I have it on good authority that once upon a time, Darjeelings were truly
> black (fully oxidized), but that the current market demands otherwise. >
> Michael
As a student I have worked in a tea shop in the early 80's. The full range of Darjeelings was waiting for me to experiment. I have not seen them as green as they are now, in fact they were all black. They could be brewed with close to boiling water. In particular I remember Castleton and Risheehat, both resulted in splendid brews with plenty of muscatel. If I boil them now I ruin them. Maybe my taste-buds have changed? But I still find Keemuns and Assams much the same as then, great.
JB