Potential new tea drinker on the block

Try a strong Assam or English Breakfast tea, with sugar and milk to begin with. After a while, drop the sugar. You may want to use Keemun or Oolongs after that, without milk or sugar. If you are worried about bitterness in tea do not use boiling water.

JB

If you want to have tea plain (no milk and sugar), try Darjeeling 1st flush. These have delicate floral flavor and will not be bitter if brewed for 2-3 minutes.

I buy mine from

Thanks for your help. I went to Sweden today (there's a bridge connecting Copenhagen, Denmark with Malmö, Sweden, and it takes slightly less than

I ended up with three teas: a Darjeeling 1st flush ("Oaks", new harvest), a stronger tea (I cannot read the lady's handwriting, but the label on the bag might say "Waulagalla" or "Wanlagalla" - anyone?), and a Japanese green tea (the label might read "Sencha" or "Bancha", I'm not sure).

I have never liked green tea before (but I had only tasted gunpowder until now, so...), so I was quite keen on tasting the green tea first, and I actually like it as is, without sweetener. I look forward to trying the two black teas tomorrow.

Thanks for your kind help.

Cheers,

Remember for the Darjeeling: Use boiling water and steep for 2 minutes to begin with, longer if you like it stronger. Have it without milk or sugar (I never thought I'd say that: being from India originally ..). Over steeping 1st flush makes it bitter. And you'll get the light floral aroma without milk+sugar.

For 2nd and 3rd flush (or blends) Darjeelings, it's Ok to brew a little longer (3 - 3.5 min) and add milk+sugar.

Oh, I'm glad you say that. Of course I couldn't wait, and I made myself a cup of the Darjeeling I bought earlier today. I let it steep for five minutes, and it was much too bitter-ish to my taste. I'll follow your advice and let it steep for two minutes next time. Thanks.

Yes, I'm trying to acquire the taste of plain tea without milk or sugar. It might take a while because I'm used to drinking sweet coffee, but I think it's worth it in the long run. Besides, drinking tea with sugar in it gives me a peculiar (and unpleasant) "sour" taste in my mouth. Is that a known effect?

Cheers,

Darjeeling teas should be treated much like green teas, IMO. Don't use boiling water, use 80 deg C, and steep for about 2 minutes.

JB

That makes sense. The lady did talk about Assam, but then I thought she changed her mind and decided to give me this Wa(u|n)lagalla instead (I haven't been to Sweden for a while, so my ears aren't accustomed to the Swedish language).

Thanks for the hint, I look forward to trying the tea.

I believe it's a Sencha then, it smells somewhat like when my mom mows her lawn. To my surprise I quite like the taste of this green tea, although I still have to experiment with the dosage and steeping time.

Cheers,

Danube skrev:

Thanks!

Aloke PrasadI1h1f.422$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com10/6/05

Hi,

With due respect to my friend and colleague Aloke, I differ with him on this boiling water for two minutes issue. In my opinion, a fine first flush can be *very* delicate, and you can boil the life right out of it. Lew Perin has suggested an almost gung-fu style using short steeps and lots of leaf. I would add that experimentation with lower temperatures is appropriate too. The floral aroma might survive boiling water, but the soft cereal-like quality of the freshest of the fresh will be quickly lost.

Experiment around.

Michael

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@cdoubleucom.net/7/05

Wouldn't the steep time depend on the amount of leaf? I recommend more leaf and less time. I think that brings out more nuance. This is, if I recall, the Perin Peram.

I meant using boiling water to begin with (pour over leaves in a pot or container) and let it soak for 2 minutes.

Boiling Darjeeling for 2 minutes will be blasphemy :-)

From my experience, using boiling water to begin with works well for Darjeeling black tea (remember the adage: bring the pot to the kettle and not the kettle to the pot?). Using a little less than boiling water works better for oolong and white teas.

Neither type of tea should be boiled for any length of time .. well except the Assamese gunpowder that is used at the road-side tea stalls in India. Those kettles are left simmering all day, with small amounts of tea being added to it as needed!!

Yes, I understood what you meant, but I had written badly.

Of course, of course.

I still stand by my experience that somewhat less than boiling water -- who recommended 180F (or was it 80C)? -- is needed for a fine first flush Darjeeling.

Again, steep length needs to be correlated to the amount of leaf used. More leaf, less steep. There is a lot to play with here. Anyway, these are my thoughts on the matter.

By the way, in my experience, nearly all first flushes are quite "green," no matter what we call them. I understand that the earlier tradition was to produce a fully oxidized Darjeeling. At that time, pouring boiling water over the leaves would most likely have been appropriate. Could this perhaps be part of the source of our difference of opinion?

Michael

Indian teas can take the abuse. Add as much as you like to a pot bigger than a softball with boiling water and let intuition take over. Indian OP and BOP have broad taste profiles. The only difference between a short and long brew is your patience and how much you had to eat. Indian teas don't waste your day with beat pendulums, balance beams, basting themometers. Indian teas should spend more time in your garden than on your shelf. I like the muscatel aroma from a new tin of Lipton Connoisseur or a Mamri which froths like a mad dog. You're better off to ignore any Indian tea pedigree which is nothing more than marketing hype when making a pot.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

Space snipped-for-privacy@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com10/7/05

Jim, Jim, Jim!!!

Could it not be possible that there are different grades and styles of Indian tea, and that these different grades and styles need to be handled differently in order to bring out their best?

Might I simply recommend to each drinker that he experiment with higher and lower temperatures, less and more leaf, and longer and shorter steeps? Who knows what taste sensations await the enquiring mouth.

With respect as always, I remain Sincerely yours, Michael

You are correct. For the most part, it is easy to overbrew 1st flushes. However, for 2nd or autumnal flushes, I would still recommend trying with boiling water and play around with steep times. This especially true if you add milk and sugar, like I tend to do with these 2nd and 3rd flushes. Clearly, the amount of tea leaves used also matter in this.

Like you said.. best is to try different things and see what turns out to your liking.

I just want to throw in a word of thanks for this discussion as I am now dealing with some first flush DJ's that I keep reading the "boiling water" parameter for and it helps to hear about the nuances. Thanks all.

Melinda

That makes it bitter. My guests (raised with gyokuro in the baby bottle) all hated the first flush served gong fu. I enjoyed it because I appreciate bitterness. Now for others I prepare it low temp 70/80 degres, few leaves and 2-3 min steeping.

Kuri