Darjeeling Tea Blog

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!