Brewing darjeeling black tea

Most darjeelings appear to have elements of many types of chinese tea from green to white to black to oolong. This is likely due to the uneven oxidation and processing method unique to Darjeeling and makes these teas such a distinctive pleasure.

First flush definitely has more "green characteristics" and often reminds me of a mix between bao zhong, tsui yu, high mountain green oolong and keemun. Elements of white tea are also there from some gardens. I heard that this lighter style was brought about by german vendors favoring brighter "pilsner" style teas in the early 80s, but I never looked into this to confirm the history.

Second flush Darjeelings can be more like dark roasted oolong and keemun, but typically with less maltiness than Assam. If they are bug bitten, these teas can exhibit stronger muscatel notes but not the same honey notes found in jassid bitten Taiwan teas.

Third flush or autumn flush Darjeelings have qualities of both first and second flush, but at more mellow and balanced levels. In general, autumn flush teas resemble second flush more than first flush. Sometimes, their aromas resemble gaba roasted oolongs.

I have made multiple attempts at gongfu brewing using 4-5 grams / 100 mL and 85-95 C water with steepings ranging from 15 to 40 seconds. For second flush and third flush Darjeeling teas, all attempts yielded overly astringent or flavorless brews that nonetheless had good aromas.

Gongfu seems to work better for first flush Darjeeling, which is a bit more elegant.

I think western style brewing is able to highlight the balance achieved in Darjeeling between black, green, white and oolong tea styles.

For Western, I tend to use 1-1.5 grams / 100 mL 85 to 95 C water brewed for 3 to 5.5 minutes. Variation in time and tea to water ratio depends on estate and harvest. Generally, 1 gram / 100 mL for 4 minutes is a good starting parameter. However, getting the sweet spot can be tricky.

My preferred method:
An alternative method is 2 to 3 grams per 100 mL brewed at 90 C for 30s/ 15s / 1min / 3 min / 8min. I find this method is generally able to capture all the dry leaf aromas into the cup while almost completley eliminating astringency.

Wet leaves from a first flush Darjeeling. The leaves are very green!

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Longfengxia High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Day 5, Lot 948, 2020 taiwan tea craft

From vendor: PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Shanlinxi ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Nantou County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 1750 m Review: Dry lead is intensely flowery with prominent yellow stems Brewed 5 to 7 grams/100 mL boiling water in kobiwako. Lower leaf is okay due to intensity of flavor but higher leaf has stronger sweetness in later steeps. For 5 g: Rinse / 55 s / 45 s / 55 s / 1:10 / 1:30 /2:30 Brewed leaves have strong pastry and tropical fruit Steeps 1-2: Taste of green mango, citrus, and baked pineapple pastry. Clean minerality and medium to thick mouthfeel. There is strong perfume of oily flowers, mainly rose and some lavender. At higher leaf to water (7 g per 100 mL) there is some slight green astringency. Steep 3-5: fruit notes are much more mild but still present and long lasting. Much more buttery. There is slight green brandy like astringency. At higher leaf to water ratio, frui...

Dayuling High Mountain Spring Oolong Tea, Lot 933, 88k, from ttc

From vendor: This Spring 2020’s selection is from the highest section fo the garden picked on the second day of production, just before the plum rains settled in the mountains. This spring 2020 selection is produced from leaves originating from a garden from the 88K section of the Dayuling range which is one of the only small remaining section of tea gardens outside the Lishan Village limits that can still be labelled as Dayuling. PICKING DATE May 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL Low BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Dayuling ADMINISTRATIVE REGION Hualien County PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin GARDEN ELEVATION 2100 m Review: Large dry leaf balls with medium scent of tropical fruits. Steeped in 110 mL kobiwako with off boiling water: Rinse/35s/25s/35s/40s/45s/50s/55s/60s/1min 10s/1 min 30s/2 min /2 min 30 s / 5 min / 10 min / all day in 500 mL mug Early steeps: exceptionally buttery and thick (almost oily with second steep). Tropical fruit is present but takes backseat...

Sanxia Premium Mi Xiang Qing Xin Black Tea, Lot 944, spring 2020 from taiwan tea crafts

From vendor: STYLE OF TEA Formosa Black Tea PICKING DATE April 2020 OXYDATION LEVEL High BAKING LEVEL None TERROIR Sanxia ADMINISTRATIVE REGION New Taipei City PICKING STYLE Hand Picked CULTIVAR(S) USED Qing Xin Gan Zhi GARDEN ELEVATION 500 m ________________ Steeped 5 grams in 125 ml pot using 90 to 95 C water. 20 sec / 20 sec / 25 sec / 40 sec / 1 min / 2 min /4 min Wonderful honey and blueberry taste and aromas. Mild muscat notes reminiscent of second flush insect bitten darjeeling. Slight astringency at back of throat. As liquid cools, there is more acidity. Acidity is tempered using lower temp water. Body is relatively light. May benefit from clay. Leaves: more than 1/3 appear broken, possibly during rolling process. Very little evidence of insect bites, which are required for this genre of tea. Had very good flavor for 5 steepings before tapering off.

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