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Tea offer on two Second Flush Darjeeling Teas

By on September 4, 2009 in darjeeling second flush, darjeeling second flush tea, Darjeeling Tea Offers

Its a great pleasure to announce that we are now giving away an incredible offer on our newly purchased two teas, namely Arya GFTGFOP1 Green Tea (EX – 42) and Giddapahar Musk (DJ 29). No where can you find these teas at the price we are offering.

Reason for offer – definitely good Darjeeling teas, but just that we have extra huge sacks in our storeroom. We have got one extra invoice of Giddapahar Musk (DJ 29), the previous invoice already sold. Arya Green Tea (EX 42) – some 60 more kgs lying with us.

Direct Link to page: Click Here!

If you are a wholesale buyer, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are giving away this tea with just a marginal profit. You can write to us at wholesale[at]thunderbolttea.com

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Darjeeling, pilgrimage and tea

By on August 1, 2009 in darjeeling second flush, darjeeling second flush tea, Personal Ramblings, Second Flush

I really don’t know why when it comes to Darjeeling Tea, it always has to hit the newswires as it is happening this year. Are the Gods marketing Darjeelings? – dart out ‘controversial’, end up ‘less produced’ and finally get expressed into ‘higher price’. Surely ‘Gods’ referred, as most of the mentioned phenomenal actions were nature’s sketch and the common man could do nothing – Just perceive being devastated and the least that could be done as a performance was to collect the debris and reflect back on the original structure which was there. And on top of this, man made gestures splinter in between, making everything halt at a standstill – a complete cripple – another addition of lovely inconvenience. Does God want annihilation or want us to resurrect and ponder – was that a starting sign of the much conversed ‘global warming’ in the hills? Anything ‘Darjeeling Tea’ inks the headlines!

Darjeeling is always considered the abode of Gods and is surely mystical – The Land of the Thunderbolt (that’s the reason why we christened our company “Thunderbolt Tea”). With so many temples, monasteries, churches and mosques, it also holds an upright position to be an ideal pilgrimage.

Darjeeling Observatory Hill - Hindu and Buddhist temple

The abode never got abandoned and Gods too got the nostalgia, as all do, even if you have visited once. Maybe this has got a contributing factor in the production of Darjeeling Tea as well – no matter how bad the natural calamities hover around, there is always a heap of excellent quality Darjeeling Tea lying in one corner of a particular tea factory. Just needs some vigorous sourcing and of course a fat wallet to transfer it to ones warehouse. I simply burst into tears when a new buying for quality tea is scheduled on the chart.

For a vendor like me, it was tough and still is when ailing factors crop up. I have noticed that tea trade, specially relating to Darjeeling Tea is as complex as the very ‘fruity and nutty’ cup itself. It is considered best to buy Darjeelings during the peak time, for instance May for Second Flush, but what would have happened if I had hurried this Second Flush season (when Aila was at work)? – I would have bought “low quality at a high price”, which would have resulted in “complaints + loss”. Initially too much rain havocked the tea plants draining every mineral out of it. Again the season was cut short resulting in less production. After first week of June, the quality started to revive due to favorable weather conditions. So the only means through which I could procure good Second Flush was through constant tea tasting of tea samples sent by tea gardens. Some indulged traveling straight to them. Now that it is over and when pondered upon, I feel it was tiring and hectic but simultaneously, was fun. It is always great to do a job if one finds passion hidden in it. The learning phase is never over and the curiosity glides on and on.

After my discovery of Twitter and Facebook, the thought of being the “only ghost who drinks tea” miraculously compounded into a sigh of relief – I found other like minded ghosts who drank and lived tea! My tea friends!! “I am glad I found you all!” My life is getting liquefied trying to wade through the mysterious paths of tea and has infused into ‘total tea’ – a passion and a bread earner. If you cut me, I will blood out tea (thats an exaggeration hehe). But seriously, on a simpler note, I will never regret falling in love with it! Will I get over it? Guess not – the lovely addiction is so intense that I can live drinking it :)

Along with my very own, I can very well perceive that fellow tea lovers are developing their niche Darjeeling palate. Darjeelings are tender when it comes to preparing and preparing should be done along the lines of ones palate likings – thats what I found out so far. Some like the astringent character while some hate it and this is the reason why I wouldn’t want to advice a standardized form of Darjeeling Tea tasting procedure (specially steeping timings). But the art is slowly evolving and it is good news that Darjeeling now is getting diversified into making varied types of teas, apart from the traditional black, which would justify every palate. Like for instance I did some purchasing of Darjeeling greens and oolongs from Arya. Some say that Darjeeling should stick to black, but apart from black, have we tried anything else? There is no harm in exploring and yes, exploring in the right manner as Arya is doing. Not by making greens during the off or low quality season to push sales; this obviously will result in disappointment and the true hope of an authentic Darjeeling green can never be acquired.

When it comes to Darjeeling Tea seasons, only the three famed namely the First, Second and Autumn Flush are highlighted leaving the ‘in between’ or monsoon flush behind. Most of us even don’t know about it. Well there are a few reasons for that; monsoons mean rain with little sunshine and rains more than the required amount is really a menace in processing tea. It has been passed on from our ancestors that too much rain will wipe off the real taste and guess they are absolutely right – too much of rain occurring on a slope, drains away the much needed ingredients and is somewhat tasteless. Tea is not the only plant, but all plants, vegetables etc. gets affected, except for some exceptionals which are destined to grow during the monsoons only. I got some tea samples (monsoon teas), but no offence, it really didn’t have the essential juice to convince me. It was rather flat with very little aroma Darjeeling is famous for. Maybe I have missed out on a few good ones, but every year, monsoon teas have proved to be a disappointment (to me). During this season, the prices are rock bottom and why do you think that a tea fetching a price tag of USD 100 in the previous main flush is just 10 now? The quality is the main reason. I have skipped it every year and will be skipping this year too and instead concentrate on the upcoming Autumnal teas. Wouldn’t want to waste my money as well as my clients.

Anyways, I know this post is haphazard and so the apt title entitled. I will try to be more systematized and focused. Until then, Happy Tea Sipping!!!

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Our Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 selection

By on June 24, 2009 in darjeeling second flush, darjeeling second flush tea, New Tea Arrivals, Second Flush

2nd_flush_darjeeling_tea_1st Yes, new 2009 Second Flush tea procurement is almost over, a few samples are still popping and we will definitely taste it – if we like the quality we will buy, if not just discard it! Anyways, the fine selection of Second Flush Darjeeling Teas from 2009 has now been updated to our site and you can now purchase it online.

‘Patience a Virtue’ for Second Flush purchase this year
This year, the First Flush nearly got a barren look, but the weather supported at the right time. The tea leaves were on the verge of defoliation due to lack of rain. Everything was going on fine for new 2009 Second Flush and no delay was to occur, then the freaking “Aila” got bestowed, causing heavy rainfall in the Darjeeling hills which resulted in numerous landslides. Most of the tea gardens here in Darjeeling bear that landslide spot here and there, but thanks to the size of the tea gardens here in Darjeeling – it’s just not a small hill but numerous hills combined into one tea garden. Until first week of June, the teas we tasted were in between the two flushes and had a mix character possessing both First Flush and Second Flush character – thin liquor with no body, infused leaves still had that green effect and the taste still very astringent as first flush. However, when it comes to thin liquor, some second flush clonals do tend to be light, but the various other characteristics speak prominently of Second Flush. If you have hurried and purchased a Second Flush product processed earlier than first week of June then you are most probably drinking a mix characterized cup, tagged as Second flush.

The confusion and the final verdict
While buying the Second Flush, I had to do a lot of stern tastings this year. Some teas although good were exorbitantly high priced and I had to make a choice between a few. For example, I had to make a choice between the three samples I received, namely Puttabong Clonal Delight, Castleton Moonlight and Arya Ruby (Tippy) – All seem to be good teas, but Arya is Arya when it comes to competition – it was the forerunner. Castleton Moonlight and Arya Ruby got the same bid price, but quality wise, Arya Ruby won hands down, so Castleton Moonlight got chucked out. Now, came Puttabong Clonal Delight and Arya Ruby – Puttabong Clonal Delight seems to be nice and came near to the Ruby phenomena, but got chucked out due to its exorbitant price – Lesser than Ruby in quality, but higher than Ruby in price – Puttabong Clonal Delight got the kick out! Anyways, that’s the story of one of the choices I had to make while there are many!

Some still pending
I have been constantly contacting Castleton for Castleton Muscatel and had several chats with Mr. D.B. Gurung, the tea maker – they have a forward contract of 2500 kgs of Castleton Muscatel, but the sad thing is that the “Aila” got the production reduced. Castleton Muscatel is produced from special muscatel graded leaves and since the leaves couldn’t bloom to glory, the production got reduced. I really doubt whether the Castleton Muscatels meant for sale for other vendors including us will be of optimum quality or not. Still inquiring!!

Excellent Second Flush 2009 teas from some gardens
On the other hand, Arya, Goomtee, Risheehat and Sungma produced some excellent second flush teas worth mentioning. My fav is Arya, but Risheehat, Goomtee and Sungma won my heart this time. Sungma Clonal Wonder and Risheehat Flowery won hands down when compared to similar teas from other tea gardens. Goomtee (Muscatel Valley) is another awesome second flush tea which I couldn’t avoid buying. Arya Ruby is another tea which surprised me this time – excellent appearance, very aromatic dry leaves, full of two leaves and a bud – “tippy” is assigned this time and this highly speaks for itself. Due to abundance of tips, some amount of heavy wither and light roll, the cup is little bit lighter than the previous Rubys, giving the cup a mellow characteristics – a rare tea find with these unique Ruby characteristics.

Why we do not include Invoice nos. along with our teas?
This question has been asked by our clients and some interested tea lovers – We have our reasons for it. Yes, we do not mention any DJs, LCs or EX invoice nos. because we do some wholesaling as well and we don’t want the same DJ nos. distributed among others. Our wholesale customers complained about it. Yes, those who wholesale it and also mention their invoice nos., just google it and you will find multiple vendors with the same tea and same invoice no. – who is authentic? Our authenticity can be known by simply visiting our Facebook or twitter or twitpic page where we upload photos of various teas we receive – However, the invoice nos. are blurred out! Hope you understand it now! Maybe someday, we will exclusively have to buy a particular invoice for retail alone and that time we will definitely include the invoice nos.

What I feel about this years Second Flush Purchase:
Well, to admit frankly, though the scarcity, this is my finest line of Second Flush Darjeeling teas since the time I started my tea business and I a proud, I was lucky to get on to the right ones. I guarantee that anyone who purchases will fall in love with it – one advice though, if you love high quality, buy high quality and this is clearly marked by individual tea pricing. If you have noticed then there are really low priced teas as well on the line and this is keeping in mind for the budget conscious who simultaneously wants a good second flush Darjeeling tea. And I feel that the line of teas I have purchased this year is amongst the finest selection as far as I know. Show me a better collection if you have any. I will be surprised because being a local vendor, it was so hard to source the best :) so you can guess. Nowhere can you find this selection and the price we offer!

Anyways, I wrote this post on random, without any multiple reads and editing before publishing. Hope I am successful in conveying what I actually wanted to convey!

All teas are very limited, Hurry! Don’t ask when its already gone!

There will be no discount offers on 2nd flush 2009 teas for the next 4 months – simply for the reason: we just can’t afford to, coz the teas are freakin expensive and rare. Buy it fresh and fragrant.

Click here to go directly to Second Flush Page

And don’t forget that our recently purchased First Flush 2009 teas are on sale – Click here if you are interested!

Good Day and Happy Tea Sipping!

Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009
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