Old brick vs new brick, anyone notice how the color match has gone sideways over the years?

I been laying brick for about 12 years now, mostly residential jobs around Columbus. Last month I did a repair on a house built in 1989, needed to patch a section near the garage. The homeowner wanted me to match the existing brick, so I pulled samples from three different suppliers. Not one of them came close. The old brick had this warm, almost orange undertone from the local clay. The new stuff is all grayish red, like they baked the color right out of it. I ended up having to mix two different brick types and use a custom mortar blend to fake it. Made me wonder, is it the clay pits drying up, or are manufacturers cutting corners with cheaper pigments? I asked an old timer who's been doing this since the 70s, he said they used to fire bricks longer and the color came from natural minerals. Now they rush the kiln. Some folks tell me just use a sealer or stain to blend it, but that feels like cheating on a repair. Has anyone else hit this wall on a matching job? What do you do when the brick is just gone from the market? I'm leaning toward telling customers straight up that a perfect match is impossible now, but I'm curious how other guys handle the conversation.

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