Puttabong Organic 2nd flush 2013 Darjeeling teas

Puttabong Organic 2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling teas

      As I have mentioned in my previous posts that we were at a standstill for the 2^nd flush teas due to the uncertain rainfall during the last week of May 2013. I was continuously in touch with the different tea makers of various plantations of Darjeeling and regularly tasted about 30 tea samples every day as I was in search for the perfect teas as usual. My only concern was to maintain the same quality standards as usual so we were not in a hurry to be the one to offer the 2^nd flush teas first to the tea lovers all around the world and land upon procuring the pre-season teas in the name of 2^nd flush teas.

      On the 8^th of June 2013 Mr.Somani ( Superintendant,Puttabong and North Tukvar Tea Estate) had send me few samples of their clonal varieties and unfortunately I did not like any of the teas as each teas had that touch of rains that suddenly occurred during the 1^st week of June 2013.

       I requested him to offer us something special as usual and he promised me that he will definitely make some great teas if we have a suitable climatic conditions. I must say we were lucky as from the 10^th of June 2013 it stopped raining in Darjeeling and we were having bright sunny day and also the climatic temperatures were quite high.

       So on the 13^th of June 2013 we received the sample of the Puttabong Clonal queen and I must admit that this was the 1^st exceptional tea of the harvest that we received from this plantation and I am simply in love with this batch of tea. This batch of tea has an exceptional 2^nd flush character, The dry leafs are well twisted and has a dehydrated look in this state which is a true sign of a pure 2^nd flush tea. The dry leafs gives out delicious aroma of ripe rhododendron flowers, chocolates and honey.

          When steeped for complete 5 minutes the cup gives out slightly dark golden liquor. Each sip reminds of peaches and ripe apples and leaves a honey and musk like flavour on the palate as an after taste. This batch is Puttabong Clonal Queen sftgfop-1 EX-13/2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea.

         Well the excitement was not over when Mr.Somani gave me a call and said that he has made an exceptional muscatel variety from the china origin bushes of the Tukvar subdivision of this plantation. Puttabong “Kakra”musk organic sftgfop-1/2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea.This awesome batch of tea surely sets new standards for the Puttabong tea estates for its 2^nd flush teas. This plantation is known worldwide for its high quality 1^st flush teas.

       I must admit that this is one of the best muscatel teas that we have offered in last 3 years. This is a great muscatel variety Darjeeling tea plucked from the high elevation china bushes of the Tukvar division of this prestigious plantation of Darjeeling. In local language in Darjeeling the term “Kakra Musk” means a muscatel variety tea made from the most dehydrated leafs and shoots.

    This awesome batch of tea is sorted small in size and releases a delicious sweet aroma of sugarcanes, pine leafs and sweet jaggery.

       When steeped for complete 4 minutes this delicious tea releases golden orange liquor in the cup.

      Every sip reminds of exotic fresh fruits and leaves an unique and delicious hint of pine leafs , cardamom and a sweet muscatel aroma on the palate as an aftertaste.

   As usual we have perfectly selected these awesome batches of unique 2^nd flush teas and I assure all tea lovers that they will fall in love with these teas once they try these teas!

Arrival of Autumn Flush 2012 Darjeeling teas

        The autumn flush Darjeeling tea harvest started from the 2^nd week of October 2012 this year. We started tasting a lot of tea samples from various different plantations in Darjeeling from the very moment when the major harvest had started .The initial batches or the pre-autumn flush tea batches that were produced were as usual fairly nice in quality and quantity but all of a sudden the temperature in Darjeeling started falling and due to which we had a draught like situation in all the gardens in Darjeeling. This resulted in fall of production of high quality in bigger quantities in most of the plantations.

           We have been really lucky to be in Darjeeling and select our list of fine Autumn Flush 2012 Darjeeling teas. We have strictly concentrated in this harvest in teas which have a rich flavour and taste and above all since we have offered some of the finest quality teas during the 1^st and the 2^nd flush harvests, we have done the same during this harvest but at a very reasonable rates. We have announced the following teas from the various plantations in our list of Autumn Flush 2012 Darjeeling teas given below:

1.Puttabong Clonal / Organic sftgfop-1 Ex77:

A super premium Autumn Flush Darjeeling tea plucked from the pure P312 clonal bushes of this premium plantation in Darjeeling. The dry leafs are well sorted and twisted and has a rich chocolate like aroma in this state.
When steeped for about four minutes it gives out a dark golden orange liquor in the cup. Each sip reminds of dry fruits like almonds and ends with a rich muscatel taste and a rose like after taste that lingers on the palate for a long time.
A superb autumn flush Super fine Darjeeling tea of the harvest

2. Upper Namring GFTGFOP-1 / GREEN TEA EX-57

This is a very well made green tea plucked from the young clonal bushes of this plantation in Darjeeling. The dry leafs are sorted very well and are slightly large in size. When steeped for about two and a half minutes this exotic Darjeeling Green Tea releases a bright yellow/greenish liquor in the cup. Each sip reminds of exotic fresh fruits and leaves a unique sweetness on the palate as an after taste.
An excellent quality fresh and fruity Darjeeling Green tea of the harvest.

3.Dooteriah sftgfop-1

An excellent quality pure Autumnal Darjeeling tea plucked from the high elevation pure china bushes of the plantation. The dry leafs are high withered and well sorted as a result of which it has a slightly greenish appearance. The dry leafs also contains small silver tips and has a refreshing fruity aroma in this state.
When steeped for about four minutes it releases bright orange liquor in the cup. Each sip is extremely fruity which reminds of fresh and exotic fruits and further ends with a slight hint of ripe mangoes.
An excellent quality Autumn flush Darjeeling tea meant for the perfect afternoon cup!

Giddapahar sftgfop-1 ch.spl. DJ280

A well made tea plucked from the matured china bushes of the high elevation plantation in Darjeeling. The dry leafs are slightly larger in size and has a fruity aroma in this state.
When steeped for about 4 minutes this excellent tea releases an orange liquor in the cup. Each sip is super smooth which further reminds of honey and oranges and leaves a unique muscatel after taste on the palate.
A superb Classic Muscatel Autumn flush tea of the season!

Gopaldhara sftgfop-1 DJ 298

A classic style pure Darjeeling Autumn flush tea plucked from the high elevation china bushes of this wonderful plantation in Darjeeling. The dry leafs are slightly small in size which has a fresh spice and chocolate like aroma in this state.
When steeped for about four minutes this exotic tea releases bright orange liquor in the cup and gives out a very delicious aroma of dry fruits. Each sip reminds of fresh autumn leafs, spices and a slight hint of chocolates which stays on the palate for a long time.
A perfect cup of Darjeeling Autumn flush tea to start off the day!

We have tried our best as usual to procure these fine teas and we sincerely hope our tea lover friends will like it too.

    We invite all Darjeeling tea lovers to try out our list of Autumn Flush 2012 Darjeeling teas

Puttabong Organic Moondrops - 1st flush 2012

Puttabong Organic Moondrops -1st flush 2012

This year due to the lack of rainfall during the early 1st flush harvest when almost every garden in Darjeeling produce excellent and high quality teas suffered a draught like situation and production of exclusive teas got really limited. It also became extremely difficult for us to procure the specific and particular teas from the same estate which was available in our list in the previous years. Gardens like Castleton and Margaret`s hope which falls in the kurseong valley of Darjeeling has not been able to show up with something excellent as there has been no rain in this area for the past 5 months. We tasted at least 2 early samples of the Castleton Moonlight and it was simply not up to our satisfaction mark so I kept on calling different tea makers in the area and asked if they could make something as special as Castleton Moonlight like the previous year`s production.
On the 26th of March 2012 I called up the Superintendant of the Puttabong plantation which had already produced a very good batch of tea for us (Puttabong clonal Queen Ex-2) and asked if he could make a very high quality batch of tea for us. He answered us back that he will definitely give it a try. Then on the 27th of March 2012 he had send us this exclusive tea sample.
I was really very happy to see the tea at the first look. It is extremely bold and wiry in appearance and has a large number of unbroken silver tips in the dry leaf state. The dry leafs gives out a very refreshing flowery aroma. This tea should be steeped for complete 3 minutes .The liquor is bright yellowish. Each sip is extremely fruity and reminds of white grapes and leaves a slight sweetness on the palate.

This amazing tea is plucked from the 100% P312 young clonal bushes of this Organic plantation in Darjeeling. We guarantee that a true tea lover will fall in love with this exceptional tea after trying a sip of it. This batch of tea is only available with us and is made on special request and is 100% hand crafted.

Puttabong clonal queen organic sftgfop-1 Ex-2 and North Tukvar Clonal delight sftgfop-1 EX-3/1st flush Darjeeling tea 2012:

Puttabong clonal queen organic sftgfop-1 Ex-2 and North Tukvar Clonal delight sftgfop-1 EX-3/1st flush Darjeeling tea 2012:

Puttabong Tea estate in Darjeeling is one of the oldest Darjeeling teas producing estate. It is located in the Northern valley of Darjeeling hills. Actually Puttabong and North Tukvar tea estates are divided into 2 tea estates after the Jayshree tea group took over the tea gardens. It was formerly known as the Tukvar tea estate. The garden was very big and had different special tea bushes in it. So in the late 1960s this estate was divided in 2 tea gardens. The North Tukvar part of the garden consists of assamica type of bushes and now days they also have some high quality exclusive clones from which exclusive high quality teas are made. The Puttabong portion of the plantation has recently converted into an organic plantation which has both china and clonal varietal of tea bushes.

Right from the beginning of my career with Tea Emporium, we always had Puttabong clonal queen in our list of teas with every 1st flush harvest but last year during the 1st flush 2011 harvest we could not have this tea in our list since there was an embargo going on in Darjeeling due to which no teas were allowed to get dispatched to the exporters or re-sellers for a month and by the time the embargo was lifted the quality of the teas really went down in this garden. So we had to keep it away from our list of 1st flush teas.

I was in a constant touch with Mr. Somani (the Superintendant of North Tukvar and Puttabong tea estates)and he had promised me that he will make some of the finest teas for us by making his expert pluckers pluck some of the youngest and freshest buds and shoots from the high elevation clonal field of both the plantations.

The 1st invoice that we selected from this expert tea maker of Darjeeling tea industry was Puttabong clonal Queen –Organic sftgfop-1/Ex-2.This fantastic tea is plucked from the RR, P312 and AV2 clonal bushes of the plantation. The dry leafs are small in size and consists of high amounts of needle like silver tips and has a very bright greenish appearance in this state .The dry leafs also releases some exotic fruity flavors of green apples and cucumber in this state. When steeped for 3 minute this tea release bright liquor in the cup. Each sip is super smooth like silk and leaves fruity flavors of green apples and mangoes and further ends with a lemony after taste on the palate. A truly majestic tea of the harvest made in a limited quantity!

The next invoice that took us by surprise was an excellent 1st flush 2012 tea from the North Tukvar tea estate. This batch of tea is produced in a very limited quantity from the youngest clonal fields of this plantation which has been plucked for the first time to produce a batch of tea. This tea is extremely white/greenish in appearance since it has a lot of silver tips in it and releases a typical fruity flavor of pine apples and guavas in this state. When steeped for 3 minutes the cup gives out light and bright liquor.Each sip is extremely fruity and delicious which reminds of a very high quality champagne and leaves a soft butter like taste on the palate as an after taste. A true tea lover must agree that this limited edition of exclusive tea should not be missed at any cost! It a rare premium tea better known as the North Tukvar clonal delight sftgfop-1 Ex-3/1st Flush 2012.

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.