Upton's Darjeelings-a short survey

Karel,

I'd be very surprised if Darjeelings available here are generally as good as those available in Germany and in your country. Nonetheless, Kyela Teas in Canada is a better bet for comparison. I wouldn't expect too much from Upton in any event.

I would have steeped less time and used just a bit more tea. But, that's a personal preference.

Michael

Karel snipped-for-privacy@news.bluewin.ch11/7/04

Michael,

Actually, Upton just sent an order of the DJ79 and DJ84 from the Makaibari Estate, and I can attest to their quality. I cannot order from a German supplier for comparison, but these are very good - as good as Kyela Teas, although Kevin seems to concentrate on first flush and the Makaibaris are seconds, and for their quality the price is reasonable.

BTW, Kyela's Gopaldhara DJ29 Oolong First Flush 2004 is, IMHO, excellent. I got 50g and will probably go back for more. Very bright and well-balanced, fruity and long. This is probably the best Darjeeling oolong I've tasted to date.

Regards, Dean

DPMJFPjd.81$Bj2.18@trndny0111/8/04 14: snipped-for-privacy@junk.com

Dean,

It's good news to hear that Darjeeling recovered from its slow and painful start this year. It's especially good to hear your praise of Kyela's Gopaldhara, a garden that has produced some of my favorites in the past.

Michael

Karel snipped-for-privacy@news.bluewin.ch11/9/04

snip

Karel,

Kyela is not as prompt as they perhaps should be. But, here in North America I have never had the problem to the extent you describe. I am under the impression that Germany is an excellent source of high quality Darjeeling in general.

Michael

Hi, you are right, here (particularly in Germany) one may get very fine Darjeelings at very acceptable price. The best that I tasted were still better than the best of Upton's but cost only half of the price. The problem is that most these vendors does'nt allow the sampling of their stock. I appreciate Kyela Teas, but unfortunately, for unknown reason my orders were quite often delayed (morethan 3 months) or simply lost forever. It's not problem of KT. I imagine that some stupid custom officer take these teas for some other prohibited plants. Thanks for your feedback Karel Valter

Michael,

I get the distinct impression that Kevin IS Kyela Teas, and when he's on the road, as he frequently is, there's no one minding the store.

Still, he has teas that no one else in NA seems to get (did you ever try his Seeyok Silver Pearls?) and he always includes generous samples of other teas in his stable, so it's worth the wait.

Regards, Dean

Michael,

I agree that in the recent past the Upton's has been offering only average Darjeeling teas. Nevertheless, in 1997 I bought from them 6 really very fine teas (Singbulli Reserve, Chamong SF, Namring Upper FF, Castleton SF etc.). These times their equivalents were hardly available here in Europe. It was very hard time for any local Darjeeling tea lover because even Betjeman& Barton, Harrods, Mariage Fréres, Whittard, Der Teeladen etc. proposed poor Single Estate teas, which had practically the same taste. If you wanted to find 100 grams of good tea you finished with 2 kilos of poor stuff and $300 wasted. Yet only 3 years ago (in 1994) they had real gems we can now only dream about. Perhaps this story sounds familiar to you. Today I buy tea only from the tea vendors who sell the samples of all their stock and I boycott the others with only few exceptions (SRT and Kyela Teas overseas, 2 vendors in Germany and 4 vendors in the remaining Europe). I believe that today the general situation is a bit better and Upton's made an effort to improve their offer. Their TD93 Castleton DJ-124 (SF) and TD83 Namring EX-5 (FF) are eminently drinkable teas even for the demanding tea lover like you. If not I owe you ten bucks!

Your are right that the steeping time and amount of tea is a matter of the taste. The tea:water ratio and shorter steeping time you suggest are excellent for very aromatic First Flush teas. This way you get a really splendid cup of tea. Sometimes I use up to 4 g/180 ml and only 2 minutes. It depends on the quality of the tea. On the other hand, I believe that 4 minutes are the shortest steeping time for the true muscatel Second Flush tea. Today, this particular flavor is rather slow to appear in some teas. When chewing the infused leaves you may often feel the remains of this flavor, which means the steeping time should be a bit longer. Of course, this may make the tea too harsh. For this really short survey I steeped the teas in a row so I kept the tea:water ratio and the steeping time constant.

Karel P.S. I've just ordered Gopaldhara Oolong 29 from Kyela teas. I couldn't resist Dean's description of it. Michael, Germany is a very good source for tea but the german vendors don't usually sell less than 100 g and many don't accept any credit card. You must usually pay the order in advance. Those who accept c.c. are likely to be the vendors of the average or poor tea. Hope the situation will evolve.