Why is Darjeeling called "the champagne of tea"?
Prof Wonmug
Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
Lewis Perin
> Is it because of the taste? The quality? The price? ???
>
> Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
It means exactly as much as "monkey-picked".
/Lew
---
Lew Perin / pe...@acm.org
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
Space Cowboy
Jim
Peter Roozemaal
> Is it because of the taste? The quality? The price? ???
>
> Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
Champagne is a very marginal area for making wine, requiring a lot of
marketing (and some added sugar) to make a good price for their bubbly wine.
Yes, Darjeeling has (like Champagne) a distinctive taste; Yes,
Darjeeling is (like Champagne) overpriced. There must be some marketing
hype in there too.
Dominic T.
wrote:
Hype/marketing yes, but also the fact that DJ often fetches
astronomical prices at auctions including the highest price paid for
any tea ever. It's not the "champagne of tea" to me personally any
more than Budweiser is the king of my beers... I'll take Gyokuro and a
Delirium Tremens.
- Dominic
Scott Dorsey
>Is it because of the taste? The quality? The price? ???
It's because the Darjeeling tea board thought of the phrase before the
Yunnan tea exporters did.
>Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
I'm sure it amuses the Champagne growers immensely.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
Lewis Perin
> On Nov 4, 2:16 pm, Peter Roozemaal <dont.spam.math...@xs4all.nl>
> wrote:
> > Prof Wonmug wrote:
> > > Is it because of the taste? The quality? The price? ???
> >
> > > Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
> >
> > Champagne is a very marginal area for making wine, requiring a lot
> > of marketing (and some added sugar) to make a good price for their
> > bubbly wine.
> >
> > Yes, Darjeeling has (like Champagne) a distinctive taste; Yes,
> > Darjeeling is (like Champagne) overpriced. There must be some
> > marketing hype in there too.
>
> Hype/marketing yes, but also the fact that DJ often fetches
> astronomical prices at auctions including the highest price paid for
> any tea ever.
Really? Higher than prices for champion teas in oolong competitions?
Higher than 60-80-year-old Pu'er? When did this happen?
Dominic T.
DJ, Da Hong Pao, and TGY I believe all are in that realm of having
been tagged as "the highest price paid" at one point or another. I'm
at work so I can't look up the specifics. I'm sure Puer fits in there
as well now too, but with Puer you really are getting a lot of tea for
the money even at very high prices.
Darjeeling has always had a bit of exclusivity associated with it too
and to me the name fits it even if it is mostly just marketing/hype.
Again, maybe not to me or you personally, but the title is used. I
think that PG Tips anniversary teabag studded with diamonds is
probably the most expensive however, the tea plays little role there.
- Dominic
Ankit Lochan
>
> - Show quoted text -
darjeeling tea is known as the champagne of teas because of the
particular taste it carries... that distinctive taste due to its
location in the himalayan belt is what makes it distinctive - thats
the reason why this name was given .. you can grow oolongs, greens ,
white teas in many parts of the world but a darjeeling tea (that
distinct taste and flavor) will only come from teas grown in the
district.. if you manufacture darjeeling tea the exact same way in any
other part of the world you will get a diffrent cup and taste - thats
what makes this so special.. there is no replica for this famous
tea ... :)
Dominic T.
I've seen this cited as well, but I hesitate to use it as explanation
because almost all teas are distinctive and if grown identically in a
new environment they will often not stack up exactly to the original
or exhibit traits that expose the difference. The only thing that DJ
has many times is that muscat grapey quality which could directly tie
it to a champagne. I guess as with any title it has equal parts rooted
in hype/marketing and some tangible reality.
- Dominic
Space Cowboy
dont care if it comes from the Taj Mahal. Taiwan makes a better
Darjeeling than India if taste is your guide. Tea names are
historically tied to geographical areas.
Jim
george tasman
george tasman
> Is it because of the taste? The quality? The price? ???
>
> Or is it just some marketing hype phrase that means nothing at all?
I think the answer is rooted in English heritage. In the far off time
when I was young champagne to us Brits meant luxury and high class and
all that stuff. Darjeeling was the comparable luxury tea that you got
in Fortnum and Mason. Somewhere, marketing hype linked the two with
champagne as a symbolic connection. Later, the Darjeeling name got
coopted for any type of black tea in a silver pot and dainty China
cup (and served with milk in a little side pot; whatever Space Cowboy
asserts, cream was never, ever, ever, ever used for tea and Devonshire
clotted cream was and remains a marvelous dollop of a lump thick
enough to stand up one a scone along with strawberries). The
Draejeeling growers and sellers wanted to get the same protection
Champagne had obtained via some UN committee. Parma ham now has the
same recognition and UK stores can't market any ham as Parma unles it
comes from the city. Darjeeling uses Champagne as a unique terrroir
and equivalent of "region d'origine." But the basic Darjeeling as
champagne link is marketing and nostalgia from the 50s. It then was
like champagne for us and at its best it still is the luxury brew that
even the best Taiwanese can't match. Alas, its afverage is more like
Asti Spumante.
Prof Wonmug
So, sorta like we used to say over here that something was "the
Cadillac" of this or that meaning the best of the best. Of course,
that was before Cadillac and all of GM became a good deal less than
the best of anything...
Scott Dorsey
>Its not Darjeeling unless it has the Indian Board Seal of Approval. I
>dont care if it comes from the Taj Mahal. Taiwan makes a better
>Darjeeling than India if taste is your guide. Tea names are
>historically tied to geographical areas.
Sadly, there's some "Darjeeling" out there which DOES have the Indian
Board Seal of Approval and still isn't really Darjeeling....
Ankit Lochan
>
> - Show quoted text -
taiwanese black teas have a complete diffrent taste and i think the
oolongs are diffrent so the question of a better darjeeling doesnt
arise... a darjeeling can only come from darjeeling area - no where
else... tea board certification or anything else cannot change that
taste... there are quite some people in the world who understand and
can distinguish that taste very well and they always pay for that
quality..
Ankit Lochan
small things will happen always as there are economic darjeelings and
high end ones.. out of the 9 million darjeeling produces 6 million is
quality rest is ordinary... :)
Space Cowboy
Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
my previous posts on the subject.
Jim
Space Cowboy
their seal on questionable Darjeeling?
Jim
On Nov 8, 8:28 am, klu...@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Natarajan Krishnaswami
> Taiwan makes a darjeeling tasting like tea that would fool the
> Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
> my previous posts on the subject.
You think? I mean, yeah, they do remind me of Darjeeling, but not
*that* much. (They also don't mix well with Darjeelings, hehe.)
Hmm, I am out of OB, speaking of.
N.
Lewis Perin
> On 2009-11-09, Space Cowboy <nets...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > Taiwan makes a darjeeling tasting like tea that would fool the
> > Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
> > my previous posts on the subject.
>
> You think? I mean, yeah, they do remind me of Darjeeling, but not
> *that* much.
Agreed. It's a vague family resemblance, in my opinion.
Ankit Lochan
>
> - Show quoted text -
oriental beauty is an oolong and its resemblance and taste is diffrent
than a darjeeling. its very diffrent i must say ... please ... the
appearance itself is very diffrent from that of darjeeling and so is
the wither and fire.. there is a serious confusion if you are
comparing oriental beauty with darjeelings.. these are completely two
diffrent teas made very diffrently and they taste very diffrent...
Ankit Lochan
> Natarajan Krishnaswami <natarajan+use...@krishnaswami.org> writes:
> > On 2009-11-09, Space Cowboy <netst...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > > Taiwan makes a darjeeling tasting like tea that would fool the
> > > Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
> > > my previous posts on the subject.
>
> > You think? I mean, yeah, they do remind me of Darjeeling, but not
> > *that* much.
>
> Agreed. It's a vague family resemblance, in my opinion.
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin / pe...@acm.orghttp://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
its two diffrent teas that any tea drinker can tell...
Space Cowboy
two OB. One I call Classic which is the Darjeeling type. The other
is any bug eaten crop from Taiwan cashing in on the name mostly rolled
green leaves. Plug OB and Darjeeling into a search engine and read
the blogs describing the two similarities. It was also marketed in
this country as a Darjeeling prior to WWII. Taiwan also makes a
decent Assam. They imported the bushes and have the climate and soil
to match.
Jim
On Nov 10, 1:38 am, Ankit Lochan <ankitloc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 9, 6:13 pm, Space Cowboy <netst...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> > Taiwan makes a darjeeling tasting like tea that would fool the
> > Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
> > my previous posts on the subject.
>
> > Jim
>
Scott Dorsey
>Taiwan makes a darjeeling tasting like tea that would fool the
>Darjeeling Indian Board. It is called Oriental Beauty. You can see
>my previous posts on the subject.
What?
Oriental Beauty doesn't taste anything at all like Darjeeling to me. If
anything, it has a very strong wintergreen kind of flavour that is very
distinctive and easily distinguished from any other tea.
Scott Dorsey
>Is that because people are using the Logo illegally or IBSA is putting
>their seal on questionable Darjeeling?
I don't know. But I know that there's a lot of stuff that is being
exported _from_ Darjeeling that was not grown _in_ Darjeeling.
Not that it isn't good... I have had some Sikkim teas that were excellent
Darjeeling-style teas... but they weren't Darjeelings.
Peter Roozemaal
> Its not Darjeeling unless it has the Indian Board Seal of Approval. I
> dont care if it comes from the Taj Mahal. Taiwan makes a better
> Darjeeling than India if taste is your guide. Tea names are
> historically tied to geographical areas.
I care more about taste than about certificates or seals. I generally go
for the "Tippy Nepal" which has a similar taste to a Darjeeling at a far
better price/quality ratio. (Rumour is that Nepal teas are imported into
Darjeeling...)
Space Cowboy
the only way to legitimize Darjeeling. I dont know the current state
of affairs but the India Tea Board was under the gun by the WTO to
redefine what was meant by Darjeeling. I guess other countries were
claiming their Darjeeling was just as good and deserved trade
protection under the same name. I drink my share of Sikkim. One one
side of the street we have Darjeeling on the otherside Sikkim. If I
was selling DJ Id call it OB. I could make more money.
Jim
On Nov 10, 7:52 am, klu...@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) wrote: