TATA or Lipton Green Label DJ?

Difficult to compare. I buy them interchangeably. TATA has different variety. As does Brooke Bond. Make sure they say Darjeeling on the package. Some also say "Export Quality".

Try them out. You can't be risking that much for $4.

I haven't seen it here in the US, but I've drunk a fair amount of it. It's all my sister-in-law in Calcutta drinks.

Sorry, but I found it disappointing. It had briskness, sure, but not a lot of what I think of as Darjeeling character. It's possible that at the grocery in Calcutta where it was bought the stock doesn't turn over fast enough for it to be fresh, but honestly I found Sikkim tea better than this.

/Lew

California! Great place, very sunny, always something going on.

Ian

The folks they are buying from frequently are.

That said, there are some Darjeeling-style teas from Sikkim which are pretty good, and often cheaper than the Darjeeling-of-unknown-provenance.

--scott

Could you pull your strings ad find out which plantations are mostly used to make popular products like Lipton Green Label and Brooke Bond Supreme teas?

Or is it too mixed up and impossible to tell?

By the way, I have here a can of Green Label. It says

"The rare flavour of 100% pure Darjeeling tea"

"100% pure Darjeeling. High above the mist lines, in the soft shades of the Himalayas, the gentle rain and the cool mountain winds makes the soil porous and rich. Like none other. Only this unspoiled earth can give you the unique flavour of Lipton Green Label - the 100% pure Darjeeling Tea"

The consistency of these commercial blends is amazing. Of course, this could be from last year crop. It's hard to say.

That's why I was hoping that your tea garden contacts would know where the big guns get their raw materials.