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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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.

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...

2020 Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from teavivre

From vendor: Origin: Qiandao Lake, Chun'an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China Season: Spring Tea Harvest Date: March 25, 2020 Tea Bush: C. sinensis cv. Jiukeng Tea Garden: Qiandao Lake Organic Tea Garden Review: Brewed 5.2 g in 170 mL 75-80 C water No rinse / 30 s / 30 s / 40 s / 55 s / 1 m 30 s /2 m 30s Dry leaf: pale green and slightly yellow, suggesting lighter oxidation than standard. Small leaves, consistent with earlier harvest. Plenty of white fluff in bag and on leaves. 1 bud 1 leaf > 1 bud > 1 bud 2 leaves. Mild scent of nuts. Wet leaf has strong scent of sweet freshly blanched green beans or corn. In the mouth, persistent vegetal sweetness mostly of asparagus and corn mixed with milder aromas of raw nuts. Good minerality gives this all a nice structure and a "crisp hardness" like small bell ringing. Long aftertaste of sweet vegetal notes, butteriness and minerality. Astringency is very controlled. Overall, aroma is a bit too mild.

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