TeaChat

What is the best loose leaf Darjeeling I can get online? Hopefully for a pretty good price per cup...

How do you define a pretty good price? Affordable or pretty pricey?

It would also help, if you told us 1st, 2nd or Autumn Flush?

Clonal or China grade?

One of the best I've had this year certainly is 2nd Flush Arya Ruby, but it's quite a burden to one's purse @ USD 200/kg.

I managed to get 2 kilos in a beautiful wooden chest from the estate.

PM me, if you're interested in learning how to get some from India!
[Minimum order is 1 kilo - shipping is by courier.]



Online you can get oustanding teas from Thunderbolt Tea, including some limited edition ones, like 'Arya Diamond',

http://www.thunderbolttea.com/pages/sec ... g_tea.html

Lochan Tea has some pretty good teas as well, but their website is not up-to-date. You should e-mail Vivek Lochan for details:

vivek@lochantea.com

2nd Flush Teas I've recently had from Thunderbolt & Lochan and can recommend, are:

Lochan Tea:
Castleton FTGFOP1 Muscatel
Castleton Moonlight
Sungma SFTGFOP1
Thurbo FTGFOP1 Clonal Muscatel
Margaret's Hope FTGFOP1 Musk
Sourenee FTGFOP1 Muscatel

Thunderbolt Tea:
Arya Diamond
Margaret's Hope Silver Moon
Risheehat Clonal Flowery
-- -- --

Then there's Tea Emporium, with a good selection. But I haven't ordered from them yet.

http://teaemporium.net/2ndFlush_DarjeelingTea_2010.asp

-cyberhoofer-

cyberhoofer wrote:PM me, if you're interested in learning how to get some from India!
[Minimum order is 1 kilo - shipping is by courier.]

Why not post it here?

My experience with Tea Emporium has been wonderful... excellent tea, impeccable packing, quick shipping. I've found nothing to compare with their quality, although to be fair, I have not tried Thunderbolt yet. I am reluctant to venture out to other vendors when I've only been disappointed with most others when compared with TE.

Sarah

kymidwife wrote:My experience with Tea Emporium has been wonderful... excellent tea, impeccable packing, quick shipping. I've found nothing to compare with their quality, although to be fair, I have not tried Thunderbolt yet. I am reluctant to venture out to other vendors when I've only been disappointed with most others when compared with TE.

Sarah

I've been enjoying single estate Darjs for 4 years now. From online vendors like Goldentips, Kho-Cha, Lochan Tea, Tea Emporium & Thunderbolt Tea.

As for quality, Tea Emporium & Thunderbolt are 100% equal. Benoy Thapa is a personal friend of mine & I can only praise 'his' teas. The Arya Diamond & Margaret's Hope Silver Moon are simply divine, if you like clonal 2nd Flush Darjs.

TE hasn't got any teas from the Arya Estate, but Thunderbolt stocks several from all the 3 flushes. If you want to order e.g. smaller quantities, I advice to order from Benoy.

Or then you can order from the Arya Estate, minimum quantity is 1 kilo, like I told before. And while they still have some, 2nd Flush Arya Ruby, I mean. I got my 2 kilos from a 25 kg invoice they 'broke'. Also, a tea friend of mine in the States ordered 1 kilo & was extremely pleased.

Usually, the 'Jewel' line teas from Arya don't go to Kolkata auctions, but are sold directly to big online vendors in Germany, Japan & USA.

The MonkDarjeelingTea company has a branch office in Stuttgart, Germany. Their sales manager Mr. Dhruv Khanna is a very cool guy & helpful also. You can contact him from their website:

http://www.monkdarjeelingtea.in/location.htm

OR, via their Fabebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monk-Darj ... 215?ref=ts


I have also written a review on the Arya Ruby on their wall.



Have to go now, I have 2nd Flush 2010 Castleton Moonlight waiting for me...

The best I've had is from Spiceandtea.com

seriously the best.(tastes like a second flush so I'd put my money down that it is a 2nd flush)

and my boyfriend LOVES Darjeeling Vidyaranya from Teavana which is a TGFOP-1(first flush) I like it a lot but the one from spiceandtea is the best to me(:

I'm with kymidwife - Tea Emporium has the best Darjeeling I have tried and great prices and fast shipping. I am extremely satisfied.

This year's Turzum organic FF and SF are both exceptional. And very reasonably priced at Tea Emporium.

NOESIS wrote:This year's Turzum organic FF and SF are both exceptional. And very reasonably priced at Tea Emporium.

Thanks NOESIS, I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought so.

Victoria wrote: Thanks NOESIS, I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought so.

You're most welcome, Victoria.

I've now given up on all other Darjeeling vendors, given TE's exceptional quality for the price point and outstanding customer service. I burned through 200g of FF Turzum in a little over a month! ...but thankfully ordered 500g of the equally fabulous SF "clonal delight".

PS: Apparently the Turzum and Puttabong FF supplies are running low, so now would be the time to stock up.

Ha, yep I already did! But drinking it every morning is definitely eating through it rather quickly. Puttabong was my second favorite.

Castleton & Puttabong for me

Mariage Frères was a nice one. I enjoyed it.

It's expensive, the website is not too user friendly but the quality and selection is exceptional at Mariage. They have the ultra premium Darjeelings like the Bruhmes D'Himalaya selling at 120 euros per 100 grams and they also have quite reasonable priced darjeelings like Springside. They have over 50 Darjeeling teas to choose from.

yshuto wrote:It's expensive, the website is not too user friendly but the quality and selection is exceptional at Mariage. They have the ultra premium Darjeelings like the Bruhmes D'Himalaya selling at 120 euros per 100 grams and they also have quite reasonable priced darjeelings like Springside. They have over 50 Darjeeling teas to choose from.

Their markups are what I´d call ridiculous...

check the price of Singbulli SFTGFOP1 first flush on Mariage vs Tea Emporium (first one I found that both have for sale)

40€ per 100g at Mariage vs $10 per 100g at Tea Emporium

I know which one I will buy my next Darjeelings from