Hi guys.
I recently bought a few items from a tea place mentioned on this
site.(it was not the spammed place or the place that prices were sky
high without cause) ANyway I received a 2nd flush 2006 sample that was
really good. Big sample , the tea I ordered was china special (forest
yunnan, sencha, tky )& an oolong from maka.. the 2006 2nd flush was
very good, so were the others I bought but I was very pleased especialy
since I dont ususally drink darj. I was on a journey guys you all know
how that can be and was happy with the tea. So has anyone else tried
2006 makabairi2nd flush? And what did you think of it.
Jenn

Jenn wrote:

"Dominic T." gmail.com> writes:

Sorry to say this, but you can go wrong with Makaibari. When I was in
India last year, I saw - and tasted - some low-grade Makaibari tea
packaged under the Apoorva brand without any indication of when it was
harvested. I haven't seen this stuff for sale in the West, though.

/Lew

Makaibari, ahh that brings up memories.
Just let´s remember that Makaibari is one of the largest DJ estates,
and as with ALL those other gardens [even the big names] the major part
of their harvested leaves isn´t really worth mentioning qualitywise
and ends up in name- and lifeless blends and -yuk-teabags.

BTW, the latest shipment still hasn´t made it here, so darjeelingwise
I happily indulge in this years wonderful Castleton 2nd Muscatel
(China) and one excellent Lingia 2nd Muscatel, as well as loads of
leftovers from late 2005 and early 2006.

Lewis Perin wrote:

psyflake@yahoo.com writes:

Hey, Karsten, it's great to hear your voice again!

A few weeks ago I sat in Assam bar by the Frauenkirche in München
drinking Castleton 2006 FF. (If I remember correctly, that isn't
exactly your part of the country, but...)

About the Apoorva: Sure goodness is a judgment for the mouth to make,
but anyone who drinks the stuff expecting something like a Makaibari
year-stamped FF or 2F is going to be ... surprised?

Lewis Perin wrote:

But the Apoorva is not labeled "Makaibari" which was my point, that is
why it is labled "Apoorva." As with anything, sure there can be
different grades and quality but on the whole I still can't see taking
Lipton or Tetley over even the fanings of Makaibari.

- Dominic

"Dominic T." gmail.com> writes:

But it's labeled *both* Apoorva and Makaibari. Had it not been
labeled Makaibari, I wouldn't have given it a second thought when I
first tasted it and disliked it.

I don't believe I compared Apoorva to U.S. supermarket teas. A
cup-to-cup test against, say, the Lipton label teas you see in India
and in U.S. shops catering to South Asians might be interesting. As
for "different grades and quality", that was my original point, I
think. I'm surprised that it aroused controversy.

Hi Lew,
good to "see" you again too !

I googled for the original post, where you grabbed your Apoorva in
Kolkata and the package didn´t reveal anything on how old it might
have been at that time.
That might have been the reason you didn´t...

Lewis Perin wrote:

No, no controversy... it was just that in reference to the OP I was
mainly trying to say that you really can't go wrong with Makaibari...
sure it is a generalization and I'm sure there is poorer Makaibari but
it is still "good" and better than the most base teas. For many of us,
yes, a Maki FF, 2ndF, Castleton, Margaret's Hope, etc. is the only tea
we would seriously consider in this area but for someone just starting
out a basic easy to understand rule of thumb would be Makaibari ==
good. Which is basically what she was asking.

I just know that we can get into more detail than needed at times and
this can be daunting for a newcomer like the OP, I was just trying to
keep it simple :) No worries.

- Dominic

Aloke Prasad wrote:

Ahh, look what I've gone and done... I've riled up the natives. Sure I
love Lipton green label too, in fact I keep a box of loose at home and
work. It is a great cheap DJ. But the OP was speaking about buying tea
online from vendors and I believe just wanted some basic advice if
Makaibari was a good bet.