Official what Black (Red) Tea Are You Drinking Right Now?

[teababa]

Laoshan black from Verdant.

Really wonderful tea so far. Nice rich caramel aroma, lingering sweet taste like maple water. Very sweet, clean, and light for a black tea.
First steep 200'F 20 sec, 2nd - 200 F' 40 sec. Third steep.... to be determined.

[ethan]

Laoshan black from Verdant.

Really wonderful tea so far. Nice rich caramel aroma, lingering sweet taste like maple water. Very sweet, clean, and light for a black tea.
First steep 200'F 20 sec, 2nd - 200 F' 40 sec. Third steep.... to be determined.

[cwj]

Getting ready to have a session with one of my "daily drinkers": Black Fairy (a fully oxidized shui xian) from Music City Tea.
My tool of choice for today is a 100ml gaiwan, and I'll be using about 5g of leaf.

Enjoy your Friday!

[joelbct]

Mangalam Assam purchased directly from the estate's parent company jayshreetea. I only recently discovered the storefront existed. My two favorite Assam estates have been Meleng and Mangalam, but either I haven't had a reliable source for the best grades, or the quality has fallen off the past few years, I'm not entirely sure. But I just discovered jayshreetea has a direct retail storefront. All they have left of Mangalam from last year was 100g decorative boxes for $11USD and 500g bags for $14, both purporting to be "FTGFOP1 or Sp FTGFOP1." The 500g for $14 seemed way too good to be true for the quality I am seeking, and sure enough, it's decent and as good as any I found at Upton, but not stellar, unless I messed up the brewing. I'm sure I did both at 4 min 40 seconds, 5g of tea to 500g boiling water. Maybe I'll try again at 4 minutes.

The $11 for 100g box on the other hand, while certainly not the best Assam I've ever had circa Meleng/Mangalam 5-10 years ago, did seem to be significantly better than the 500g bag, and closer to what I am after. (edit- a second tasting suggests this was my imagination and both offerings are similarly middling).

I have to taste each again to make sure it wasn't my imagination though, as the dry leaf appearance of each was similar, and the bag was marked SFTGFOP1 clonal. But so were many disappointing samples I've tried from Upton, and the SFTGFOP1's I recall had hardly any broken leaf and an extremely high proportion of gold tips, like the following image:



I do hear much of the very best Assam goes to Germany for some reason, maybe it simply doesn't get to the US anymore.

In any case, middling Assams seem "one-note" and harsh, whereas the ones I am seeking are like a full, mouthwatering, "wine-ey," balanced symphony of harmonious tannins.

Great Chinese reds also seem to be deliciously full, complex, and harmonious on the taste buds, whereas the mediocre ones also seem to strike one single note too loudly and harshly, and have a much narrower flavor spectrum, if that makes sense.

Anyway, the 100g Mangalam box from Jayshree seems reminiscent of the great Assams I am remembering, and if not the best, at least the best I've had in a while and worth reordering.

[ethan]

re it wasn't my imagination though, as the dry leaf appearance of each was similar, and the bag was marked SFTGFOP1 clonal. But so were many disappointing samples I've tried from Upton, and the SFTGFOP1's I recall had hardly any broken leaf and an extremely high proportion of gold tips, like the following image:



In any case, middling Assams seem "one-note" and harsh, whereas the ones I am seeking are like a full, mouthwatering, "wine-ey," balanced symphony of harmonious tannins.

Great Chinese reds also seem to be deliciously full, complex, and harmonious on the taste buds, whereas the mediocre ones also seem to strike one single note too loudly and harshly, and have a much narrower flavor spectrum, if that makes sense.

Joel, I was never lucky enough to taste the complex Assam that you describe, but when I drank Assam I bought cheaper tea. I have had Chinese reds that you describe very well (thanks for that) but moved to black tea from Nepal & Taiwan lately. (Somehow after starting the day w/ Chinese red tea for about a year became something I had no desire to do.)

The best Ruby 18 tea gives the complex Assam qualities you describe; average 18 does not. (The best 18 that I obtained was not the most expensive that I sampled.)

If I were to buy from Upton or any vendor with an inventory of hundreds of teas, I would talk on the phone w/ an employee who knows (or at least seems to know) about the various teas in a particular category. The trip from the ridiculous to the sublime through descriptions of dozens of teas leaves me dumbfounded. cheers

[kuánglóng]

Many years ago I used to drink more Assam, never as much as my beloved Himalayan teas but enough to remember how truly excellent they can be if you manage to get your hands on some of the really good stuff. These days though I find it much, much easier to get really excellent teas from Nepal, Darjeeling or Nilgiri (or wherever else) via the WWW than the top-notch Assam qualities you've mentioned or I remember from back in the day.

The $11 for 100g box on the other hand, while certainly not the best Assam I've ever had circa Meleng/Mangalam 5-10 years ago, did seem to be significantly better than the 500g bag, and closer to what I am after. I have to taste each again to make sure it wasn't my imagination though, as the dry leaf appearance of each was similar, and the bag was marked SFTGFOP1 clonal. But so were many disappointing samples I've tried from Upton, and the SFTGFOP1's I recall had hardly any broken leaf and an extremely high proportion of gold tips, like the following image:

I do hear much of the very best Assam goes to Germany for some reason, maybe it simply doesn't get to the US anymore.

In any case, middling Assams seem "one-note" and harsh, whereas the ones I am seeking are like a full, mouthwatering, "wine-ey," balanced symphony of harmonious tannins.

Great Chinese reds also seem to be deliciously full, complex, and harmonious on the taste buds, whereas the mediocre ones also seem to strike one single note too loudly and harshly, and have a much narrower flavor spectrum, if that makes sense.

Anyway, the 100g Mangalam box from Jayshree seems reminiscent of the great Assams I am remembering, and if not the best, at least the best I've had in a while and worth reordering.

[ethan]

Maybe there is very little or no very high quality Assam today. The region is in trouble; tea is in trouble--from the blips I read on internet. Perhaps a chatter knows more.

[joelbct]

yeah I made another batch of the $11/100g Assam and this time it seemed no better than the $14/500g.

I think "SFTGFOP" has become nearly meaningless as an indicator of quality or even leaf shape.

The $11/100g Mangalam pictured:



And the $14/500g:



Neither look anything close to the picture in my previous post, which is like the best tippy Assams I recall.

I'll prob drink it still, good for iced tea in the summer, but, you get what you pay for. Still not worth $40 with shipping for even 600g of middling tea. Disappointing when the best Assams I can find aren't much more inspiring than Tazo Awake teabags available at any Walmart or Target.

In any case, Jayshree owns what were (are?) the best Assam gardens, so I'll try more this Summer, and from other vendors, but yes, maybe it is a problem with the region in general. Or maybe I just got lucky before the recession killed my fave US importer specialteas. I think Adagio (or Teavana?) actually bought specialteas and their hundreds of numbered specialty tea offerings in 2008/9, but never actually offered ST's selections, so maybe they can shed light on what happened to ST's Meleng/Mangalam source. Or if anyone knows who used to run the Tea Stop out of CT, because they sold this "excellent" Meleng/Mangalam until they shut down in ~2012.

I'd have thought Upton would have been able to get their hands on the best grades, but none impressed the year I tried all they had on hand, which was 15 or 20 samples.

Maybe I will stick to other regions. I do have some Ruby 18 coming from Taiwan Sourcing, curious about that.

I need to find a good source for Keemun Hao Ya and Fujian red as well, and Ceylon Vithanakande, my other staples. I think Ito En Web store is sometimes good for reds, if a bit over priced.

Willoughby's in New Haven offers some of these online too, and Silver Tips out of Westchester NY (whose family owns Makaibari Estate so maybe they have connections to "special" batches, worth a shot).

I have a few other vendors on my "to try" list for my newly resumed hunt for the best black/reds I can find: red blossom, tea trekker... some other US vendors look like they might just source their China reds from YS though Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'd use them too (among others) if I were to open a retailer or teahouse.

The quest continues...

[victoria3]

I enjoyed the complexity, richness and subtle layers of Glenburn Estate Khongea Assam Leaf Premium. I purchased it at a tea convention in LA and now see their web site is functioning, but just for whole sale it seems.

[kuánglóng]

Maybe there is very little or no very high quality Assam today. The region is in trouble; tea is in trouble--from the blips I read on internet. Perhaps a chatter knows more.

The entire region, including Nepal, Darjeeling , Dooars, etc.. and the industry have been in deep trouble for many years but this hasn't kept some folks from producing first-class teas. In many cases even better qualities than what I remember from back in the day and I've had access to reserved invoices for some years.
Anyway, a friend of mine used to manage a tea garden in Assam; I haven't heard from him in a while - no better time than now to drop him a line or two

[whatsinaname]

Stella Blue thru and in the Hongcha mood.

Been drinking lots of Hongcha in this last gasp of winter. Rishi breakfast tea, Tea Trekker Lapsang and Liu Bao.

Tea Trekker really has good value teas.

Those above and FLT #18 should be enough hongcha to carry me thru to gaoshancha season. C'mon April showers!

[joelbct]

I enjoyed the complexity, richness and subtle layers of Glenburn Estate Khongea Assam Leaf Premium. I purchased it at a tea convention in LA and now see their web site is functioning, but just for whole sale it seems.

Thank you for the suggestion. The price here is more in line with what I'd expect from what I'm seeking, $22 for 100g, but the image looks disappointing.

Maybe on to more China reds. I did some more digging, and Specialteas, my old supplier, was apparently forced into merger with Teavana years ago after the latter became their largest customer by far and demanded exclusive rights to their selection. And Teavana of course never sold their "competition" grade teas. Sad. Someone states that one of Specialteas suppliers for competition grade blacks was Silk Road Teas, has anyone used them? The Golden Monkey and Yunnan Gold looks great, but smallest size is 1/4 lb.

Updated black/red to-try vendor list (currently using Yunnan Sourcing): Silk Road, tea trekker, red blossom, teavivre, Harney. Dragon Tea House looks good currently, haven't ordered from them in ten years either.

I need a bigger tea budget. Perhaps I'll try one new vendor a month until I'm happy, accepting that I'll waste some $.

[joelbct]

May have found closest thing I can to what I'm looking for. Meleng Assam from Silver Tips, brick and mortar in Westchester NY, and also a wholesaler/importer, again whose owner is part of the family that owns Makaibari Estate in Darjeeling.

Meleng Assam, $13.20/2oz, $44/8oz, $78/lb.



Need to brew again at home, will update, but they made me a pot in the tearoom and it's better than I've had in a while.

[ethan]

I found a 20-gram packet of Himalayan Tips from Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. It is rather boring now, flat w/o more than basic tea flavor. It is 2 years old but the Himalayan Orange from Jun Chiyabari that I drink regularly is also 2 years old & still gives lots of dynamic flavor.

Would storage in a sample foil packet be different than storage in a large foil pack?

[kuánglóng]

I found a 20-gram packet of Himalayan Tips from Jun Chiyabari, Nepal. It is rather boring now, flat w/o more than basic tea flavor. It is 2 years old but the Himalayan Orange from Jun Chiyabari that I drink regularly is also 2 years old & still gives lots of dynamic flavor.

Would storage in a sample foil packet be different than storage in a large foil pack?

I keep some of my rarer Himalayan teas in relatively thick, sealed 20 gram mylar bags and don't notice any significant differences to the same tea that's been kept in larger bags under the same conditions (dark, dry, cool) but I make sure the teas are sufficiently dry!!! (no more than 4% residual moisture). I've had some Himalayan teas die on me as well over the years, most likely due to moisture they've picked up at some point, probably right in the tea store.