Tannic Darjeeling

Hello all.

I ordered a selection of Lochan's teas several months ago, and have been
working my way through them slowly.

I'm having a problem with the teas from Darjeeling, though. No matter
what I do with them they always turn out tannic and bitter. I've tried
different temperatures, various brewing times, and even different kinds
of water, but no matter what I do they always turn out stiff with tannin.

Am I doing something wrong, or are Darjeelings just really tannic teas?

AP

On Dec 29, 12:21 pm, Alan Petrillo <a...@baylink.com> wrote:
> Hello all.
>
> I ordered a selection of Lochan's teas several months ago, and have been
> working my way through them slowly.
>
> I'm having a problem with the teas from Darjeeling, though.  No matter
> what I do with them they always turn out tannic and bitter.  I've tried
> different temperatures, various brewing times, and even different kinds
> of water, but no matter what I do they always turn out stiff with tannin.
>
> Am I doing something wrong, or are Darjeelings just really tannic teas?
>
> AP

Try a lesser amout of leaf, with below boiling water, for less than
two minutes steeping time. The result will be weak, but you can taste
fruit and nut nuances, and it shouldn't be tannic. toci

toci wrote:
> On Dec 29, 12:21 pm, Alan Petrillo <a...@baylink.com> wrote:
>> Hello all.
>>
>> I ordered a selection of Lochan's teas several months ago, and have been
>> working my way through them slowly.
>>
>> I'm having a problem with the teas from Darjeeling, though. No matter
>> what I do with them they always turn out tannic and bitter. I've tried
>> different temperatures, various brewing times, and even different kinds
>> of water, but no matter what I do they always turn out stiff with tannin.
>>
>> Am I doing something wrong, or are Darjeelings just really tannic teas?
>>
>> AP
>
> Try a lesser amout of leaf, with below boiling water, for less than
> two minutes steeping time. The result will be weak, but you can taste
> fruit and nut nuances, and it shouldn't be tannic. toci

I'll try that, thanks.

AP

Lewis Perin wrote:
> toci <gina39dm> writes:
>
>> On Dec 29, 12:21 pm, Alan Petrillo <a...@baylink.com> wrote:
>>> Hello all.
>>>
>>> I ordered a selection of Lochan's teas several months ago, and have been
>>> working my way through them slowly.
>>>
>>> I'm having a problem with the teas from Darjeeling, though. No matter
>>> what I do with them they always turn out tannic and bitter. I've tried
>>> different temperatures, various brewing times, and even different kinds
>>> of water, but no matter what I do they always turn out stiff with tannin.
>>>
>>> Am I doing something wrong, or are Darjeelings just really tannic teas?
>>>
>>> AP
>> Try a lesser amout of leaf, with below boiling water, for less than
>> two minutes steeping time. The result will be weak, but you can taste
>> fruit and nut nuances, and it shouldn't be tannic. toci
>
> Or try lots of leaf, again with below-boiling water for *very* short
> steeps, starting with maybe 15 seconds and gradually increasing. If
> the leaves are good, you should get five steeps or more before losing
> interest.

Cool.

Do you have a suggested steeping schedule for the multiple infusions?

AP

On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:21:15 -0800, toci wrote:

> On Dec 29, 12:21 pm, Alan Petrillo <a...@baylink.com> wrote:
>> Hello all.
>>
>> I ordered a selection of Lochan's teas several months ago, and have been
>> working my way through them slowly.
>>
>> I'm having a problem with the teas from Darjeeling, though.  No matter
>> what I do with them they always turn out tannic and bitter.  I've tried
>> different temperatures, various brewing times, and even different kinds
>> of water, but no matter what I do they always turn out stiff with tannin.
>>
>> Am I doing something wrong, or are Darjeelings just really tannic teas?
>>
>> AP
>
> Try a lesser amout of leaf, with below boiling water, for less than
> two minutes steeping time. The result will be weak, but you can taste
> fruit and nut nuances, and it shouldn't be tannic. toci

About 20 years ago Darjeelings were much more like black teas and it was
easy to get the typical nutty Darjeeling taste. Nowadays they are much
more like green teas (with some exceptions) and I would brew them like
green teas.

JB