An approach to 1^st flush 2021 Darjeeling tea:

   The 1^st flush 2021 Darjeeling tea harvest has finally started in almost all the tea gardens of Darjeeling. We are very excited to get back to work after a long break due to the Covid 19 pandemic outbreak last year and the lockdown in India which started from the 23^rd of March `2020 and went on for more than 3 months. Like any other industries even Darjeeling tea industry suffered a lot and now we are hopeful that slowly things will take a positive turn and we will start getting some of the finest Darjeeling teas from the tea gardens of Darjeeling as before.

     We are in regular touch with the tea makers of the different tea estates of Darjeeling right from the month of February`2021 until now and the biggest challenge of the moment is that there is no rain in Darjeeling for the last 5 months as a result of which all the tea gardens are going through a draught like situation. The collection of raw leaves are extremely low than before so the actual 1^st flush Darjeeling tea production is also low in quantity at the moment but all the tea gardens are using their finest tea pluckers to do selective tea plucking and produce some world class 1^st flush 2021 Darjeeling teas.

   We have been continuously tasting the fresh tea samples from many plantations of Darjeeling and have decided to mostly select the teas plucked from the climate resistant clonal cultivars like AV2,P312 ,BB157 etc. as we are seeing better teas are being manufactured this season from the said cultivars. We are expecting our list of 1^st flush 2021 Darjeeling teas to be completed by 1^st week of April 2021 and we assure that as usual there will be a list of world`s best quality 1^st flush Darjeeling teas in our list. We request all Darjeeling tea lovers to keep visiting our website www.teaemporium.net for the best quality 1^st flush 2021 Darjeeling teas.

 

Arya Organic Diamond 2nd flush 2019 EX 52 darjeeling tea

A superb, unique and high quality premium 2^nd flush 2019 organic Darjeeling tea crafted by one of the best renowned garden of Darjeeling. This premium batch of pure 2^nd flush tea is plucked from highest quality AV2 clonal bushes situated at the high elevation tea fields of this garden in Darjeeling.

    This top grade Darjeeling tea has well twisted bold size leaves which are dark coppery in appearance with bold silver and gold tips in it.

     The dry leaves gives out delicious ripe fruity floral aroma with undertones of freshly baked confectionaries, ripe and succulent mangoes, nectarines, citrus and musk.

    When steeped for complete 5 minutes the cup gives a bright and clear golden orange cup. Each sip is extremely smooth and sweet which reminds of ripe and succulent mangoes, ripe peaches and ripe apricots which further leaves a honey and musky aftertaste on the palate with undertones of freshly picked lemons.

A true jewel among the top class 2^nd flush 2019 Darjeeling teas which should not be missed by a true Darjeeling tea lover.

An Approach to 2nd flush 2018 Darjeeling tea

An approach to 2^nd flush 2018 Darjeeling teas:

    We are again very excited to select the finest 2^nd flush 2018 Darjeeling teas for our tea lover friends living all over the world. The 2^nd flush harvest is of the most important harvest of Darjeeling tea industry as during this period the teas produced in Darjeeling hill has a unique “muscatel” flavour which tea lovers all around the world compare with the Muscat wine or Muscat grapes. Tea experts even claim that this is such a unique character in Darjeeling tea during 2^nd flush harvest that no other tea growing area in the world can replicate this character.

     The ideal time for 2^nd flush harvest in Darjeeling is last week of May to last week of June but this year we are seeing  some early 2^nd flush teas as tea bushes were pruned early last year in most of the garden of Darjeeling after the strikes. For a perfect 2^nd flush harvest the night and day temperature difference should not be more than 12-15 degrees Celsius .The finest muscatel 2^nd flush teas are made from the most dehydrated leaves and buds. A perfect 2^nd flush Darjeeling tea should have dark golden orange liquor, with fully brown infused leaves. The flavour should remind of dark chocolates and Muscat grapes and should have a sweet and strong after taste. These are the few thumb rules that we follow while choosing the finest teas in 2^nd flush harvest.

      We taste about 40 cups of different teas from various gardens of Darjeeling everyday and have already started choosing the best teas. We will inform all our tea lover friends after the selections are completed and the 2^nd flush list is ready.

    Till then we appreciate your patience and thank you for reading this article. Please keep visiting our website for best of Darjeeling tea harvests.

Balasun ( Flowery) sftgfop-1 LC-2 Darjeeling tea 1st flush 2018

A very fine quality 1^st flush 2018 Darjeeling tea plucked from the high elevation, pure china bushes from the special section of this vintage garden of Darjeeling. The dry leaves are slightly large in size and are well twisted and processed. The dry leaves gives out delicious aroma of dry fruits like walnuts, almonds and cookies.

    When steeped for complete 5 minutes the cup gives out yellow golden liquor. Each sip is sweet and smooth and reminds of freshly picked rhododendron and marigold flowers and leaves slight hints of mint leaves and cookies on the palate.

A 1^st flush 2018 vintage Darjeeling tea which is perfect for the morning cup.

Puttabong Organic Moondrops Darjeeling tea 1st flush 2018

 We are proud to offer this majestic batch of Premium 1^st flush 2018 Darjeeling tea which has been plucked from the 100% pure AV2 clonal bushes of this prestigious organic garden of Darjeeling.The dry leaves are bold and wiry in appearance and has a lot of wiry silver tips in it.The dry leaves gives out delicious aroma of ripe mangoes,vanilla, sugar candy and hint of sweet lemon grass.

    When steeped for complete 5 minutes the cup gives out a bright yellow liquor.Each sip reminds of sweet ripe mangoes, pineapples and ripe white grapes,which further leaves a flowery,honey and lemony aftertaste on the palate.

A majestic batch of Premium 1^st flush 2018 darjeeling tea which is exclusively made for a true Darjeeling tea connoisseur.

An Approach to 1st flush 2018 Darjeeling tea

          The 1^st flush 2018 Darjeeling tea harvest is about to start and some gardens in Darjeeling have already started the initial rounds of plucking and production. The tea pluckers in the gardens are plucking and removing the old and winter leaves from the bushes so that the bushes can conceive fresh shoots and buds which are used to produce the fresh finest 1^st flush Darjeeling teas. During this period of time we need some heavy rainfall so that the tea bushes can get enough water to conceive new shoots and buds after 2 months of dormancy.

    During this harvest we have recently seen that the best teas are specially made from the clonal bushes like the AV2 and P312.The teas made from the china bushes usually start late and start coming in from the mid weeks of March and are also very delicious.

      As usual our focus is on the early production teas( teas plucked and made from the first young buds and shoots).Since the early harvest teas are made from the most tender shoots and buds the cup is extremely fragrant and delicious and the quantity produced is also very less. So, we have to taste as much tea samples, as soon as possible and decide to choose the right batch very fast. We also have to keep in mind that the teas should have good shelve lives and mature very well as we will offer these premium teas around the year.

     We request all our tea lover friends all around the world to keep visiting our website www.teaemporium.net for updates of the fresh and best quality 1^st flush 2018 Darjeeling teas.

An Approach to Autumn Flush 2017 Darjeeling tea

An Approach to Autumn flush 2017:

    The Autumn flush 2017 Darjeeling tea harvest in Darjeeling started around the 3^rd week of October 2017. This year`s harvest was very different from previous year`s harvest due to the 104 days of strikes in Darjeeling from the month of mid June. Tea leaves from tea bushes were not plucked for more than 3 months and the overall gardens were filled with wild plants. So, the workers of various gardens were busy pruning the tea bushes so that we could get a very good 1^st flush harvest next year.

    The quantity of pure Autumn flush Darjeeling teas are very less this year and after intense tea tasting we have selected 3 top quality Autumn flush 2017 Darjeeling teas this year from Puttabong, Upper Namring and Margaret`s Hope tea estates.These teas are produced in very limited quantities during the peak Autumn flush harvest.

     We are sure everyone will appreciate these high quality teas this season from our list.

An Approach to Autumn flush 2016 Darjeeling teas

An Approach to Autumn flush 2016 Darjeeling teas:

        The last and the much awaited harvest in the Darjeeling tea industry is the Autumn flush harvest. After 4 long months of rains we will finally get to taste some fine and high flavour Darjeeling teas from the various plantations of Darjeeling. During the monsoon period the teas produced in Darjeeling gives a strong cup with less flavour.

     The Autumn flush harvest lasts for a very small frame of time as it starts as soon as the monsoons are over and the tea bushes starts getting continuous sunshine and high climatic temperature during the day time and cold climatic conditions during the night. For a perfect autumn flush harvest the day and night temperature difference should not be more than 9-12 degrees Celsius. A perfect Autumn flush Darjeeling tea should have a dehydrated look in the dry leaf state, it should have a dark brownish dry leaf appearance. The cup should give out a bright orange liquor ,with a chocolate like flavour and each sip should be very fruity floral with clear hints of dry winter  leaves like smell that we usually get in the forests during the winters.

     This year it seems that the Autumn flush Darjeeling tea harvest is slightly late as it rained very heavily during the early weeks of October and in November we are finally getting some very sunny days. We are expecting very good Autumn flush Darjeeling teas this year and right after the Diwali holidays (from the 1^st week of November) are over, we are expecting the Autumn flush harvest to start, we are continuously tasting the samples of Darjeeling teas from various plantations of Darjeeling and as usual we will select only the best Darjeeling teas.

     Please keep visiting us at www.teaemporium.net for latest updates on the fresh Autumn flush 2016 Darjeeling teas.

An approach to 1st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea

An approach to 1^st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea:

   It has been a very dry and cold winter in Darjeeling after the autumn flush harvest in Darjeeling since last weeks of December 2015. We received a very good rainfall on the 10^th of February 2016 which is surely a very good sign for the upcoming 1^st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea harvest. It’s very difficult to choose the right 1^st flush Darjeeling tea during the initial stage of the 1^st flush harvest as the amount of the fresh leaves and shoots on the tea bushes are very limited and most of the lots produced during this period often contains some winter leafs in it and if one is really in a hurry to get the 1st flush teas of the initial stage of the this harvest then he/she can land on buying a mixed lot or a batch of winter and spring mixed Darjeeling tea.So one has to be very careful while choosing the teas.

      Since we are in this trade for the last 70 years and have been tasting the samples of different teas right from the beginning to the end of the harvest each year we have seen that once the few rounds of plucking is done properly during this harvest we can get rid of the winter leafs   and only then we expect to get the fresh shoots and buds from the tea bushes which is actually used to make the 1^st flush Darjeeling teas.

    We have tasted few samples from few of the gardens of Darjeeling and Dooars and can say that this year the 1^st flush harvest is a bit late. We expect that we will get the early 1^st flush teas from the clonal bushes like the AV2, P312, and BB157 etc. The 1^st flush teas from the pure china bushes will take some time to arrive as the china bushes usually takes some time to conceive the new leafs and shoots during the early spring due to cold and dry conditions during this time.

     A pure and good 1^st flush Darjeeling tea should have a bright greenish appearance, filled with tiny white silver tips. The cup should give out bright yellow liquor in the cup with fruity-floral aroma with a bit of astringency at the end of each sip.

 As usual we will taste and only procure the early season pure and true first flush teas and start offering them to our tea lover friends all around the world through our website. Till then we request you to keep visiting us at our website www.teaemporium.net and our official face book page www.facebook.com/teaemporium

Singell Organic Muscatel sftgfop-1 DJ 67 Darjeeling tea 2nd flush 2015

Singell Organic Muscatel sftgfop-1 DJ 67 Darjeeling tea 2^nd flush 2015

     The Singell Estate is situated in the Kurseong sub-division of Darjeeling district which produces 100% pure Organic Darjeeling teas. World renowned tea gardens like Castleton, Makaibari, Ambootia, Jungpana ,Goomtee  and Singell is situated in this area and is famous for making the most unique and high quality Muscatel Darjeeling teas during the 2^nd flush Harvest.

    We were continuously receiving samples from the various plantations of Darjeeling during the 2^nd flush harvest but we were looking out for an extremely high quality Muscatel Darjeeling tea. Most of the muscatel teas could not satisfy us from this area of Darjeeling because there was a rainfall during the peak 2^nd flush harvest time (in the month of June) in some of the most reputed gardens in this area.

     We are really satisfied and proud to have this lot of pure 2^nd flush Muscatel tea from Singell.    This is a Super Premium quality organic muscatel variety pure 2^nd flush Darjeeling tea plucked from 100% pure china bushes of this prestigious plantation of Darjeeling.

     The dry leafs are well sorted and twisted and has a lot of gold tips in it. The dry leafs gives out delicious aroma of chocolates, ripe grapes, apricots, dry coconuts and dates.

     When steeped for complete 5 minutes the cup releases golden orange liquor which further releases fresh and delicious aroma of exotic dry fruits. Each sip is extremely smooth and delicious which reminds notes of rich and ripe Muscat grapes, honey with slight hint of cherries and a rich muscatel after taste that lingers on the palate for a long time.

     The most attractive character of this particular tea is that each sip has an in-depth fruity taste which is really rare to find in most of the teas produced in Darjeeling these days.

   We highly recommend every Darjeeling tea lover to try this one, this tea will surely give you the different experience of a truly high quality 2^nd flush muscatel Darjeeling tea.

An approach to autumn Flush 2013 darjeeling tea

The Autumn Flush harvest is the last and the final harvest of the year in the Darjeeling tea industry. This premium harvest period is awaited for a long time by both the tea lovers and the tea growers. This premium harvest takes place after the monsoon harvest which stretches from the month of July to 1^st week of October.

       This year we are expecting for the pure autumn flush teas to arrive after the 2^nd week of November 2013 as the “Dashera festival” has taken place on the mid weeks of October 2013 followed by a cyclone which has delayed this premium harvest.

        The Autumn flush harvest takes place for a very short period of time and the tea maker has to be very careful right from the beginning to the end of the tea production, as soon after this harvest the winter arrives and there is no tea production in Darjeeling in the whole of the winter season till the starting of March.

       A very good autumn tea should have a very dehydrated look in the dry leaf state and the aroma should be very matured and dry. The liquor in the cup should be slightly dark with rich after taste. The climatic conditions play a very vital role for the production of autumn flush teas. The temperature difference between the day and the night should be not more than 12-13 degrees Celsius. The autumn flush teas are normally high fired and fermented for a longer time than the 1^st and the 2^nd flush teas as a result of which these teas are richer in taste and has a longer shelve life.

This year we are expecting to have a great autumn flush harvest as there have been sufficient rains and the weather looks great at this point of time. We have already started to taste the samples from various plantations of Darjeeling and we will have the list of teas as soon as we receive the pure and fine autumn flush 2013 teas. Till then have patience and drink the fine teas that are already available in our list of premium teas!.

Thurbo Tippy Clonal Ftgfop-1 DJ 186 / 2nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea

 Thurbo Tippy Clonal Ftgfop-1 DJ 186 / 2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea

       The Thurbo Estate is one of the largest tea estates of Darjeeling tea industry situated in the Mirik Valley of Darjeeling district. Reputed and world famous gardens like the Singbulli, Phuguri, Gopaldhara, Seeyok, Selimbong, Okayti and Thurbo Tea Estates are situated in the Mirik Valley. Since Mirik Valley is slightly warmer than other places of Darjeeling, the clonal varieties grows very well in this area and are also world famous for its high quality teas.

     We received the sample of Thurbo Tippy Clonal ftgfop-1 DJ 186/ 2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea when we had almost finished choosing our list of 2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling teas. The moment I opened the sample packed I was delighted to see the leaf appearance of the tea and the aroma that just came out of the sample packet felt like “heaven “in one word. The Thurbo Tea Estate has various varieties of clonal bushes and this awesome batch of tea is made from the P312 and S 1240 clonal variety. Also not to forget this excellent batch of tea is made by a master tea maker of the Darjeeling tea industry (Mr. J.D.Rai. Superintendant of the Goodricke group of tea gardens in Darjeeling).

   The dry leafs are well sorted and twisted and have a lot of shiny needle like silver tips. The dry leafs also gives out delicious aroma of honey, oranges and dry forest leafs in this state. When steeped for complete 4 minutes the cup gives out bright yellow/orange liquor and a unique rose like aroma raises high above the cup. Each sip is super smooth and reminds of exotic ripe oranges and pine apples.

      I assure all tea lovers that the moment you try this excellent tea you will simply fall in love with this one!

    

An Approach to 2nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea

   The 2nd flush 2013 Darjeeling tea harvest has just started in Darjeeling. The dormant period is almost over in all the plantations in Darjeeling. This is one of the most important harvest in the Darjeeling tea industry. All the gardens in Darjeeling rely on their expert tea makers who are very careful while making the 2^nd flush teas as sometimes this harvest is so short that it might pass away within days.

           The most important factors for the 2^nd flush crop are the soil and the climatic conditions. The temperature difference between day and night should not be more than 10 degrees Celsius and the overall climatic conditions should be dry. The best teas during this harvest carry the muscatel flavour which is only found in Darjeeling teas and cannot be replicated by teas of any other regions.

         The best Muscatel variety Darjeeling teas are plucked from the most dehydrated china variety leafs and buds. Some of the exclusive teas are also produced from the clonal tea bushes. The perfect 2^nd flush Darjeeling tea should have slightly dark golden red liquor in the cup and a matured fruity /flowery aroma in the nose.

          We are already tasting a lot of samples from various different gardens of Darjeeling and we expect to have some great 2^nd flush 2013 Darjeeling teas from gardens like Turzum ,Sungma ,Puttabong ,Risheehat,Giddapahar,Castleton, Margaret`s hope and Thurbo. We also expect to see some great teas from the other unmentioned tea gardens as well.

      As usual we are working very hard to choose the right and perfect 2^nd flush 2013 darjeeling teas and shall inform all our tea lovers friends once the list of exotic Darjeeling teas are completed!