> Hey Karsten,
> Honestly, I was just trying to help a newbie out and being purposefully
> simplistic in my answer... my bad 
Hey Dominic,
again thatīs a tough one. Iīve sampled SH..loads of really BAD Maks,
Castletons, Rohinis, you name them, over the years. The secret that
makes Castleton Castleton (and the other "top" players) mainly lies in
excellent management and quality control over the decades, not in those
leaves alone. Even at Castletonīs sometime the final firing or other
steps during manufacturing go wrong (donīt get p...ed at me P. :-),
but again the next batch WILL be better. Please understand that only
about 10-15% of their crop qualifies as high-quality tea, with only
around 5% of their leaves being top notch, the stuff that brings in
real money. These days in DJ you see managers come and go and quality
go up and down, not to speak of the weather (see 2006 FF). Then there
are seasonal aspects. Letīs stick with Castleton. Theyīre not exactly
known for their First Flush ...
Hence when it comes to recommending teas by their names it gets really
difficult. I totally agree with Lew, Michael, and the others on that
"Know thy vendor" mantra.
So to answer your question somewhat more forward, yes Makaibari is up
there, Rajiv Banerjee is one hell of a tea manager, two-three years ago
they dethroned Castletonīs SF Muscatel in Kolkata with some white tips
AND theyīre 100% organic. Me still thinks that with DJs most of the
time you get what you pay for (main xception in bad FF seasons) so if
you want a "good" Mak or any other top-notch DJ, you wonīt get it for
cheap.
> But, since you popped into this
> thread I'm sure a few suggestions of good DJ's beyond my few names I've
> tossed out wouldn't hurt coming straight from the horses mouth 
I
> know you like the muscatels, and I always enjoy buying whatever you say
> is good at the moment, I'm sure the OP would too.
Iīm still waiting for some other samples from DJ, theyīre long
overdue. Iīll report back when they arrive. AFAIR I mentioned the
Lingia SF muscatel yesterday.
PS: Iīm still stuck in Germania, yikes, my grandmother is recovering
from a minor stroke and I just canīt leave her alone.
Karsten [next in cup: 2006 DJ FF oolong gongafua]