water gives you more latitude with steep times. I generally steep around 3 minutes, except when using BOP leaf, where I stick to 90-120 seconds.

In Darjeelimg a "flush" is a harvest season; within each flush there may be several batches or "invoices". Some will be better than others. Unless the vendor tells you what invoice their particular lot comes from there is no guarantee that his offering is the same as another's, even from the same estate. Heck, some vendors don't even tell you the harvest *year* unless you ask! Since freshness is a virtue in FF, it's always wise to ensure you're buying from the latest harvest.

Reputable online vendors tend to buy their tea and then seal it into various sized bags; since the tea is sealed from light and air, it's shelf life will be longer than a store, which usually keeps tea in big tins. It's certainly fun to go to the store and sniff all those tins, but it does nothing good for the tea, IMHO.

Regards, Dean

I don't know this year's Goomtee FF, but based on my experience with other FF Darjeelings, you might want to go further in the same direction. Try using much more leaf for the same amount of hot water,

/Lew

Hmm, 5-6 steeps? You'd want to be thirsty! I'll try it with my Teeli infuser, since I'd be looking at 5-6 smallish cups, not 5-6 smallish pots.

As a practical matter, how fussy should one be about freshly drawn water and correct water temperature for each of those steeps? I can't imagine refilling the kettle and "almost boiling" it for the sake of making the third or fourth small cup.

Gavin

Thanks for the info. I tend not to ask such questions since I doubt the person behind the counter will know the answer, and if they think I consider the year to be important, they could just pretend it's the current year. Best just apply blind faith until faced with contravening evidence :)

I'm sure you're right. I wonder if the effect on the tea can be quantified somehow.

Cheers, Gavin

Well, I usually brew roughly four ounces at a time in a gaiwan.

I'm about as fussy as you, but there are others who fuss harder.

/Lew

Well, considering that some premium Darjeelings can exceed US$250 per kilo, I'm fairly fussy as to year, invoice and storage. Which is one reason I tend to shop with reputable online vendors - they know and understand the details, and expect that their customers are no less fussy than they are.

Dean

Hi, Gavin. From your description, it doesn't sound like you are a novice to me! It's really refreshing to see a thread on darjeeling because it's become my new interest these days. I mostly drink Chinese teas, but I am wanting to know more about other tea varieties.

Anyway, welcome to the board.

Darj rules.

Keep trying different estates, flushes, and years. Some will be blase', but some will be excellent.

IMO, all other varieties of black tea (Assam, Keemun, etc.) innately have one or more of the defects that imperfect Darjeelings have, and few have the chance at being as perfect as a perfect Darjeeling. IMO.

--Blair