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Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Organic Darjeeling Tea 2009

By on June 11, 2009 in darjeeling second flush, darjeeling second flush tea, darjeeling tea tasting, New Tea Arrivals, Second Flush, Tea Reviews

Hello Friends its been long since I have personally written anything about our own teas on my blog. Usually, I do the tea tasting and the scribbling part is done by another who elaborates it – from now on I have decided that I will personally ‘ink’ the individual tea profiles both for this tea blog as well as for our sales page.

Good Second Flush 2009 Darjeeling tea is a hard find this year and I am trying my best to source the best. Production is low and the quality of tea came late. We started receiving Second Flush tea season samples from various Darjeeling tea gardens, but until mid of first week of June i.e. last week, all teas proved a big dissatisfaction. It had some body and proved to be in between First Flush and Second Flush with a characteristics mixture of both First and Second Flush, a total waste. Even Arya’s first sample they sent us was the same, but gradually seems to have improved with the providence of much needed sunlight, mist/fog, correct humidity and rain. Now its getting to its peak slowly. One of such teas manufactured and procured after mid of first week of June is “Arya SFTGFOP1”. Now this is what I call a heavenly brew.

COMMENTS ON THIS SECOND FLUSH 2009 DARJEELING TEA
Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Dry Tea leaves: Elongated dry tea leaves having ‘chocolate – brown’ overall appearance with considerable amount of golden tips (also known as buds and teas with lots of such tips are sometimes referred to as “tippy”) signifying ‘high quality’ Second Flush Darjeeling Tea. As soon as the pack got opened, we got an overwhelming sweet fragrance with an undertone reminiscent of the fruit plum which is also ‘musky’ (muscatel). It is a complex flowery tea with complex hints of ‘caramel like’, honey, burnt sugar, slightly nutty, buttery etc. characteristics. The tea leaves seem well rolled with correct crushes and bursts of cells bringing out the required juices much needed for tea. As a result the leaves appear well twisted with golden buds having downy hairs, giving it a curled façade which also appears to have a rich luster and a proper Second Flush bloom.

Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Wet (Infused) Tea leaves: Total coppery infused leaves showing the real characteristics of a pure Second Flush Darjeeling tea. The golden buds now appear to be pale yellow (dark) in color. It has a sweet aroma which is also malty or chocolaty and slightly minty cool. It has a complex blend of slightly fruity and flowery characteristics.

Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Cup or Tea Liquor: Again the cup bears the mark of a pure Second Flush tea with its coppery color going more towards the ‘dark red’ mark. Full bodied and smooth with negligible amount of bitterness, hardly noticeable – bitterness increases with longer steeping time. The cup is ‘brisk’ having lively characteristics which is the result of tender plucking and good calculated manufacture. It has a rich aroma which is a complex mixture of being chocolaty or malty, sugary or honey toned, fruity and nutty, buttery, musky etc. Has a rich flavor which is a result of slow growth at higher altitudes. Each sip tends to leave your mouth dry especially affecting your tongue the most and inner cheeks slightly. Has a sweet lingering after taste.

Sidenote: I did two brewings of the same tea at the same time. One I used it for tasting purpose and the other prepared it and didn’t touch it. The left alone cup even after getting totally cooled, had a long lasting aroma which is very sweet and musky. Amazing cup.

Many have asked about my tea preference relating to different tea seasons – My favorite would be Second Flush because this is what Darjeeling is famous for – ‘the musky or muscatel character’. The musky-chocolaty aroma and taste is what I always yearn for. Though First Flush teas cannot be neglected, my favorite season would be Second Flush. This is my favorite but this again cannot be everybody’s favorite as the polity of individual palate comes into play. The worst tea can prove the best and the best can be reviewed into worse – ones own palate is the sole judge here.

Well I am tasting more of Second Flush 2009 Darjeeling Teas at the moment – looking for high end as well as some value for money teas, but in good quality. Some good teas are underrated due to the underrated name of that particular tea garden and its possible to find a gem hidden, yearning to be embraced and appreciated. Such was the case with First Flush 2009 Giddapahar tea. Will have to consider our clients who wouldn’t want to spend more, but simultaneously get a good second flush.

Until then, Happy Tea Sipping!

infused_tea_leaves_n_plants Oh lastly, I was about to throw away the infused leaves and my mother exclaimed – “Don’t throw that away, you are wasting it, I need it for my plants growth!”. For years she has been using these infused leaves to add extra ingredients to her plant soil – really don’t know the scientific reason for it, but guess, I can hear from you all right under this post. All I know is that this trend is been handed over from one generation to another and especially the women folk has been practising this and surprisingly, the plants bloom into gorgeous flowers. I like tea drinking and tasting, not much of a man who has gone deep into the acts of infused leaves :)

This Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush organic tea has been updated to our sales page and if you are interested – get it here!. This is a limited edition tea :) Don’t ask me when its gone, as is always the case with good teas!! Just don’t be left out or deprived of the creams of Darjeeling!

Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 arya tea estate First Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Arya Tea - organic Tea Arya SFTGFOP1 Second Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 arya tea estate arya tea estate First Flush Darjeeling Tea 2009 Arya Tea - organic Tea
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Will Second Flush 2009 Darjeelings delay due to previous delay in First Flush Teas?

By on May 2, 2009 in darjeeling second flush tea, Second Flush

Finally got some chance to scribble down some notes, elaborate and post it here. Actually to tell you the truth, twitter is getting me real hard and blogging on this blog is becoming secondary. Of course not, there is a difference between tweeting just 140 letters and infinity here. All important things go here, but important things which can be explained in less than 140 characters goes to twitter, so do follow me on twitter. I will share and would like to learn from you – twitter.com/darjeelingtea :)

Now the main thing – The delay in first flush (2009) is known to all. All know it by now that it was that egoistic rain that hampered it – rather ‘delayed it’ would be correct, but the ego couldn’t hold on for long and melted away seeing the miseries of people directly and indirectly involved – taking in consideration hundreds of poor Darjeeling tea garden laborers, tea merchants like us, tea connoisseurs etc. – this is a finger pointing towards the master above – Thanks buddy, you saved and made us retain ourselves. I will not delve into this First Flush matter again and make you ‘yawn’, but rather focus on what is coming next – the next big and famed Second Flush Darjeeling Tea season for 2009. First Flush started late; will this shift the upcoming second flush further down the line? Guess, the answer is ‘no’!

I am writing this post because one of my client, rather would honor her as a true tea connoisseur (and my friend who loves tea, but wouldn’t want to get deep into its science – she is kinda busy) asked me by personally calling over my cell phone – “I bet the second flush teas will have a hard time too because the whole year is a bad turnover for Darjeeling this time due to lack of rain, guess the second flush will get delayed due to delay in first flush”. Well, it’s a straight-away thinking and partially right if you are not involved in it deeply. The rains in Feb-March are important for both First Flush and Second Flush Darjeeling teas, but sometimes, it doesn’t play by the rules as it happened this year for first flush. There was a delay in First flush for about a month – will this result in dragging the second flush further down by one month? I guess not!

If it happens so, then we will have First Flush Darjeeling Teas for 2010 one month later from the original stipulated time for its growth – the whole Darjeeling tea production history will change and the seasonal teas will be not in the perfect seasons anymore. Maybe we will have autumn during the winter season which is known to be dormant, meaning no leaves on the tea bushes.

The cycle happens and the natural thing that is to happen will happen on its correct time, except for the unpredictable ingredients. First Flush production went down (in quantity), why? Because the time frame for its production was cut short before the “banji” period began. If it followed the so called “delay phenomenon” the banji would be appearing later, but it has already started and Second flush will be on time, provided all the things needed are in place and time. The banji period differs from one garden to another which is due to the difference in altitude of individual tea gardens. A tea garden can start its second flush production while the other can still be going through the banji period.

If “banji” needs to be explained here, it would take me another bite of the apple to gain energy and sort out the words. Will do if I am able to :) But for now, the backache is resting on my head :)

To sum up, no probs, we will have an excellent Second Flush for 2009 and getting your share of second flush Darjeeling teas 2009 wouldn’t be much of a problem. So tea cheers, keep sipping, be happy always!!

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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