Does ANYONE on steepster drink Darjeeling?

Flavours blend better with Darjeeling, brew better, than other Black teas.

I’m loving the Organic Sourenee Black Blossom since to me it has a lot of Assam qualities. I love the complexity and chocolate notes of that tea. The only down side is that it can be pretty finicky.

I’ve been drinking Darjeelings for over 30 years. The first time I went to the Mariage Freres Tea Salon in Tokyo, I was overwhelmed. I had no idea what to taste, what to buy. The waitress recommended the Princeton Darjeeling Blend and it was nothing like I had ever tasted before. When I brought it home that night, the first mug I brewed was terrible. The second mug I brewed was terrible. It took me the course of one week brewing 12 mugs of tea to get the parameters just right. I was rewarded with a great cup of tea.

I stayed with Summer Flush Darjeelings for quite some time because I thought the Spring Flush Darjeelings were over priced, over rated, and uninteresting.

By chance, I bought the Castleton and Margaret’s Hope in 1998 and realized just how good a properly brewed cup of Spring Flush Darjeeling could taste. After that, there was no going back and I have been purchasing nothing but Spring Flush Darjeelings. To be fair, I also drank lots of High Mountain Oolong teas I would bring back from my business trips to Taiwan, and I drank a fair amount of Japanese greens and Green Roibos.

My wife loves tea as much as I do and when it comes to a properly prepared cup of Japanese Green Tea, she is the pro and she is certified in Japanese Tea Ceremony. Yet after dinner every night, I’ll prepare for us a great cup of Mariage Freres, Spring Flush Darjeeling Tea.

I seem to be in the minority, because I Don’t like Darjeeling. I might come back to it in a year, like asparagus, I try it every year to make sure I still don’t like it. The quintessential ‘muscatel’ flavour of a Darjeeling just turns me off.