TeaChat

...to say that assam and darjeeling occupy opposite ends of the flavor "spectrum"?

-after that, which would be your favorite out of the indian/sri lankan teas, assam, darjeeling or ceylon, and why?

Well, if I hate the former and love the latter ... does that mean they are opposite?

Darjeeling all the way!

If you restrict yourself strictly to black teas, then it may be a bit safer to say that they are opposites. But even then I think I've had certain Chinese black teas that seem to have a drastically different flavor profile than Darjeeling or Assam.

Edit: I posted this in the wrong thread somehow.

Of course, you could always be the outside and look at Nilgiri. I've developed something of a soft spot for Niligiri teas.

You've probably had them, even if you don't realize. A significant quantity of the iced tea blends that are sold in restaurants and convenience stores are based on Nilgiri teas. But beyond the food service industry, you can find some good teas from there.

Nilgiri teas taste neither like Assams or Darjeelings, but are something else altogether making them something rather interesting among the world of black teas.

Actually, I find that nilgiri tea tastes a lot like second or autumnal flush Darjeeling –the not very musky ones that is.

I always think of Nilgiri teas as a cross between a Ceylon and a Darjeeling. There are some really good ones AND some really bad ones out there, but they are some of my favorites.

Glaudge wrote:...to say that assam and darjeeling occupy opposite ends of the flavor "spectrum"?

-after that, which would be your favorite out of the indian/sri lankan teas, assam, darjeeling or ceylon, and why?

I think there's a lot of truth to that generalization, but it's definitely not true as an absolute rule. Some Assams can be very smooth, and the smoother Assams are radically different from what most people know as a "typical" Assam. Similarly, there are some Darjeelings that pack quite a punch. But I think that for a majority of teas from these regions, your statement is probably roughly true.

I haven't tried enough Nilgiri teas to say much about them. I've tried some Sikkim teas and other teas from Himalayan regions other than Darjeeling, and they're all relatively similar to Darjeeling in overall characteristics.

I'm less of a fan of Ceylon black teas, but I absolutely love ones from the Nuwara Eliya region. They have a high-grown character and are a bit lighter, but barely resemble Darjeeling or Nilgiri high-grown teas at all.