Monday, August 24, 2009

Monsoon Darjeeling tea scenario for sure!

It has been a long time since I have been able to bring up a write-up on my blog-page as we had a very busy 2nd flush this year, specially the bulk sales or wholesales have been very good for us this year as we are the only certified Exporters from Darjeeling who can export bulk teas legally for the overseas re-sellers as we are certified by the export wing of the Tea Board, India, also for the interest of the re-sellers, one should also note that many merchants from India without any sort of proper legal licenses take orders from the other end and send it as “tea samples” to save taxes but when the good reaches the other end for re-sales, it might get seized by the customs and also might get destroyed as this has already happened with my friend who suddenly turned as a tea trader with no tea idea at all here in India, but the reason I wanted to convey this point is that the person who ordered the teas on the other end was the only loser at the end of the day as his teas got seized and destroyed and I can understand how he must be feeling about it and whenever someone known to him wants to order teas from India, what would his reactions and suggestions be? It’s simple, anyone can guess…. And also people like us suffer at the end of the day, and regarding that tea-friend???? People like him will always find another job….
Anyways that was a great relief for me as I could convey the message to people who are concerned with the trade and I think now they know what to ask their suppliers when they order teas for re-sales…..anyways since the 2nd Flush 2009 is over and we are at the mid – period of the monsoons, I have been going around in the tea gardens looking for something new and I’m delighted to see the standard of the monsoon flush going up each year, actually during this period of time due to the heavy rainfall the growth of the tea leafs are very rapid and also due to the lack of sunshine the effect directly falls on the made-tea as the tea looks and tastes dull, this also used to happen earlier as the pluckers used to pluck the tea leafs in a rough manner unlike the fine plucking of the 1st or the 2nd Flush harvest period, also due to these combinations of manmade and natural factors the average pricing of the teas goes down in a dramatic way. So keeping all these factors in mind some of the tea gardens in Darjeeling took initiatives of trying to make some very good teas that would fetch a good price for them in this period of time to let the show keep going! Specially gardens like Rohini and Gopaldhara designed some great teas this monsoon, like the “Gold Thunder” and the “Silver Thunder”, these are both semi-fermented teas or one may call these Darjeeling oolongs, the samples I tasted had a very nice liquor and a very matured aroma….yeah one can say this is a perfect tea that reflects a of touch of the past 2nd Flush for its sweetness and a touch of coming autumn for its maturity, when I learned about the manufacturing details of this types of teas I came to know that the most important part was the fine-plucking done to make these teas ,similarly most premium gardens in Darjeeling are making Green teas and White teas and believe me some make exceptional quality teas now in this harvest like 1st or 2nd Flush and if an individual really wants a very high quality tea in this period of time then it is infact absolutely possible to find one though “its one among tens” but its not impossible, so now if someone says you that its not the time to have good teas now then please ask him/her to get updated as the Darjeeling tea picture has changed, well we are tasting a lot of greens and white teas from various Darjeeling tea estates, and as soon as we find some thing great , it will be updated on our site…..so keep visiting us and have great tea time!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sungma Supreme Muscatel DJ-163 and Turzum DJ-11 clonal wonder 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009:

Sungma Supreme Muscatel DJ-163 and Turzum DJ-11 clonal wonder 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009:


As days passed by towards the mid of June I was worried about the muscatel variety teas, as due to the uncertain heavy rainfall before the peak 2nd Flush harvest all the teas started having heavy liquor and lighter flavour, almost all good Muscatel tea makers in the district made good muscatel teas but not the best for me as for me when I offer a muscatel variety on my sales offer it should be up to the quality mark , I had great expectations for this variety of tea from gardens like Castleton and Margaret’s hope tea estates but none of them did any wonders for me so I finally called up Mr. Jha (Superintendent of Sungma Tea Estate) for his muscatel teas after the 15th of June`09, and he asked me to wait for 2-3 days as he said he was making some excellent invoices and the 1st samples of those premium teas would be sent to us , so I waited patiently for those 3 days, finally after 4 days the samples arrived and I was really very pleased to see all the teas, as all of them were very well made and were really value for money teas but I was attracted toward the Sungma Supreme Muscatel DJ-163 which was an invoice made from the pure “kakra” leafs, “kakra” in local language means dehydrated leafs, this dehydration of leafs and shoots takes place during this time in a small portion of land in the garden as the leafs and shoots are bitten by an insect called green fly, when these insects bite the leafs ,the leafs automatically starts oxidizing on the bushes itself as pores are formed on it and the tea maker has to wait for the perfect time to pluck these leafs when the temperature and soil conditions are perfect and when the tea is further processed, this muscatel beauty is born, I personally believe that a tea lover actually pays for the time and not the tea in Darjeeling tea industry as its the time that yields good tea and makes the same tea bush conceive different characters and varities of teas through out the year. Anyways talking about the Sungma Supreme Muscatel sftgfop-1/ DJ-163,I must say its only fine plucked from 100% pure china bushes as one can see the fine sorted leafs of the tea, this tea has a very fruity aroma in the dry leaf state, when steeped for about 5 minutes this tea leaves some very smooth muscatel aroma, I feel every sip of this tea is pure magic as every sip sings a different note of dry fruits with a hint of slight astringency that keeps the taste of young red grapes alive on the palate. A great Muscatel tea indeed!
I was also offered a clonal tea by Mr. Jha but I was not really interested in any more clonals as I had enough clonal teas in my list but somehow he convinced me to atleast try the sample of the clonal tea from the Turzum division of Sungma which has only B-157 clonal bushes, this type of clone is known for making some very matured flavored teas with a heavy liquor unlike the Darjeeling AV2 and P312 type clones which are used to make lighter and floral teas. So I finally tried the sample and I loved it at one go as honestly I had tasted a matured flavoury tea that had both rich aroma and strong color after many months of tea tasting, this excellent tea could not be missed by me as many overseas buyers were bidding for this tea, the general description of this tea would be like it has a very finely plucked bold leafs, silver and golden unbroken tips in it, when steeped for about 5 minutes this tea leaves some aggressive and rich fruity aroma with a hint of ripe oranges, each sip in the cup will surely please a tea lover as rich hints of apricots and other grapes can be felt, fine notes of muscatel that remains on the palate with extreme mellowness as an after taste…. I must say that Turzum /organic sftgfop-1 DJ-11 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009 is a Majestic offering of the season!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Some Great 2nd Flush darjeeling teas 2009



Some great 2nd Flush Darjeeling teas 2009:

It has been a very hard and long 1st Flush this year, I must say it was a tough job for me to sustain the same quality level this year but when I get mails of complements and words of satisfaction from our customers, it feels like the job was really well done. Now as the month of May is over and there has been a good amount of rain it’s time for the much awaited 2nd Flush teas, tea samples from many gardens have started coming in and one thing is for sure, and that is all most all the teas in this period will be slightly heavier than usual 2nd Flush teas as we had some heavy showers in the last weeks of May, Anyways talking about great teas I think I should start off by writing about the Thurbo (classic musk) sftgfop-1 EX-9,I`m really thankful to Mr. J.D. Rai ,The Senior Manager and the quality controller of the Goodricke gardens in Darjeeling for making this invoice personally for us, this tea is plucked from selected the pure china bushes of the garden and is fermented and withered very carefully as a result of which the tea has a very shiny purplish bloom, the tea has an extravagant high aroma in the dry leaf state and when steeped for about 4 minutes, this tea gives an absolute smooth muscatel aroma with a mellow after taste, I think tea lovers who enjoyed our last year’s Castleton Muscatel exclusive will enjoy this tea very much.

I also cannot stop myself writing about the Puttabong clonal delight Ex-30 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009, this tea was made exclusively for us only on special request to Mr. Somani (Superintendent of the Puttabong and North Tukvar Tea Estates) and hopefully this tea will not be available with any other vendors around the world as this tea was plucked from pure clonal young AV2 type bushes under the age of 5-6 years, this tea was plucked at the early hours of the morning to maintain the tenderness of this beautiful tea, this tea is made under extreme supervisions of the master tea makes of the Puttabong tea estate, the leaf and shoots are keep untouched as a result of which the tea has a beautiful bold look, the dry leafs also has some extremely delicious aroma and when steeped for about 5 minutes this tea release some very light coppery liquor with very high floral aroma and the after taste that gives a slight hint of white grapes and dry coconuts, this tea will definitely make a great treat for a tea lover.

Finally I have to write about the Castleton Moonlight 2nd Flush 2009, many tea lover customers of ours were upset when we informed them that this tea was not that good in the 1st Flush harvest, the manager of this garden who is also a very good friend of ours tried his best in 1st Flush but he could not satisfy us then, but now when he came with the 1st batch sample of the 2nd Flush Moonlight tea, we were delighted to see this tea as the tea looked extremely wiry and well sorted and even the aroma in the dry leaf state is extremely aromatic, the cup is even better this year as it has rich floral and musk flavour and a very nice lemony after taste…..I think the more I write about this tea its still less as this is simply the best tea for people who enjoy young teas!

We welcome all tea lover to join our tea party ,this 2nd Flush 2009!











Monday, May 25, 2009

Rohini Emerald Green tea 2nd Flush darjeeling tea 2009


Rohini Emerald Green Tea 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009

This tea just took me by surprise when Rishi (Owner of the Gopaldhara and Rohini tea estate) informed me that they are planning to harvest some very special Darjeeling tea this 2nd Flush harvest and he told me that they were panning to make some high quality Green tea in their Rohini Plantation from the young Japanese clonal bushes that were once imported from Japan to make some great green teas in Darjeeling, but the project never succeeded as the former owner of the garden sold the garden to Rishi and his family, they say that teas from this small sector of young Japanese bushes makes some very good teas which are very sweet in taste, he informed me about this when the dormant period between 1st and 2nd Flush was going on, he made several teas for me all season long but I exactly knew what I wanted…..so finally during the end weeks of May when the 2nd Flush harvest in Darjeeling takes place I asked him to make this tea for me, to make this tea it takes a lot of labour and hard work, only one leaf and a bud is plucked from this special sector of the garden when the new shoots have just grown out and is further withered for about 48 hours and then gentle steamed and then fired at the end , the idea of making this tea is to keep it as unprocessed as possible but at the same time it should be a well made tea, this superb tea also has bold looks as the leafs are kept unbroken , the cup is also amazing as after steeping the tea for about 3 minutes ,the liquor of the tea turns green like the colour of the Emerald stone, each sip in the cup is extremely refreshing with a very sweet taste of young cucumbers and young bananas that remains on the palate as an after taste, this tea will surely impress the white tea lovers too as the standard of this green tea takes Darjeeling specialty tea making to another level of satisfaction.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

An Approach to 2nd Flush 2009 Darjeeling tea (s)

An Approach to 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea 2009

As days passed away from the early spring to the summer, the 2nd Flush harvest has already started knocking at our doors but this is an extremely sensitive harvest as the 2nd Flush character lasts on the tea bushes for a very short time, in this harvest pronounced effects can be seen more on china variety bushes where the floral character of 1st Flush converts to Muscatel character further making the liquor slightly heavy unlike the 1st Flush harvest, the clonal variety teas are also very round in cup and pronounced in taste in this harvest as the liquor gets slightly heavier making it more sweeter in taste, the best teas in this harvest are plucked from both china and clonal variety tea bushes but only the most dehydrated leafs and buds are selectively plucked to make the muscatel teas.
We have so far tasted many samples from Darjeeling Valley gardens like Puttabong, North Tukvar and Barnesbeg; the Puttabong tea samples were interesting as it showed some very good sign of pre- 2nd Flush Harvests, especially the Puttabong Muscatel samples showed some good character than the clonal varieties but I must say that excellent and pronounced 2nd Flush teas should start in from this valley from the 2nd week of June as most of the tea bushes are going through the dormant period in this valley, while coming to the Kurseong valley gardens like the Castleton, Margaret’s Hope, Makaibari, Rohini and Ambootia, I must say none of these gardens showed any 2nd Flush character, they are rather more on the dormant period but Kurseong Valley gardens are known for making best 2nd Flush teas in the district and since the rainfall was sufficient in the early month of May we have great expectations of Having excellent 2nd Flush teas from this valley.
So I request my entire beloved and most valuable tea lover customers to be patient and as usual we will cater with the best 2nd Flush 2009 teas as usual…. Cheers!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Balasun and Sungma 1st Flush Darjeeling tea 2009
Its been a real adventure this 1st Flush choosing the right teas, now I would say it was easy to choose the high quality and expensive teas but getting some lower priced teas was a real challenge, and some average priced teas are also required to complete the list of teas this season, so we ordered samples from various plantation, like Thurbo, Goomtee, Arya and Singbulli, but all the teas from the month of April showed very dark appearances, I would rather call it a burnt and dehydrated character, I specially had great expectations from the Singbulli plantation but all the 6 or 7 samples did not do any wonders for me, so I finally called up Mr. A.K. Jha ( Superintendent) of Sungma and Balasun Tea Estates, he had send us many samples, some were teas from pure china bushes and some were assamese hybrid bushes but more or less the teas were not up to the mark but I could finally choose 2 teas from Balasun and Sungma and would say it was a complete luck for me to get these teas, as these 2 teas were exceptionally excellent during this period of time, the 1st one is Sungma sftgfop-1 china classic Dj-16, an excellent offering having slightly darker leafs and has a well twisted leafs and full sized buds, the cup is pungent and smooth with hints of young pears without any bitterness, the other one is my personal favourite,the Balasun sftgfop-1 china classic Dj-16,it’s a really excellent tea having very bright leafs and small sized shiny sliver tips, the cup is extravagantly fruity and the after taste is extremely mellow, so I must say that even in low price I could offer 2 great teas in this hard harvest season

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Darjeeling tea 2009: 1st Flush selections get even better

Darjeeling tea 2009: 1st Flush selections get even better


I think this year we have tasted more than 60 samples to get some 5-7 teas in our list of 1st Flush 2009 teas. Well talking about that I cannot stop myself from writing about our Gopaldhara clonal classic ftgfop-1 DJ-3 tea, actually we have been tasting tea samples from Gopaldhara tea estate since last Second Flush 2008 but I was not excited with any of their teas so one fine day Rishi (the owner of Gopaldhara) called me up asking why I was not ordering any teas from them and I told him the reasons that was stopping me from promoting any of their teas, so he promised me that he would send some good Gopaldhara tea samples that could fit in my list of fine Darjeeling teas, so during the 3rd week of March as usual I received a large sample packet of Gopaldhara tea samples and as usual I thought it would contain teas that would not fit my taste buds, but my father asked me to open the tea sample packet and we went through at least 6-7 Gopaldhara and Rohini tea sample but none of the teas were appealing, at the corner of the sample packet there was this Gopaldhara ftgfop-1 clonal classic DJ-3 tea sample pouch, so to give it a try I opened the sample pounch and WOW!…..I was excited to see this tea, this was exactly what we were looking forward to, in this hard season ,it was hard withered to keep that greenish and tender look on the tea and one should also consider the hard withered teas in this season as it’s a sacrifice of quantity when the tea is hard withered meaning the quantity of tea leaves goes down. The dry leafs were amazing and with a slight blow of warm air from the mouth on the leafs gave out a very fruity aroma and when the tea is further brewed for about 4-5 minutes, the cup immediately give out some refreshing fruity flavor with slight hints of young green bananas and white grapes, must say ….an absolute beautiful tea of the season!
Also on the other side I agree that good teas are available in a very limited quantity this 1st Flush season but one cannot say they are not available at all, I was very sad to see blogs written by so called tea wise people that the 1st Flush 2009 Darjeeling teas are not very good, well I don’t mind consumers writing about it as they get this news through some news website or magazine etc. who keep their homework incomplete, but even tea merchants write this type of blogs which even they know that is not fully true and by writing this they get an advantage of getting rid of their old teas in the same high price and may be they do not want to spend their money on good teas as good teas costs good price…..anyways I`m proud to write that I’ve been able to cater good teas this season too as its been over 1 month that I been tasting various samples and choosing the right teas and also I’ve been able to prove the point wrong that 1st Flush 2009 Darjeeling teas are not up to the quality level due to drought, I would request all tea lovers to follow their own mind and choose teas from us instead of following blogs of people who have no idea about what they are blogging about…or may be merchants who are blogging to escape the heat of investment for good teas this season!