Saturday, March 20, 2010

Great New 1st Flush darjeeling teas 2010



Great New 1st Flush Darjeeling teas 2010:

As I’ve posted on my last blog that the 1st Flush Darjeeling tea 2010 harvest started a bit slow this year due to low temperatures and less rainfall, its been really difficult to choose the right teas as I simply cannot have any normal quality teas on my tea list but have a huge responsibility on my shoulders to choose the right and excellent teas to sustain our presence in the world of Exclusive Darjeeling teas, I have been tasting a lot of new teas from various plantation of Darjeeling and till the 18th of March I’ve rejected at least 25 teas from various plantation, On the other side I also have in mind that if the last few days of the month of March goes away then we will lose the fine and tenderness of early season teas so I have been constantly in touch with the finest tea makers in Darjeeling, on the evening of 18th March I got a call from Mr. Somani (the superintendent of Puttabong Plantation) saying that his 1st batch of Clonal Queen is ready and a sample has been sent to us but I have to answer back by half an hour if I want the tea as many overseas buyers were waiting for this first lot ,some had already reached their head office in Kolkata , India all the way from Europe and Japan. Well the sample simply reached me by 20 minutes after his call as Puttabong plantation is just 5 kilometers away from our establishment in Darjeeling, as soon as I opened the sample packet I almost fell down! As this was exactly what I was looking for… may be better than my expectations, Mr. Somani has done a magic to this particular lot and I must say he knows his job very well, even in this scarce weather conditions he has made a tea which is very well sorted and has a very wiry look, the leafs are well withered too which makes the tea look and smell very tender, as a result of which the cup is also very bright and each sip in the cup leaves a very fruity taste on the palate which further ends with a very sweet and creamy finish.
Well all I can say about this tea is that this is Puttabong sftgfop-1 clonal Queen Dj-5 and if you have not tasted this tea then you have tasted nothing better than this in the harvest of 1st Flush 2010 and I`m very proud that I have somehow been able to procure this tea and make it available for extreme Darjeeling tea lovers.
Just after procuring the Puttabong tea I got a call from Mr. Mukhia (Manager of Castleton Tea Garden) that the 1st lot of the famous Castleton Moonlight was ready and a sample was sent to us, I was literally dying to taste it as after procuring the Puttabong Dj-5 Queen my excitement was over my head and the expectations were also very high so finally the very next day we received the sample and WOW! This was another beauty we received after long days of hunt for good teas and I wish I could pour my frustrations on someone prior from receiving these tea samples, as I have never struggled earlier like this year in my tea career for good teas, the dry leaf appearance of this tea is very tippy and greenish as this tea is plucked from 100% AV2 young clonal bushes of this excellent tea garden, this tea is actually plucked from the “Allay” section of the garden from tea bushes which are below the age of 6 years so the tenderness of the tea is even more prominent ,the cup is slightly golden in liquor and has a very unique fruity and flowery aroma, each sip in the cup reminds of fresh tender fruits and leaves a slight muscatel hint on the palate as an after taste, a great tea indeed and this tea is Castleton Moonlight Ex-1 Darjeeling tea 2010.
I must say I’ve been very lucky this year to get the finest early season 1st Flush 2010 Darjeeling teas which are true value for money, We invite all tea lovers and join our tea party this 1st Flush 2010 Darjeeling tea harvest.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

1st Flush Darjeeling tea 2010 : Thurbo White Delight Ex-1





The 1st Flush 2010 Darjeeling tea harvest season has finally started; the harvest season has started a bit late year due to prolonged cold winters and less rainfall, we have been tasting a lot of samples from gardens like North Tukvar, Namring, Rohini, Jungpana etc. but till the end of 1st week of March all the teas looked and cupped like very initial teas meaning a hint of winter leaf character could be felt in each of the teas, well I don’t want to mention the invoice nos. of the teas I tasted and rejected as someone has/will buy these teas. I’m in a constant contact with many gardens in Darjeeling and samples are just popping in every day, out of which some are good and some are going towards being good after a couple of invoices. Actually to get a pure and good first flush the tea makers in the garden have to remove the old leafs from the bushes by constantly plucking them away from the tea bushes and we have seen that after a round of 3-5 plucking cycles the bushes give out pure character in 1st Flush harvest.
On the 12th of March`2010 Mr. J.D.Rai (the senior quality controller of Goodricke group) gave me a call that a small batch of young white tea was made and the sample would be send to me by the evening. He also mentioned that the same sample was sent to some of their overseas buyers but I was the only one from Darjeeling to receive the sample as Mr. Rai who is also one of the best tea planters in Darjeeling always tries to promote his special teas through vendors and exporters who could reach his teas to the finest tea connoisseurs around the globe , as I have mentioned in few of my blogs earlier that I’m really proud to be a part of the Tea Emporium team as because of the brand name and reputation of this company over many years , we get the opportunity to cater the finest and magical teas to the best of tea connoisseurs around the world. Finally after a strong bidding we are able to get the this extra-ordinary tea, this tea is actually made from pure young clonal bushes under the age of 5 years which makes the tea extremely tender and flowery, the dry leafs have an extremely wiry appearance and is filled with young shoots and silver buds. There are 3 types of clones in this tea i.e.AV2 which brings a ripe mango like taste in the tea, P312 clone which makes this tea extremely fruity and flowery and T4 which is Thurbo tea garden`s own clone which creates a spicy character on the palate as an after taste. Lastly all I can say about this tea is that this tea is simply one of the finest offering that one will witness this 1st Flush 2010 harvest and I truly believe that a similar white tea of this standard cannot made again in this year. We have decided to cater this tea through our website and not export in bulk as we would like this tea to reach the true tea connoisseurs around the world and make a statement for itself.