Sorry for the delay guys. Here the weather is really bad at the moment. Darjeeling gets plenty of rainfall every year and we have to sit with our fingers crossed in fear of landslides which is very common. Its been raining heavily and continuously for a couple of days. The heart line or road connecting to rest of India and the world was damaged and we were totally cut off. Good to hear that the authorities have cleared the road. Today, morning I got the news that again the main road near Tindharia is blocked due to landslide. All vehicles are taking the alternative route via Mirik or Mungpoo. Hope there are no more natural calamities ahead of us. Totally helpless in the hands of nature!! Anways, lets hope for the best and let there be sunshine – I am longing to get basked.
Well that was the news regarding Darjeeling’s weather. I had told you that I would update you with the new Arya Ruby sample. It arrived late and I blame no one because I have literally walked through Arya Tea Estate upto the factory – now even if I get thousands of dollars, I would rather sit at home than going to Arya – its too steep, slippery and dangerous. I don’t know how the locals travel every day. Guess they are used to the terrain and know which boulder lies where. Now back to the tea thing – It was nothing special and I guess it’s the same tea which he had sent me earlier. A little bit of more firing was done to the tea so that it appears fresh. I again asked if and gave a bid and he (Manager) stuck to his exorbitant price. Its not worth it. If we buy the tea at his price, the tea will be expensive and I will lose my sleep thinking that I am selling you a mediocre tea for an exorbitant price. Though the tea has got a very very good appearance, but in the cup, it completely fails to satisfy and stand up to the standards which Arya Ruby is all about. I am not saying that Arya Ruby is bad, its an excellent Darjeeling Tea, but as I have repeated in my previous posts, only certain lines are good and the others can be mediocre or even worse - this applies for all Darjeeling tea gardens and estates. This is the same with Castleton – The batch of Castleton Muscatels we got was simply wow, but what about the rest of the muscatels!!! You guess!
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Written by Benoy on July 17th, 2007 with 1 comment.
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Sorry to repeat this again, but I can’t keep it to myself.
The Blowout offer of stock clearance is jetting its way through and a mad rush can be seen reverberating - Good teas at an unbelievable price and that too with free shipping no matter how much or what dollar value you buy - Its just Free shipping - anybody can get trapped in the stampede :). You can forecast a tea party at your house, invite friends and yes, Feel Proud - the Champagne of teas rest in your house.
Anyways, I know I did a little of “overdoes” above but can’t help it. Returning back to serious normalities and all the tea blas’, what I would like to say is that, don’t mistake the above offer as an offer to sell bad teas. We never buy bad teas and neither do we sell. Otherwise all those personally done tea tastings gonna go down the drains. As told you earlier, Arya Ruby too got rejected and am waiting for the fresh batch which Mr. Roy is sending. Let me have a roll over it first.
A good famed tea can be famous and popular among tea connoisseurs, but pertaining to Darjeeling tea, it all depends upon the first and foremost factor, weather and the seasonal timings. Peak time will yield good teas and after the peak time is over, only mediocre or even worse teas prevail. We don’t have to prove it - you would know if you have been reading this tea blog.
Anyways Castleton Second Flush 2006 blew as if a gust of wind had come and blew it away. Its all sold as soon as the Blowout offer was updated to our site. We do not know how long our Blowout Offer stocks will last. Get there, Choose, Buy, Receive and Savour. Ya, thats what you ought to be doing - just kidding, do what you wish to :).
Direct link to Blowout Offer page - You can also click around if you want and have a look at new arrivals from 1st Flush and 2nd Flush 2007.
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Written by Benoy on July 13th, 2007 with no comments.
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Its rainy now and the second flush buying time for tea merchants like us is over here. Whatever we bought previously is what we have. Though tea gardens are sending us tea samples, but most of them fail to satisfy our sensory organs / olfactory.
It’s the monsoon flush when the tea prices scroll down to its lowest limit. This is the time when you get the cheapest teas, BUT don’t be misguided. Darjeeling tea is called the champagne of teas, but is highly seasonal. Best of Darjeeling champagne come from First, Second and Autumn Flush. Now it’s Monsoon time, and the teas are what we call here as “leaves without any juice”. We don’t buy any of Monsoon teas.
Anyways, I had talked about Arya Ruby Second Flush in my previous post. The sent sample was surprisingly a low graded version of Ruby and the price tagged was exorbitant and unreasonable. We had left the tea, after all, brand names sell to a certain extent but the tea should be equally good – what do you say? Yesterday, Mr. Roy called me up and told me that the rejected lot was also disliked by his own company office based in Calcutta known as “The Arya Tea Company Ltd.”. He wants to send me another tea sample (Ruby) which was made during the Second Flush period. He informed me that only a limited amount of tea is left in the garden. Obviously, I told him to send it through his “dakwala” – person who distributes tea samples to tea vendors like us and does all other local official work outside of the tea garden. Every Darjeeling tea garden has one.
He further informed me that this reserved lot is better than the previous sample he sent me. Let me judge and compare the comments he has made on the tea once the tea sample arrives. Every garden manager boasts of his tea being the best in the Darjeeling tea garden area and that is quite natural – a tea garden’s reputation is on the line.
Anyways, will give you my input.
My recently created Flickr Account See more of 2nd Flush 2007 Photos
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Written by Benoy on July 13th, 2007 with no comments.
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Yes, at last the procured Second Flush Darjeeling teas 2007 have been updated to the main site. Did a lot of tasting before I could give some meaning and description to the teas. Racked my senses, opened up my pores, dissected my tongue to activate my taste buds and at last could give some conclusion.
Both of us, my wife and I do the tasting and both our tastings get tallied over for a perfect conclusion. Yes, in the tea tasting world, realistic approach is very necessary. You must be wondering what the heck is ‘realistic approach’? Well, I have seen and heard people talking big about their tea tasting skills and when it comes to practical tea tasting, they can’t even distinguish between a china graded tea with a clonal. I am not pointing this point to everyone, but to some exceptional characters who seem to know too much in a short period of time – little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The point above is brought up for the following reason – Why do I do my tea tastings with my wife? Simple reason, if you are having sinusitis problem and suppose your nose is always blocked – ‘how can you smell the sensitive’, which is so important in tea tasting. I am not discouraging anyone who is interested in tea tasting but practical things ought to be noted. My nosy sensory organs are ok, but not as good as my wife can catch. She has a very good sense of smell and can detect even the slightest hint of any aroma / smell. My part is usually the liquor tasting part which is equally important in tea tasting. You may say I am lucky to have such a partner, but once again I tell you, to become a successful tea taster, apart from your interest, you got to have a good sense of smelling elements plugged in to your nose and your tongue should be trained to do the tasting – liquor tasting can however be mastered with continuous practice and experience.
Anyways, I have found out that, I always sit in front of my pc with a particular topic in mind and always get carried away writing about something else – guess, all I want to do is share my views and that is what I am doing.
Back to Second Flush Darjeeling – Some more hints – Second Flush dry leaves are always blackish and copper mixed in texture or appearance. Some green mixed won’t harm, but a lot of green or greenish appearance in the second flush tea is but a “simply tagged” second flush tea. As mentioned above, it should be more of blackish tending more towards coppery color. The infused leaves should be coppery and the liquor full bodied and darker having strength. More emphasis is given on liquor which should be mellow and smooth, but can have different characters like the muscat. Our Second Flush teas have it all Ahem!
My clients have asked for my favorite regarding this Second Flush purchase – All I can say is, all of the teas are good having their own unique character, but sincerely Castleton Muscatel tops the chart. Arya Ruby sample was sent to me by Mr. S. Roy (Manager) for tasting purpose. Both (my wife and guess who) of us did the tasting, but I was really disappointed this time. The tea was ok, but the price they tagged it with was exorbitantly high and not worth paying for the quality. It was far more less in quality than normal teas we tasted before. It was priced double the price of Castleton Muscatel but when compared in quality, Castleton Muscatel was leap and bounds ahead. I had to leave the tea. According to both of our decision, this time’s Arya Ruby would not have a long life, meaning its quality would drop down within a short span of time. A teas life in a shelve is very important for merchants like us because we have to store and retain the tea until it is sold. If a tea drops down within a short span of time, losses will incur for no reason. So was the case with Margaret’s Hope Muscatel Delight – the’ muscatel delight’ we were seeking was not present and its shelf-life dwindled. Whereas china grades like Castleton Muscatel, Thurbo etc. matures with time and the character becomes more prominent. China grades usually matures within a time frame of 15-20 days.
Anyways, my fingers can keep on rolling, but my eyes are weary and desperate to shut down. Well, I am shutting it now, bye folks.
Oh yes, nearly forgot, if you are interested in buying some teas from 2006 then we are giving away, what we call as “Blow Out Offer!” - Incredible Discounts! We have already had our share of profits from these teas and the remaining few kilos left with us can be materialized into nothing but discount offers to you. We are giving you this tea at a price way way below our purchase price. What have we got to lose, when we have already had the profits 
Bye once again and goodnight!!!
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Written by Benoy on July 6th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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This year’s Second flush resulted in a good yield, but again a particular tea garden’s whole yield cannot be given an overall excellent marking. A particular tea garden can have a line of DJs as best and the rest could be mediocre and even worse. To get hands on the cream DJs or harvest is quite tricky unless you go to the tea garden – smell it, taste it and then conclude.
Yes, this time I was not feeling well due to my back ache and the doctor had advised me to take rest, but not to worry, by the time of 2nd Flush Darjeeling tea season, I was ready to head for the tea gardens and I did.
Second Flush Darjeeling Teas already procured are:
1) Castleton Muscatel
2) Risheehat Flowery
3) Jungpana SFTGFOP1
4) Thurbo Muscat
5) Puttabong China Fine
This time we have procured some excellent lines of 2nd Flush teas. We received emails from some clients saying that teas are expensive, but good teas will always cost. Keeping this in mind we were looking for good teas at an affordable pricing and guess what, we have got some.
Among the teas we have procured for 2nd Flush 2007, Castleton Muscatel gets the mark of excellence. One thing I would like to mention – I know this is way going out and like hammering on my own head – I found the Upton does a good selection of its teas – I was happy to see that they too had procured Risheehat Flowery for Second Flush. Risheehat Flowery is an excellent Clonal tea. I usually don’t go for clonals during the Second Flush, but this Risheehat was just unavoidable. It’s a marvelous Second Flush tea.
Jungpana is one tea garden which produces authentic Darjeeling teas – what I mean to say is it follows to processing method which results in real Darjeeling character. An excellent tea garden perched on a hilly slope where mists, fog, rain and sunshine dance together. This is the kind of weather a Darjeeling tea garden needs to produce good Second Flush teas.
Thurbo is a well renowned garden owned by the Goodricke Group of companies. This Thurbo Muscat is on the lines of Castleton Muscatel but having its own character. Each tea garden tea differs in its character mainly due to weather conditions and the processing method. The best of tea gardens can produce the worst of teas, if it lacks good tea makers.
Puttabong China Fine as the name suggests is an excellent tea for its pricing. A good tea made affordable, this is the tea which I was talking about previously – A good Darjeeling tea having prominent Second Flush liquor character with a good essence of infused leaf. A tea which can be purchased by all and ENJOYED!
I was browsing the net for Castleton Second Flush Muscatel and I came across a few who had already been selling – I have to naturally keep an open eye on my competitors – I ordered about 50 grams from each of them and I was shocked. A good Second Flush Castleton Tea whether china graded or muscatel will have a good liquor – darker liquor and the dry leaves are blackish in appearance. Most of the ordered teas lacked this. I even took the teas as samples to Castleton and showed to the main tea maker of Castleton, Mr. DB Gurung. He recognized some as his own and others are “bogus” as he commented.
Anyways, I am not telling you that mine is the best and the rest are worse – I am not pin-pointing them also. For example, I pointed out that Upton does a good selection of Darjeeling teas and so does Le Palais des Thes from France. You are the observer and the conclusion maker – If you can and are interested - Buy 100 g of Castleton from us and if you find other vendor selling the same, try some small quantity from them, you will know the difference and the thing I am talking about. Leave Upton aside from the test because they too have Castleton Muscatel and its authentic.
Anyways, I will soon update my tasting results for Second Flush Darjeeling 2007 and to the Thunderbolt Tea site for ordering purpose.
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Written by Benoy on June 29th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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Hello friends, sorry for the late come back. Lots of things happened in between – some sad, some painful and some revealing.
One of our staff member, Sonam, had a sudden accident and all of us were mourning – we were terribly sad and disheartened. Most of my staff were reluctant to work, but despite all the sadness, we had to send tea orders that had already been placed and it was of a colossal no. The boys did it and I am thankful to them all. We are helpless in the hands of death and only wish that we could bring our boy back. Now it seems a bit settled and we are back to work – Life has to go on, no matter what. Let Sonam’s soul rest in peace – I pray for his family members.
Maybe because of the shock, I had to do a long bed rest due to severe back ache. Doctor suggested bed rest and I did and just got up on the start of Second Flush. As told earlier, life has to go on and work has to be done, I did my part of running around for the second flush Darjeeling teas and most of the exotic varieties have already been bought. Some teas are yet to come to our premises and we are waiting for that. As soon as it enters we will update it to our site.
Will update regularly from now on wards.
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Written by Benoy on June 18th, 2007 with 4 comments.
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Blog and the blogosphere is known to carry and sway the flag of “Freedom of Speech and Thought” and I am glad that I am a part of such a diverse and ever growing community. As known to you all, my aim is to bring you news, views and updates on what is really “Real” and not add a superficial layer to boost my sales only. I am first a tea connoisseur and then a tea merchant and have some inner values that are more important to me than what money can actually offer.
I have been in this Darjeeling tea business for a while and I love being part of it, because for the foremost and crucial reason - I am marketing and selling my own hometown product – the prized Darjeeling tea. Whether I booze, party or do anything with the money I earn, all of it will be spent here and will stay here in Darjeeling. I also do some kind of donations (certain percentage) to NGOs working here in Darjeeling – I believe in Fair Trade and I am doing my best to instill through my business and whatever possible means I can find. Shortly, I am about to support a small tea plantation by buying not all of their teas, but some of it, which is completely organic and run by the tea laborers themselves (completely Fair Trade and certified) – here we call the place as “Dabai-Paani” and the re-christened name of it is “Mineral Spring” which is looked after by a local NGO called “DLR Prena”. No profit what so ever from this tea and all of the profit will go to Dabai Paani workers. Anyways, all that was Fair Trade on my mind.
Now with all the good thoughts about the place and Darjeeling tea on mind, I moved on to support my family by venturing into the Darjeeling tea business and in a small way promote the Darjeeling Tea industry with a vision to defy the highly clamored phrase – “Ailing Darjeeling tea industry”. I was happy with my business just a while ago and then the indignation of cry babies clouded my mind. I had purchased a particular tea (won’t name the tea garden or the tea) and had already entered my premises, and after a while, the tea garden manager called up and informed me that they cannot sell it to me. They took back the tea. I asked for the reason and surprisingly, a local vendor (name remains anonymous) had purchased about 2 invoices of the same tea and told the manger that they would return all of their purchased tea if they sold it to me. Though my purchase was a little less than theirs, but all in all, it’s a ridiculous game of tea politics implemented on this innocent brew which is consumed by tea connoisseurs with a delight. Business whatever kind it may be, I believe in playing fair and delivering authentic products to my clients. I know some of you must be thinking that it happens in the business world, but what I say is - come on the playing ground and have a fair tussle – you do it your way, I do it mine – at the end, winner gets the medal. The story of google really hits me on this, what were they in comparison to MSN and Yahoo, but look at them now, if I am not mistaken 90% of the people do their searches on google and they have greatly improved on their other services as well – this has happened because of their sincere efforts and a quality product destined to be delivered to people which are useful and beneficial. The bottom line is, if you are sincere in whatever you do, the victory will be yours, like the victory eventually was mine. I will tell you how, read the next paragraph.
The manager of this particular garden is like a friend to me and he too was in a fix. I can understand his situation, pressure from this vendor and his head office. But the bottom line is that tea is produced in a garden not to be distributed to the tea laborers, but to be sold. If they don’t sell, they can’t pay their workers and if they can’t pay the workers, they tea garden gets closed. He again called me and apologized for the inconvenience and guess what the same tea is coming to my place once again, the only thing that will change is the name – a synonymous name will be used. He got approved from his head office. No, No, Tea Garden name remains the same, just the name of tea changes. Oh god helps those who are sincere in their thoughts. Thanks almighty!
Anyways, I don’t really intend to hurt or effect anyone by my post above, if I have, then I apologize – it was not meant to. It’s just my thought which is not really based on pro-business lines – just a general comment and there is no need to analyze the post and shower with pro-business comments. Take it as a personal blog with all words that cropped up my mind.
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Written by Benoy on April 9th, 2007 with 5 comments.
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