Vivek Lochan on status of Indian tea industry

Doke tea images provided by Vivek

After talking with Vivek Lochan recently about how social media group discussion goes, mostly on Facebook, I asked if he could fill in some background on the Indian tea industry in a Q & A form.  These are the kinds of ideas that should come up in online discussion, but it's hard to get starting points to develop to that.  

Most vendors and producers are posting online related to marketing, and tea enthusiasts might just show what they're drinking.  Marketing is fine, and it's interesting hearing about different tea types, or preferences, but it tends to not extend to a deeper level.  

This partly relates to me being the only moderator for a large Facebook tea group, International Tea Talk.  There had been interesting discussions there about a range of themes in the past, but it has shifted to occurring more in other places now, as tends to happen.  Reddit and Discord are active, for example.

For introduction Vivek is from a well-known tea producer family that owns and runs the Doke tea plantation.  His father, a main founder, is Rajiv Lochan, who has been very familiar in specialty tea circles for quite awhile.

This is their Doke website; there is more background there, and it lists some related social media channel contacts.  This blog post works as an intro to that background story.  This is a review in this blog about their Black Fusion flagship product, or one version of it, from back in 2021.

There is always a chance that different people could see different aspects or shifts in local tea industries differently, but to me it's quite interesting to consider thoughts from someone with more local area exposure than almost any of us will ever have, even given that kind of interpretation concern.  

I've discussed local tea industry themes in India quite a bit over the years, most in relation to discussions with Suzana Syiem, a close friend.  We even talked to Rajiv once about related themes, back in 2021 when Covid disruptions made talking to people online seem like a helpful outlet.  Most of this matches and extends what I'd heard before.

Vivek's input on tea industry status in India

How is specialty tea uptake going in India?  Do you see differences in how preferences are changing in other places?

Specialty tea is slowing increasing in demand and interest with customer across the country. People are willing to experiment more and with better buying power, they can easily afford to try more than once. The increase in availability of teas with flavours – natural like fruits and herbs or like mocktails kind of stuff – also helps attracting a newer audience of tea lovers who can’t necessarily be called tea lovers.

Specialty tea quality development often seems to relate to two different factors, to small, private producers developing a more artisan approach to making tea, and to experimentation and development by larger producers.  Is one of these inputs having the most impact, or others?

I think the abundance of small, private producers is having more impact. The larger producer is usually under economic pressure to produce more and sell more. The smaller producer usually doesn’t have as much pressure and is more open to experimentation to set himself apart from the crowd. 

These small growers sometimes mimic styles from other countries / areas but that is only apparent to a person who is well versed with teas from foreign nations. Most people are appreciative of efforts to partially ‘copy’ production styles while keeping the end result unique. Something like our Black Fusion from Doke seems to be well appreciated. 

Black Fusion, from that earlier review

In different places different approaches to promote awareness seem to work, eg. public tastings, or media articles.  What seems to make a difference there, and what doesn’t work?

Media articles, semi private tasting sessions, food pairings and free sample distributions seems to be working quite well. We are trying to get more hotels involved with setting up tea tasting and food pairing sessions so we can attract more people to the tea world. Larger public tastings don’t seem to work because then it can be difficult to engage with people. Engagement is important to have both the drinker and the brewer understand what each other are looking for - kind of like wine tasting sessions. 

Are cultivars in use continually evolving?  Can you add a bit about that?

The TRA is always working to introduce new cultivars or better the current crop of cultivars available [the Tea Research Association, a government run institution under the Tea Board of India]. They have certainly come a very long way in the past decade or so in making the tea crops more pest / insect resistant and sturdier against drought. Constant evolvement of the cultivars is very important.

I seem to recall mention of a specially designed sprinkler system doubling as irrigation and offsetting high temperature impact on tea plants at Doke.  Is that accurate?  Can you describe this more?

Yes – we have a new government sponsored irrigation system at Doke which has been working wonders for us for the past couple of years. Upkeep has been a little bit expensive at the beginning with sprinklers failing and pipes bursting but overall, it has been a great addition. The new sprinkler system has all its piping underground, so they are permanently placed unlike the old system which needed everything moved as and when required. Set up time and wastage is almost nil now. 

The older sprinklers had a larger coverage area per sprinkler with a stronger throw while the new system relies on smaller sprinklers creating an almost mist like situation. This results in better absorption of water in the leaves and in the ground. The sprinklers are situated according to a design generated by a computer program that takes into account terrain features like trees and elevation changes.

Are changes related to climate change impacting tea production?

Climate change has very severely impacted tea production throughout the country this year. A dry winter coupled with a very hot and dry summer had decreased growth very sharply up till May. The situation started getting better end May onwards with some rain showers. June and July has been much better with constant rain and some sunshine in between. The tea bushes are still under stress due to almost 6 months of rain deficiency, but the situation seems to be improving. 

How many flushes or harvest periods can you harvest from tea plants?

In North India, the tea season usually starts in March and ends in November end. Old hands like to say that it starts with the Holi Festival and ends with the Diwali Festival. This is true as both festivals are based on the lunar calendar. When either festival goes up or down in the date range, the tea harvest season seems to follow. Of course it is not an exact science but has been pretty accurate.

Can you add some description of background on major plantations in Darjeeling transferring from family ownership to corporate ownership?  Is this a concern for continuity of Darjeeling tea production?

Almost all the tea gardens in Darjeeling today are corporate owned with a head office in Siliguri or Kolkata and a managerial team at the garden itself. The only family owned and family run tea garden in Darjeeling today is Giddapahar. Both brothers look after all the aspects of the tea estate directly without employing any manager level employees. They make it seem easy to sustain a tea garden in the current economic situation but I know that it is anything but!

What factors are changing the local tea industry there most, among new themes like sustainability, fair trade, and safety (related to pesticide use and testing)?

The Food Safety Authority of India has recently highlighted the pesticide use but that is a very difficult situation to tackle. The Tea Board regulates what pesticides can be used in tea gardens and the dosage as well. A blanket ban is not possible as some pesticides banned by the Tea Board are allowed in other fields. Pesticide use also cannot be checked regularly at the field level. Soil testing takes time and labs are not very common. Made tea testing can be expensive and not every lot can be tested. People are becoming more aware about these things.

Are public sales platforms like Amazon—different variations of that—changing the tea sales landscape in India?

Amazon and other online platforms are certainly extremely helpful to market teas and find retail customers. We are seeing more and more of our customers moving online even if it is just to have an online presence. People are willing to purchase online and can find a wider range online compared to physical stores. 

What potential changes or developments could best improve the lives of tea plantation workers?

The biggest change would be to increase the wages of the workers, but the producer is barely able to make ends meet at the moment anyway. The consumer, the middleman, the wholesale buyer is certainly not interested at all in increasing their prices or reducing their margins. The tea gardens already provide subsidized rations, medical facilities and housing facilities but those can be a bit basic sometimes. The government could do more to help –  most of their programs don’t seem to be able to reach the right people.

Gopaldhara Red Thunder ruby and black autumn Darjeeling

Red Thunder Ruby left, black right

About winter / fall teas from Gopaldhara, not versions I've kept around for as long as some other recent "lost sample" posts, but definitely running one season behind since it's onto spring already, maybe just not time for Darjeeling first flush releases yet.  This is one of my overall favorite teas from Gopaldhara, and to me one of the best Darjeeling versions I've tried.  The review description sheds light on why, it just isn't really filled with subjective take input like that, more about aspects, so it really wouldn't come across. 

I think the other version is a black tea variation that may be experimental, or something they made for limited batch sales.  I didn't see it on their website.  Either one, since their original India version has been joined by one set up for foreign sales, listing Red Thunder here (assuming there is one main version that this is, which the "Ruby" designation potentially may not relate to):

Gopaldhara Red Thunder Oolong – Winter Frosted 2021

Gopaldhara Red Thunder is a limited edition Darjeeling Autumn Flush made from frosted leaves. This fine tea is made from clonal bushes and appears blackish red with abundant tips. The tea is made during the last week of October where the temperature starts approaching zero degrees at night, leading to the leaves getting frosted. Extreme cold weather conditions at high elevation induce a special and complex flavor into the tea. It is well oxidized while still retaining a prominent fruity flavor.

I'm usually a bit skeptical of teas being marketed as Indian oolong, since the versions never remind me of the rest of the range of teas presented that way, from lots of other countries, but this has a distinctive and different character.  Or I suppose autumn flush might tend to be like this, since I've not tried so many of those?  Anyway, it's really good and novel in type, and oxidized to a medium level, so oolong it is.

That tea lists for $10 for 100 grams; that seems really low to me.  I just mentioned a couple of teas from Nepal selling for $15 for 50 grams last post (the second used to benchmark value for the first), and for teas as good as Jun Chiyabari usually makes that seems fair.  I can't imagine those could be better than this though, just different in style, and it's listing for one third that rate.  Direct sales has the potential to relate to much better value than teas sold by a middleman or two in between, but often all kinds of vendors will build up demand and customer base by starting out with a low markup, and correct that later on.  I'm not necessarily saying that I expect this price to double over the next few years but that wouldn't be unusual. 

Review:

Red Thunder Ruby:  fantastic, of course, but the point here is to pin down in what sense.  Even for being slightly light due to being a quick first infusion this is great, complex, well-balanced, and pleasant.  Warm tones complement nice warm fruit range, complex enough that it's not just one thing.  Interpretations of dried black cherry and tamarind might make sense.  There's a bit of citrus edge but not so much, at least not yet.  The warm tones aren't as clearly defined and distinct, but it's pretty much in lighter black tea range, even though I think this gets described as an oolong.  

More oxidized oolong range always overlaps with less oxidized black tea range anyway, often accompanied by percentage amounts, like 80% oxidized, but it's hard to be sure that specific designation is meaningful.  A tea being just off fully oxidized does mean something specific, just maybe not narrowing that down to a percentage.

Black Red Thunder:  an early sourness throws off this coming across as positively, but it seems like the kind of flavor input that will "burn off" over the first round or two.  Warmth and sweetness matches the other for this, and there's probably some fruit range to it too, but for being light mostly that sour note comes across.  It seems a little like sour cherry for combining those ranges, maybe just pulled a little towards cocoa, as the other also was.  In going back and trying the other that warm range could be lots of different things, spice, or aromatic wood, but it's not as clearly centered on cocoa.  It will be interesting to see how both shift once they're really along the main infusion cycle next round.

Ruby Red Thunder, second infusion:  a little tartness picks up in this, giving it more of a berry character.  It's not sour cherry, but not so far off that.  It's nice how complex this is, how it packs in a lot of fruit range, with warmth complementing that.  I'm not sure the tartness is really an improvement, and trying to brew this on the lighter side may lighten the balance of that.  I was using about a 10-15 second infusion time, more towards 15, which doesn't sound like long but as usual I've maxed out the proportion.  

The warm tone is moving in an interesting direction, now heavier into spice, between cinnamon and warm tree bark range.  Cinnamon kind of is bark; I mean like a typical thick barked hardwood, but related to cured bark, a version that's been stored somewhat humid for awhile, perhaps laying in the woods.

Black:  the sourness did mostly drop out in this, with an unusual mineral range filling in.  It tastes a little like salt; it's odd that doesn't come up more.  It gives it an interesting sweet versus savory divide, like sweet and sour pork, or crispy pork (kind of Chinese / general Asian thing).  A rich fruit range develops, more like cherry than anything else.  It's cool that these have expressed so much range around the cherry theme so far, with the other venturing into other berry just now.  

The feel of this has a dry edge to it.  That's not really good or bad, a positive supporting input or something that detracts, just how it is.  If it was stronger it would be negative, and I suppose rich and full without dryness might be slightly better, but it's fine, it's nice.  

Red Thunder Ruby, third infusion:  a little extra light, but it's nice "seeing it" from different infusion strength perspectives to get a feel for how the experienced aspects range can vary.  That one catchy set of fruit and warm tones still stands out, with feel relatively positive, with some richness and fullness but no real edge of any kind.  There is no sourness or tartness in it prepared this way.  Complexity stands out most, how there's a lot going on.  The fruit and warm tone ranges aren't just one thing, as I've described, both really coming across as a set of flavors.  That spice / bark tone starts to transition more to aromatic, warm wood tone, or that could just be an effect from shifting infusion strength.

Red Thunder Black:  the best this has been, even though this is a little light (how it's prepared).  That unusual mineral range is cool.  It doesn't come across as much as salt this round, but it's definitely a main part of the experience.  It leans a little towards that inky mineral effect that can be present in roasted Wuyi Yancha versions, which really does taste a bit like ink smells.  A more conventional interpretation would discuss wood tones or fruit more, since those are easier to notice, but the mineral range stands out (to me) for being novel, and contributing a lot to the overall effect.  Fruit range never did dial up quite as much as in the other version.

I'll be traveling today so I'll probably do one more round with note taking and then drop this, probably not getting back to adding more about the later rounds.  Both will keep shifting and developing, and both are pretty far from finished, as I've prepared them.  Drinking two teas worth of 8 or 9 rounds in a hurry is too much; made this way it's too much for someone to drink straight through.  

I never really factor in context like that when starting, in part due to not being all that clear-minded in the morning to factor in anything.  It's 9:30 AM now and already hot out, and I started this back more towards 9, a more proper time for getting out of bed on a Saturday.  A single Tim Horton's maple cream filled donut is offsetting the impact of all this tannin in my stomach; so far so good, but it's at its limit.

Ruby Red Thunder:  really nice, very well balanced, but I don't have much to add about changes.  If anything it all just evened out nicely, with fruit and warm tones, and rich feel, all coming together in their proper places.  I would accept this as a nice black tea version, the feel is just a bit softer, rich instead of having any astringency edge at all.  It can be considered an oolong then, it's just not like any form of Chinese oolong, as close as any to a Taiwanese rolled ball form "red oolong," kind of an unusual sub-category.  

The richness in this is a bit like that warm tone in a cinnamon roll, not just the cinnamon part, which is present, but also that nice cooked sugar range, and warm pastry effect.  Don Mei would go crazy listing flavors for this; it would contain 20.  It comes across as complex but integrated, and in a unique sense as simple.  It's good.

Red Thunder Black:  a lot of that general commentary applies to this too; it's integrating nicely.  The warm tones definitely include a bit of a cured wood effect now, which works with the rest.  Mineral has backed off a little, letting that part and fruit show through.  Either of these could be interpreted as more into citrus range than I've described, maybe with a hint of sweet red grapefruit in this overall effect.  Both are complex enough that a lot of different interpretations could make sense.  These reviews are more about describing an overall effect built up through describing how details add up, but not as one objectively correct interpretation.  Seeing these flavors as being something else would be natural, and not necessarily less accurate.  

All in all this is pretty good too.  I liked the other better, for really nailing a unique balance, more the version I expect from past experiences (not that I can memorize a tea so well from one year to the next, or across two).  I thought this would contain more edge for being identified as a black but it really didn't include much more for astringency / structure than the other, with that early dryness dropping out a round ago.  The oxidation level difference is almost clearer in the wet leaf color than the character, since they're just different, not necessarily with this just like conventional black tea and the other not.

Conclusions:

Not much to add really; both were nice, but to me the Ruby version really stood out.  Expectation could've factored in, it being more what I thought I would experience, or what I had learned to appreciate in the past.

I often find myself saying that I like teas or that they're good in posts, since I wouldn't usually review a tea that I don't like, which is a less interesting story to tell.  It's hard to put that on a scale.  Gopaldhara tea range is really novel, up there with the absolute best I've tried from India, and this version is one of my favorites from them.  It's on the exceptional side of "good."  

I like their lighter intense fruit and floral range teas too, when versions really click, but this one also has consistency on its side, that it's always this good, and seemingly always in a similar character range.  That impressive, given that they need to work around how much the weather cooperates in making teas.

back from that travel I mentioned, which included snorkeling in the Gulf of Thailand

there were no other people or boats anywhere near us that day, kind of crazy

Tippy Doke Fusion and second flush Giddapahar teas

This tasting theme related to getting to samples from last year that looked interesting, including a different "tippy" version of the flagship Fusion product from Doke, from Bihar, not one of the main tea producing regions.  Reviewing another Darjeeling with it is about using that as a benchmark, and just commenting here on more teas they sent.  Giddapahar rings a bell, I must have reviewed at least one or two from them before, but it's not that familiar.  Per usual I'll add more listing details and links during editing.

One atypical part of this review post is that I wrote these notes three weeks ago, dropping out of doing most writing due to spending nearly two weeks on a covid experience.  These tasting notes tend to be fairly complete anyway.

DOKE BLACK FUSION TIPPY:- FIRST FLUSH 2021 (now listed at $11.24 / 50 grams)

The best Indian black tea that has a combination of sweet and malty roast notes with caramel flavour aftertaste is a heart winner for most of the tea drinkers! Having a brewing time of 3 minutes, this tea fills the air with its aroma of caramel and a spicy texture that is beyond words to explain! Coming from Bihar, Doke Black Fusion is processed using Assamica tea leaves that compels the tea lovers to explore this tea.

I didn't see a listing for the Giddapahar tea through their outlet (Tea Swan), or a clear match through Google search.  That version was more for comparison purposes anyway, and it was interesting experiencing the contrast in styles.  I didn't take it to be indicative of a normal, standard style Darjeeling second flush, but that was fine, trying something pleasant and more unique instead.  Of course I mis-matched flushes, since the Doke was a spring tea, but it turned out to not matter related to style range since they had fully oxidized that tea version, unlike conventional first flush Darjeeling style.

Review:

interesting that the second flush Giddapahar, left, is less oxidized

Tippy Black Fusion:  interesting.  One part resembles a standard black tea, maybe towards Ceylon for being softer and including more mineral depth than Assam typically does, and from there distinctive dried fruit range enters in.  It's a little towards Chinese date, jujube, but it's not that.  Cocoa / cacao comes across as well; that part would be familiar to Chinese black tea drinkers.  The feel is nice, with a little dryness and fullness but nothing like harsh astringency edge.  People accustomed to drinking better loose tea wouldn't consider adding milk to this, although it probably would be ok, it's just not something that I would check.  This is quite pleasant, and it will probably develop a little more depth over the next two infusions, before levelling off.

Giddapahar AV2 Summer Delight Second Flush:  that's really quite nice too, but very different.  It's includes just a little more dryness but really the effect is just different, more than it's stronger.  A strong range of warm tones stand out in this, and it includes fruit as well, and a catchy spice-like aspect, which I'm not really clear enough on to describe yet.  The muscatel level is moderate; it's not a version that's all about blasting that, but it does include that distinctive grape / citrus / wine-like range.   The catchy part may be how the different aspects balance.  I wouldn't be surprised if a bit of dryness and light range mineral softened and deepened next round, so I'll do a more complete flavor breakdown then.

Doke Tippy Fusion on the left in all photos

Doke Tippy Fusion second infusion:  lots of transition; an inky sort of flavor range really ramped up.  It's hard to describe, not like the straight ink mineral range that can couple with lots of other integrated flavors in Wuyi Yancha oolongs.  This is towards sourness, just not sour in a typical sense.  It seems to couple with fruit range, like elderberry, as a variation of how a juice can come across.  

I like it, but personal preference would determine response to this.  Fruity, mineral based, heavy flavor range black teas seem really nice to me, but this is in a unique range.  We've bought a ligonberry jam from IKEA before; what I'm describing as sourness and fruit isn't that close to that, since these flavors are heavier, but it works in comparison to describe what I mean by fruit-like and sour.  That reminds me, there's a Laos berry tisane I've been meaning to review, gooseberry, maybe that was?

Giddapahar:  so different that it's cool experiencing one of these and then the other.  I had expected more astringency edge from this, given how broken the leaf is, and now it's showing up.  It's not exactly that green wood range that seems to stand out and be distinctive related to only Darjeeling, but it's close to that, a variation.  Warm tones broaden feel and flavor well beyond that, making it seem complex (which it is).  The part I'm interpreting as catchy might just be the way a pronounced root spice aspect links with less distinctive fruit, with the two complementing each other.  The aftertaste is just that astringency edge, not so far off the experience of bitterness, or this might be a feel aspect that seems to link to actual bitterness.  

It works, but the astringency and towards-bitter edge isn't in an ideal balance.  The water I'm using is probably around 90 C, maybe just over (but I tend to not check those things), and backing that off to 80 or 85 might be more optimum for this.  Not that I would; I brew tea using pretty much the same water temperature, and even brewing parameters, and how it works out is what I'm interested in experiencing.  If this was more broken I would brew it Western style, probably then easing up on temperature just a little, but it's ok for this approach, with astringency moderated by brewing time.

In giving it one last taste that spice range includes towards-root flavor but also fennel seed, as a more dominant aspect, which is interesting.

Doke, third infusion:  I brewed these quite quickly, at or under 10 seconds, because intensity is a bit much at this proportion, for both, but they're probably still not even close to light.  The lighter intensity lets the fruit show through better; it's nicer.  That still does remind me most of elderberry.  It's hard to say what that tastes like, in comparison with other berries; a bit like blackberry, but heavier on mineral, richer in flavor, less fruity somehow, even inky in taste range.  If you ever get a chance to try a good version of fresh elderberry pie with vanilla ice cream your life will be improved by that.

Overall balance is good, the moderate astringency, pleasant and integrated flavors, good sweetness.  There aren't really any flaws to work around.  The only limitation is that this style and character might not suit everyone, which is true of essentially every tea type.  I see some types as more universal in appeal but that interpretation might not be shared by others.  These including what I'm describing as towards sourness and bitterness work well in relation to the rest of the range, but they might serve as examples of range that wouldn't work well for everyone.  Backing off infusion strength makes the part seeming like sourness drop out in this, with plenty of fruit flavor and warm tone intensity remaining, so it's down to a matter of brewing it appropriately.  I don't think this would be as good made Western style, unless someone could be careful about dialing in final infusion timing and intensity.

Giddapahar:  brewed lighter the part I've been struggling to capture really stands forward.  This tastes like teaberry!  It's a minty sort of wild berry found where I'm from, in Pennsylvania, that people tend not to eat.  I've heard before that you can collect and brew the leaves, and that they can even be oxidized.  That sounds amazing, but I've never tried it.  As with the other tea intensity really supports lighter brewing; this is plenty strong enough, and much better balanced.  Sweetness stands out more, with astringency and the seemingly connected wood tone flavor dialing back.  

It can come across as an insult in tea circles to say that a tea would be good with food, but I could see how this would pair well with a lot of range.  That edge works better moderated by infusion strength, like this round is prepared, but that effect could also be countered by eating this with a raisin cinnamon roll.  There's even a hint of cinnamon in this, showing up better for the wood tone dropping with infusion strength.

Doke, fourth infusion:  more of the same, and quite pleasant.  

Giddapahar:  the same really; maybe transitioning just a little.  Both these teas will keep making positive, complex, balanced infusions for a number of additional rounds, and character will shift a bit more, but the notes are sufficient.

Conclusion:

For quitting taking notes that early both teas might have improved slightly over the next few rounds, especially the Doke version.  It picked up a nice brandy-like character, warming and adding depth, with sweetness towards toffee or heavy caramel.  Intensity stayed good for lots more rounds, with parts that someone might have interpreted as negative (for both) largely dropping out, the astringency edge and such.

It was interesting how different this seemed to me in relation to the other second flush Doke Fusion version I had tried and reviewed (here).  There was enough continuity that I could relate to them being branded under the same name but they weren't even close to identical, with this version much better, adding more depth, complexity, and positive nature across a broad number of rounds.

This Giddapahar was interesting for not matching Darjeeling second flush standard character I expected, but being positive in a different way.  As some sort of standard type comparison baseline it wasn't suitable at all, but as a novel, good quality, and pleasant tea version it exceeded my expectations.  I'll skip trying to compare either of these to some other standard range, and the impossible task of matching a general extracted quality level from one range of tea to another.  These were good, pleasant and interesting; that's enough.

not much for home life or outings to share lately, so them sleeping will do

still time for messing around in between all the rest and recovery

Trying Gopaldhara autumn harvest Darjeeling oolongs

 

Rishi of Gopaldhara sent some really interesting looking teas to try, a batch of some autumn harvest teas, I think these are.  Seasons don't match temperate climates perfectly at other latitudes but maybe Darjeeling does experience more autumn and winter than here in Bangkok, related to being at a much higher altitude.  We can tell that the days get a little longer and shorter here but that's about it, except for one week typically being cooler than the rest of the year here in December.  This year that ran early, and lasted for two weeks, so it was a nice cold season for us, down into the teens C at night (60s F), not cold, but nice and cool.

I don't know anything about these, beyond the names, but per usual process I'll go back and add more after making the notes.  Let's skip the part about how close Indian oolongs really are to Chinese style oolongs.  Not that close, but medium oxidation level and some comparable degree of processing steps needs to have some category name.

After checking, the background related to a website change includes more to consider than just the description; this is posted in the Gopaldhara India site, but there's an additional international site now too.  With pricing listed in US dollars, so maybe it's a US site instead?  I'll check on that and add more about it in a later review post.  When vendors list multiple site versions, as Yunnan Sourcing does, it's often about basing stock and shipping out of somewhere else, which drops cost and speeds up delivery time anywhere, and can relate to avoiding customs issues in places like the EU.

This listing information:

Rohini Winter Frosted Rare Creamy Oolong – Master Series 2021

This rare Darjeeling yellow oolong tea has very exceptional characteristics than any other oolong teas in the Darjeeling Hills. It is produced from P157 clones at the picturesque valley of the Rohini Tea Estate in the winter season. In this season the growth of Darjeeling tea is very slow and the workers could only bring in a very small quantity of leaves that are very special. The workers carefully pluck the tea leaves while making sure that only the best shoots with eminent buds are plucked.

The teas are very mildly oxidized and delicately processed to induce minimal damage to the whole leaves. As a result, the dry leaves become greenish with abundant silvery tips that give us an amazingly clean cup with very high notes of aroma. The texture is very creamy and we get the mixed flavour of Green Apple, Ceylon olive or Indian olive, Indian gooseberry, pear, and vanilla.

Sounds good.  Per my understanding both of these are somewhat experimental, representing ongoing evolution of processing, where the related autumn "Red Thunder" version is pretty far along that path, something they've been tweaking for years.  

This "Christmas honey oolong" Rishi said was sold as a batch but not listed on either site.  It's interesting how that part works out, how producers try to re-create standard branded versions, like the Red Thunder, accounting for variations in annual results by blending inputs from different lots to get to a more standard outcome.  To the extent any part of what I'm claiming or implying is wrong I'll also amend that in another post; it's not as I'm passing on these few comments directly from input from Gopaldhara.

Review:

Christmas honey oolong:  that is really interesting.  I gave it a nice long soak so I wouldn't be saying "we'll know more next round," and infusion strength might be just a touch over optimum.  The flavor is complex and positive, and character really isn't even completely familiar.  After trying so many experimental Gopaldhara teas that's nice, that they can keep breaking new ground.  

I want to say that there is a novel aspect in this, but it's not that, it's a set of them.  The varying oxidation levels apparent in leaf color would indicate that might happen.  One part is bright, floral and including vegetal range, that green wood that I take to be one main characteristic of Darjeeling.  Another is warm, rich, and sweet in a different way.  There's a risk in such circumstances that it might not integrate, but it really does.  I think astringency expressing so much range makes this interesting in one way and a little confusing in another.  Not in the sense of it being unpleasant, but related to fully taking it in.  As to flavor list someone could brainstorm and just keep going on, about honey, floral range, warm spice, trailing towards cocoa, or an aromatic part relating to cedar or other wood tone.  It'll be interesting to see what stands out as this evolves, and how the proportion shifts.

Creamy oolong:  a similar experience of not really being able to place this tea occurred again.  Again it's quite pleasant, so not in the sense of it seeming off, although the warmer range mostly dropping out in relation to the other seemed a little jarring at first.  I think a crazy range of floral tone is making these hard to interpret; their characters are crowded around expressing a lot of that.  This is creamy but not buttery; the smooth and rich tone also connects with a bit of vegetal edge.  It tastes like butter in relation to how a butter cookie tastes, at the intersection of that butter flavor and shortbread.  The more vegetal part I'm not really identifying yet.  It's not so far off flower petal or stem but it's not that.  

I think it also complicates things that these teas are expressing mostly floral range but also rich fruit.  I wouldn't be surprised if that seems more dominant and noticeable as infusions evolve.

Christmas oolong, second infusion:  much better a little lighter, and opened up. Intensity is good, and overall balance. Astringency edge is moderate related to typical Darjeeling range but substantial as the much lower whole-leaf Gopaldhara versions go.  At this level it gives the tea a nice balance. It would be just as good with less, but it's not negative.  Honey sweetness stands out more than in the first round.  Floral range seems to evolve more into dried fruit, it's just hard to pin it down to one version.  Maybe not far off dried apricot.

Creamy oolong:  it's interesting how this tea would be completely different without this degree of astringency edge and green wood flavor.  It's nice as it is, but with half that input the overall effect would shift.  Put another way this stands between Chinese oolong character range and first flush Darjeeling.

Maybe my kids' review input will help clarify.  My daughter tried both and said that both are nice, and that she liked this creamy version more, but didn't really explain why.  My son tried both and said that both are bitter.  Maybe a little, but it's really astringency that he's picking up.  My daughter, who is 8, seems to tolerate it better, and see both as more positive, which really makes no sense given that her only food preference is for eating candy.  He could live on bacon, and neither prefer to ever eat vegetables, or even fruit.  Ok, maybe all that is not helpful.

The richness and creaminess in this tea make it very pleasant, and the positive floral and fruit tone complexity.  It's not so citrusy but it leans a little towards lemon citrus.  For being a sheng drinker the slight astringency edge and touch of what really could be fairly interpreted as bitterness is very moderate, and as positive as it is a weakness, for adding complexity.

Christmas oolong, third infusion:  I would just be repeating the earlier comments to add more, but I'm not really bringing across how this is.  It's novel.  Intentional or not they've managed to oxidize these leaves to a lot of different levels and it really adds a unique depth to the experience, a broad range.  It's not unlike how rolled oolongs might be browned at the edges and greener at the center, it just varied more within different leaves.  This goes an extra step, because parts seem to be contributing true fully oxidized character to this, and other leaves relatively green inputs.  It almost seems that in theory it shouldn't integrate as well as it seems to.  Again without that final green edge and feel this would be a relatively different tea, and I suppose it might even work better, but it also works like this.

Sweetness, floral and fruit, and overall intensity are so pronounced that it leaves you with a perfume-like aftertaste.  That one dry edge really defines the feel; probably that would improve somewhat if it balanced more with the rest, if it didn't stand out.  But this tea experience is like drinking perfume, in a good sense, so it's not appropriate to focus on part of that seeming like a flaw, since how it all works together probably depends on the parts in a way I can't unpack.

Creamy oolong:  this is warming in tone; interesting.  A lot of all the rest of that about the Christmas version applies to this too, just in a different sense.  This is a little lighter and brighter in character, with that other tea's warm dried apricot range swapped out for fruit towards citrus.  Floral range is probably brighter flowers; it's not my personal strength to add flower names to that.  Plumeria and what I think is an Indian cork / peep tree grow in one yard now and it's along those lines.

Christmas oolong, fourth infusion:  this round I brewed really fast, just trying out variations, and it works quite well this way.  One nice outcome is that it would brew very many infusions made that way, cup after cup, without losing intensity.  Transition could also relate to a pattern of character changing across rounds; that happens.  With astringency dialed back as an outcome this is just the straight experience of warm and complex flowers, with a bit of warm dried fruit underlying that.  It's still intense enough to carry over as a pleasant floral aftertaste.

Creamy oolong:  again the aromatic floral range is off the scale for this version, just in brighter range, with a different touch of feel grounding it.  These teas are nice.  I'll probably give both one longer infusion (still 10-15 seconds, not long) to see how that compares with transition cycle input and then stop taking notes.  These will easily brew another half dozen infusions; it's more about me running out of patience for the review process.

Christmas oolong, fifth infusion:  interesting how feel shifts along with infusion strength, and a warmer toned input.  This might have evolved to include more citrus along the way, more a warm orange citrus, versus the other being brighter and towards lemon, or at least Mandarin orange.  It wouldn't be surprising if transitions included a little more flavor range shift, beyond balance just changing over the next half dozen rounds.  The feel to this includes an edge but there is a cool syrupy quality to it as well, which matches together with that perfume-like floral blast nicely.  Aftertaste and feel effect both trail off slowly for teas of this typical type range.  Or maybe these aren't part of any typical type range.

Creamy oolong:  this is quite pleasant, but I think sheng pu'er conditioning for high levels of astringency and bitterness help with that interpretation.  Someone drinking a lot of typical edgy, slightly harsh first flush Darjeeling might end up in a similar place, and see this as soft and approachable as a result.  The level of floral range intensity in both is hard to really describe.  Both contribute a real open handed slap of floral flavor.

Conclusions:

Both very nice!  I suppose I liked the Christmas version better related to appreciating warmer toned range in similar teas.  The usual first versus second flush character divide is pretty much about the same thing, with the "creamy" version closer to typical first flush range.  Both were nice though, novel, complex, and pleasant.  Both definitely included plenty of floral and fruit range.

About the oolong theme, I get it why producers in  other places (than China and Taiwan) try to produce and communicate a general range for medium level oxidized teas.  The character is just never going to be a close match, because of other starting points varying, tea types, growing conditions, and so on.  I'm open to styles borrowing from other places, and name uses being flexible.  Some people see the words "Thai Oriental Beauty" together and see that as a misnomer, but to me it's not a problem.  What they mean is clear, and until a designation is origin area protected there's no need to avoid using it, as I see it.

It's really about how people see language use in general, more so than views on tea.  If someone is open to seeing "literally" mean "figuratively," or they / them as a singular gender neutral pronoun, then it's easy to embrace the concept of Indian oolong.  If not what can you do; people vary in how they prefer language is used, especially related to changes.  Calling these oolong, in addition to autumn flush Darjeeling, just communicates that the oxidation level is medium.  For some that's clear, appropriate communication and positive branding, and for others they probably shouldn't be saying that.  It's up to Gopaldhara to decide it, since I see this as more of a branding issue than a category use issue.

They are not a distant away from dialing in a narrower range of oxidation level, it seems to me, and these would seem a lot closer to Chinese and Taiwanese oolongs in style.  Tie Guan Yin often have a darker leaf edge and "greener" center, so it's down to getting that less oxidized part to transition just a little more.  Or what do I know, really; I'm just a tea blogger.  I can express how I interpret flavors and my own match to preference, and beyond that I really am just guessing.  Related to those factors these teas were nice.

Discussing tea culture themes with an Indian tea vendor

This meetup was an interesting variation on talking to tea vendors at different stages of business and tea perspective development.  An Indian friend living in America, Poorvi, has started selling tea, still early in that process.  Her own interest and learning curve took a familiar form, moving from exploring other range to taking a class, discussion in groups, talking to vendors and trying samples, on to considering different business themes and forms, starting with selling tea at local farmers' markets.  This post won't do justice to all that she experiences, or her current business form and direction, but a sample of some ideas could still be interesting.

Of course one of my meetup social group friends is Indian, Suzana, active in online group development and in-person tastings and tea contact development.  Another online contact joined, April.  From here on maybe I'll just call every contact a friend, since I see them all that way, without trying to justify a distinction.  April is experiencing an earlier form of the process, but still way beyond what the average person would ever be exposed to in relation to tea.  She had lived in India for years, now back in the states, so her cultural perspective is broader than most, to say the least.

It's interesting considering how people might develop from lower quality black tea or commercial blend interest (Tazo or Harney and Sons) onto better Indian tea, versus other ranges being appealing.  When I suggest to people good first steps past tea-bag tea or grocery store flavored versions transitions to better plain tea I usually recommend either rolled oolong (Tie Guan Yin) or flavorful and approachable Chinese black tea (Dian Hong is my favorite), but Indian teas also work.  Decent Darjeeling, better Assam, or other harder to find source area versions are so approachable and pleasant anyone could appreciate them, and so diverse and high in quality that any tea enthusiasts also could.

I should switch this back to talking about what Poorvi expressed, or main discussion themes.  We talked about perspectives on tea, and preference patterns, about Indian tea style changes, and better tea development, and how consumers see all that.  Better Indian tea is under-appreciated in current tea enthusiast circles.  Maybe 8 or 10 years ago Darjeeling was as well regarded as most other kinds, and it hasn't really been downgraded since, or seen as less desirable, but focus on Chinese teas evolved, and attention to Indian teas didn't.  Trends related to appreciating white tea, Nepal tea, gaba, and lots of other things have came and went since.  Chinese hei cha (dark tea) was always that close to being taken up as a trend, but it never quite got there.

Since we've talked to Rishi of Gopaldhara in a meetup (a Darjeeling producer), and most of our group has tried their teas, and Poorvi has also, we focused on them and their development focus as much as any other.  Really Gopaldhara making better whole-leaf versions is only one of many starting points for Indian tea improving, or appreciation for better traditional versions developing.  We didn't focus on Indian tea history; but it came up that the Indian tea tradition includes range that's not really appreciated that's also not new.  There is currently an Indian derivative of sheng pu'er being produced, and lots of experimentation on styles similar to or drawn from oolong processing.  Indian tea is diverse, and the quality and positive character doesn't really fall short of Chinese tea.

That's true in only a limited sense, I guess.  Developed, appreciated, sophisticated main styles of Chinese teas have pushed beyond what almost any other production areas can achieve.  There is nothing like the best Wuyi Yancha, sheng pu'er, and Dan Cong coming out of any other countries, with Taiwan and Japan as possible exceptions.  Indian teas can be great but it's hard to argue that they are that great.  To me that's a meaningless difference, to an extent, because if someone loves high quality Darjeeling or novel and better quality versions of Assam, or teas from other regions, it's more about personal preference than hitting a high water mark for objective quality level.   The problem isn't that, it's that awareness of and demand for these best-case, best quality examples isn't well developed.  So how to change that?  We talked a lot about that.

It's difficult to change perspectives on tea types.  Awareness of better Indian teas is spreading, slowly, but with better Chinese style teas being so trendy now, among tea enthusiasts, good Indian tea demand might be "turning over" fans as fast as new people learn of them.  There has to be a way to tap into a very large, very developed group of people who drank, or still drink, teas from vendors like Tazo, Teavana, T2, David's Tea, Harney and Sons, or even to Celestial Seasonings and Twinings.  Many must be ready for a next step.  We did more with brainstorming about patterns in preference transition than how to really drive a change.

More direct vendor sales threatens the model of small vendors like Poorvi.  Probably Tea Box is selling medium quality tea versions at somewhat high markup, and large vendors like Golden Tips aren't quite there yet for pushing into the most novel and interesting new Indian variants, but one or two new producer outlets opening in Amazon cuts off the role smaller vendors had been playing.  This isn't a pattern or theme that's unique to tea; this kind of transition and challenge is common across most retail range.  It more or less killed off earlier major retail players like Sears, it's just a different form of challenge to home-based online tea vendors.  But those small vendors can find other ways to add value, by expanding offerings, or pairing content and information offerings with novel product sales.

Suzana is visiting family back in Meghalya now, the area where the Shillong tea production is based, which brings up a range of other themes, about how all this can relate to other traditional tea production in India.  One might wonder how these themes map over to traditional Indian tea preferences, and to new forms of types awareness and demand.  Indians mostly drink inexpensive tea, masala chai and such.  That's true of Americans too, that there is no comparable market for better sheng pu'er or oolongs in relation to the volume that Lipton sells.  But development of interest in flavored tea and blends seems to serve as a gateway into changing that, which is probably not as developed yet in India.  Older local traditions can relate to drinking local teas, but that's something else.

Kind of a related tangent, it has long since seemed fascinating to me how US tea enthusiasts are eager to learn about and experience diverse and better Chinese teas, but the range of what makes it to the US is vanishingly small compared to what is produced and consumed in China.  The limited set of producer areas and types on the "Western market" is the tip of the iceberg.  One could argue that what are known are probably the best quality and most appealing versions produced in China, but most people would be making that argument from a position of relative ignorance, making it just a guess.  Over time trade from some areas evolved, and demand probably pushed continued quality refinement as much as those types were ever better originally.  Of course that's just another guess.  

I've recently reviewed Sergey Shevelev's "Geography of Chinese Tea" book that covers a range of other producing areas, but even according to him that area scope covered is still incomplete.  It doubles the location range of best known areas descriptions, including all of them and that many others, but Sergey says that he has only visited 20% of all the counties in China that produce tea, which took 10 years of active tea sourcing to get to.  For sure lots of really good and very novel tea is out there.  

One of the earliest better teas I ever experienced was a pine-needle shaped green tea version that I bought in a Shanghai market 8 years ago.  I could look up what that probably was in Sergey's book (I think I even saw it reading through), but the point here is that the types are out there, some of which I've even experienced.  Someone just gave me a sample of cha gao, tea condensed down to something that looks like hashish, not at all a new theme in China, but one that only tea enthusiasts have ever heard of, and I've yet to try (I should get on that).  I should try out hot-knifing some for old times' sake.

It's interesting how relatively organic supply and demand and awareness spread sets up how much export, import, appreciation, and consumption of different tea types occurs.  Internet groups and information sources act as a catalyst, but only to a limited extent.  100 people might read this blog post, or possibly more if some people decide to share links, but it won't change general tea awareness at all, as the entirety of what I've ever written won't, maybe except in a few hundred isolated cases.  Or is it thousands?; this blog is at 600k total views, surely counting my loyal bot readers.  I've also co-founded one of the largest Facebook tea groups, International Tea Talk, and write a Quora Space about tea, and at some point those kinds of trickles of information exchange might add up.  

How can a small online vendor add to those information sources, or use them to support their own business?  Again that's problematic.  The success stories are about businesses contributing something completely novel, not only doing that effectively but to some extent also being lucky.  Maybe Yunnan Sourcing goes beyond being an example of this, one of the main online Chinese tea vendors, but at one point that's what it was, a small business heading in a new direction.  What-Cha might work as a better example, for not moving on to dominating a sub-theme, but being quite successful.  But then they already focus on offering good quality, good value, diverse teas from different tea areas, so they would already sell the same teas we are discussing from across parts of India.  How to keep going and keep shifting theme is tricky.

We discussed how to pair other themes with tea, possibly adding teaware options.  It would take a very developed, original, and well thought out effort to pull it all together into a concise and successful new tea business plan.  At some point other ideas would have to support the rest, discussion of sustainability, organic themes, about supporting small producers, and so on.  Online content issues, packaging, logistics; the list of related concerns would be formidable.  It would have to be a labor of love, as it is for Poorvi.

New social sub-group connections to tea could support development.  The shape of that is open to still being developed.  It is yet to be seen how food interests or cultural background could tie into developing tea preference.  This also relates to the theme of tea as a trendy social movement, the routine announcement that "tea is having a moment."  It's not, but eventually it will.  People like Poorvi, my friends, and the people we've been talking to in meetups will make that happen, but it might take another decade.  Her tea business needs to see it occur to a lesser extent in the next year or two, with business failure one of the distinct possibilities.  

It will be interesting seeing how this plays out.  I'm a fan of tea producers and tea culture, obviously, and of people trying to make a difference in such a way, even though half of the motivation is financial gain, along with personal subject interest.  That's fine; that's what brought tea trade to the rest of the world hundreds of years ago.  British people would be drinking a mix of local tisanes if it hadn't, or having water with their afternoon break, which would be sad.  Now we just need to help more people learn that better tea options are out there.  I'm interested in helping producers and vendors but I'd really like to share how tea has made a positive difference in my life for the benefit of consumers, so that more others are also able to also experience how it's not just a pleasant drink, it can also be about continual exploration.

Gopaldhara Spring White Teas

Not exactly timely, reviewing spring versions of white teas in January, but I wanted to keep on with trying spare samples, and passing on thoughts on those.  I never did get around to this range trying Gopaldhara versions from a set sent by them to try last year.  They'll be really good, of course, but maybe in some interesting way.  Or maybe I'll just keep writing about them being sweet, complex, fruity, refined, etc., just what I expect.

One is described as a Bai Mu Dan; that might be different.  It's a reference to a Chinese white tea style, of course.  The other referenced something about being an early harvest version, which only became clear later after talking to Rishi about what it was, since that didn't match up with a website marketing name version.  It was something they didn't sell by direct retail, a batch they only sold wholesale.

This review gets a little strange because that earlier guess, from the review notes, that their white teas just repeat in style was completely wrong.  The Bai Mu Dan was really unusual for being processed in a different way than was typical for them, which I've just heard about, but which I'm not really going to try to summarize here.  Processing details tend to go in one ear and out the other, so I wouldn't do that justice.  It was pretty much just left to dry, so it's a standard white tea, but there was a little more to it than that.

The other white tea version was relatively broken.  In these review notes--written while I tried the teas--I guessed that it probably wasn't like that as they sold it, that I probably got the last of a large bag for the sample, broken material that had settled out, and Rishi guessed that's probably what it was too.  To me that makes for an interesting test case, because I've wondered how similar their teas would be to more conventional and more broken leaf Darjeeling, and this will test that.  Of course I could just split a sample that's relatively whole leaf and crush half, and then brew both parts separately, but I never get around to that.  Intuitively astringency level would be higher, and flavors might change just a little, and that's kind of how it worked out.

I'm not changing the contents of these notes based on learning those extra details, but not that much changed in relation to the Bai Mu Dan version anyway.  I think Rishi said that it's from AV2 material, but that's already in the web page description anyway:

As is typical they keep a flavor description limited, which is probably for the best since different people would always interpret flavor aspects differently:

Instead of rolling and oxidizing, this tea is sun-dried in a controlled method that preserves its unforgettable smooth, creamy and fruity texture. The picturesque dry leaves are greenish-grey in appearance with lots of silvery tips which brew into a pale yellow-green coloured liquor. A hint of honey and notes of wildflowers can also be felt in this tea.

Review:

Gopaldhara Early Harvest White (2021):  I might've went with the more typical fast infusion time to adjust for this being more broken than usual, but instead I let it go longer to avoid writing about how I would know better next round.  This is too astringent to really evaluate.  In a sense that works to help identify flaws in the tea, what the rest of the character is really like, but it won't work to evaluate it against preference.  Except that nothing really stands out except the astringency.

This is oxidized more than I expected.  White teas vary a lot related to that; it just depends on how much air contact occurred during processing.  And using broken material would really ramp it up too. This is going to seem more like a black tea than their first flush versions typically do.  I'll try a fast infusion next round and can talk about how it is then.

from their website; I spaced taking dry leaf pictures, which never happens

Bai Mu Dan:  infusion time was just about perfect for this version (towards 20 seconds, quite long for a typical Gongfu first infusion).  This is really unique.  At first it seems like that novel flavor includes a lot of melon, but I might adjust that after considering it.  Yep, melon.  Probably like honeydew or something such; I kind of hate melon so those could be more familiar.  Oddly that really doesn't carry over to disliking teas that taste like melon, so this is nice.  

Beyond that it's hard to describe.  There's a warmth to it that's hard to place, and a depth of fullness to the feel.  Warmth might be a bit like really fresh croissant, with a warm and mild floral tone mixed in, like chrysanthemum.  It's really unlike anything else that comes to mind.  And this range isn't too far from how Bai Mu Dan can be too, which is odd.  I suppose for being this novel it would be atypical but still that's right somehow.

oxidation level difference is easy to see in the brewed liquid

Early Harvest, second infusion:  for normal Darjeeling this would be good; it has plenty of astringency edge, and lots of floral flavor, and it's clean, with good sweetness.  It's hard to even place that in relation to the other Gopaldhara teas I've been trying, for awhile.  It's that astringency bite, which brings with it green wood flavor, or at least seems connected to that to me.  At half this proportion it would be brewing better, even at the same flash infusion I just used.  

It's just not what I expected, the intense, fruity and floral, approachable, very sweet range.  I can't say that a tea that seems like a typical Darjeeling is a complete miss to me; that doesn't seem fair.  It just seems harsh in comparison to their other range.  Most likely if I try another white from what they sent (I think there might be two more in that set) those will be what I expected, and this just isn't.  

It can happen that you get a sample from towards the end of a larger package, that it being this broken isn't really typical of what it's sold as.  Tea reviewers, or customers in general, can end up feeling put out by that, but it is what it is, and results aren't always really negative in relation to that.  Last year a vendor sent me what had to be the end of a batch of Thai Oriental Beauty (an interpretation of that style, really) and that really worked, with the extra astringency and edge supporting the mild style of that tea nicely.  That was a tea I bought a normal amount of, not a sample, but since I liked the tea there was nothing to complain about related to that form.  Looking back at that post the tea in that bag near the top wasn't as broken, with the bottom half just fragments.  Either way, it was nice.

Bai Mu Dan:  warm tones pick up a bit, so that melon doesn't stand out as much.  It's still a bit bright and sweet, but offset from just that in tone.  The way some faint aspects come together is catchy, the general effect.  It wouldn't be completely off to interpret this as including mild citrus, it's just not exactly how I see it.  It's mainly floral tones, but a range of those.  That warm part I mentioned is similar to fresh baked bread of some type, or interpreted differently leaning a bit towards balsa wood.  It all works though.

Early Harvest, third infusion:  getting a lot more pleasant.  That floral range is really intense, and the astringency is really easing up.  Probably next round it will be in an even nicer balance.  "Intense floral" can mean a lot of things but most of those wouldn't be this intense.  A different reviewer might question whether or not this is a flavored tea, but it's absolutely not, since they wouldn't send that, and the difference in effect is clear enough.  

It's odd how this comes across as more oxidized than standard first flush Darjeeling.  Brewed color alone clearly indicates that, and of course warm toned flavor range and astringency.  The next round should indicate what this really is.

Bai Mu Dan:  it's strange how richness picked up a lot, even though the other general aspect range didn't change that much.  It's a little "cleaner," not that it was musty or murky in some sense before, but the flavor range is brighter and clearer now.  No set of words would capture that one "catchy" effect that I mentioned.  It's an emergent property of how the other aspects come across, not one thing, or even clearly tied to a set of a few aspects.  That said I think there might be one main thing causing it that I've not done justice to describing.  Maybe it's how that fruit tone, now harder to identify, mixes with the floral tone and warmer range, what I've described as like fresh baked bread.

Early harvest, fourth infusion:  it's interesting how this reminds me of most Darjeeling first flush versions I experienced in the past.  Heavy floral tone is offset by an astringency edge, which has moderated to a level that's pleasant.  That floral range is so intense that it carries over as a more pronounced aftertaste than most tea types provide.  

This would've been better made using half as much tea; I wasn't thinking that broken leaf effect through.  It's just not the page I'm typically on, and I've been preparing teas more or less on autopilot for awhile now.  Using the same proportion and modifying timing works really well for a broad range of teas, just not necessarily this example.  Or for broken leaf versions in general, really.  This would've been a more positive sounding review if I had dropped dry leaf amount to half this, even though I'm trying to describe how the input changes things.  Or Western brewing probably would've went better.

Bai Mu Dan:  this is going to come across much differently not just for being whole leaf, and a different character of tea, but also because I used less dry tea to make it.  It took up about one and a half times the gaiwan space as the other dry but double would've been more suitable (best achieved by cutting back the first, as described).  Of course I'm adjusting timing to longer for this version than the other to offset that, but I'm still drinking these at two completely different brewed intensity levels.

All that said the description from last round still works.  I'll probably not add any more notes on later rounds, even though these will shift some, because the basic story is already covered.  Some degree of brewing error is part of it in relation to the first, but it's also just broken leaf first flush Darjeeling, which is pleasant enough brewed as fast as I'm making it, just not the type I expected.

Conclusions:

That Bai Mu Dan version was interesting, and novel.  I'm not sure that I like it more than their typical first flush white tea versions, but it's in a similar range for positive aspect character, and sometimes just being different is better.

The other version was interesting for that broken leaf form experiment.  Tried as a whole leaf tea it would've brewed a lot slower, with much lower astringency, and less of a green wood / plant stem sort of flavor input.  Not that all that is so terrible; someone could actually prefer both those inputs, especially if they were acclimated to expect them.  To a limited extent we like what we expect to like.  Only to a limited extent though; people are generally also open to new experiences being positive.

It's drifting way off the subject but let's consider an example from my life; what kinds of things did I experience moving to Thailand that were novel at first, that I liked a lot right away or else needed time to adjust to?  Sticking to foods will keep it simple.  One of my favorite deserts, that I'm reminded that I could eat and enjoy every single day when I have it, is something I didn't like at first, a mix of  Chinese beans, dried fruits, ice, and longan juice.  That's a little different, about a set of flavors and overall food experience being novel.  

Food texture differences stand out a lot more here; lots of things are mushy.  Some mushy foods I absolutely love now, like congee (boiled rice soup), and others I'm still so-so on, like those gelatinous desert cubes they make from rice starch.  I think I loved mango and sticky rice the first time I tried it here, but to me it would seem odd for someone not to.   Those could hardly pair any better, with the sticky rice flavor and texture adjusted by adding coconut, and with an extra coconut sauce.  All of this isn't really supposed to tie back to how Darjeeling style expectations would work out, it's just a tangent.