On Mar 31, 7:03 pm, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> Aloke Prasad > writes:
> > Whenever I give my 1st flush DJ's like Makaibari's to my family or
> > guests (who are expecting something really really out of this world,
> > given the cost and trouble I go through to get these.. vs buying Green
> > Label at the local Indian store).. they remark that the tea feels
> > "weak" and has no "liquor" (or color), even though they like the
> > flavor.
>
> > So, given that the teas that produce stronger color have finer leaf
> > (like CTC), what if I crush (but not powder) my DJ's? Will that
> > produce a better blend of falvor AND color? Probably, as I notice
> > that the more fine leaves at the bottom of the packets if the 1st
> > flush DJ's also produces a few brews of more color and body.
>
> I doubt you'll get an "adequate" color boost, even if you chop the
> leaves fine and overbrew them. But really, isn't this beside the
> point? Have you tried to get your doubters to ignore the color and
> concentrate on the taste and aroma? How hard can it be to convince
> them that color is unimportant?
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /

To get them to ignore the colour, you can always blind them

This whole colour thing actually reminded me of something that happen
to a family friend. When this family friend went to Taiwan a few years
ago, she bought her in-laws a quarter kilo of some award winning
$0.90/1g light roasted oolong as a gift for Christmas. In visiting the
in-laws a few months later, she asked whether they enjoyed the tea, to
which they replied bluntly that it was a really bad tea.

On further questioning, it turned out her in-laws had used the full
250g of tea leaves in one session to get the "right" colour brew, but
by then the tea was so astringent and bitter that they couldn't drink
it and so they had to throw all of it out.