2009 2nd Flush Darjeelings

[cyberhoofer]

This year's Sungma is just amazing. You should try'n'buy it from Thunderbolt Tea, it's far cheaper than Tea Emporium's. I haven't tried this year's 1st Flushes (apart from the great many samples I got from Salsero), so I wouldn't know. They currently have 9 first flush teas in stock. And you get free UPS shipping for orders worth USD 150 and above.

[Rainy-Day]

I have to take back my comments about castleton moonlight. It can be really, really good. It just doesn't tolerate if you use too much leaf. All three teas I got from tea emporium are very good, but only Sungma is very tolerant of variables.

[Rainy-Day]

Sungma organic supreme Muscatel is sold out everywhere, can anyone recommend a darjeeling that's as good as this year's Sungma? Doesn't matter if it's 1st or 2nd flush.

[cyberhoofer]

Sungma organic supreme Muscatel is sold out everywhere, can anyone recommend a darjeeling that's as good as this year's Sungma? Doesn't matter if it's 1st or 2nd flush.

Try 2009 2nd Flush Sungma (Turzum) Clonal Wonder. It's my favourite Darj for 2009. You'd get it far cheaper from Benoy (Thunderbolt Tea) than from Tea Emporium, provided that he has any left.

I have 2,5 kilos. Had to rush, though, since somebody from the States bought 5 kilos a few weeks back, so Benoy kindly sent me another 1200g. You should email him first, or contact him on Facebook (Benoy Thapa).

Another good one Benoy has for sale is GIDDAPAHAR MUSK (DJ 29) 2nd Flush 2009, I have some and it's a classy tea.

Or then you could try Makaibari Vintage Muscatel or Makaibari Imperial Vintage from Vivek Lochan, both are 2nd Flush 2009. I like both a lot, and they are really cheap: USD 50 for 1000g, including courier shipping.

[Rainy-Day]

Thanks! Thunderbolt's shipping is $30 vs. $0 for tea emporium - I guess it makes sense to buy from thunderbolt if you buy in large volume? I ordered a little from tea emporium for now. I'm a bit broke now, I really should make more money and spend it all on tea, heh.

[entropyembrace]

shipping from Thunderbolt Tea is free if you order over $49 just like tea emporium iirc...but you need to enter the special offer code...its displayed at the top of the site in big letters.

[Salsero]

shipping from Thunderbolt Tea is free if you order over $49

I just placed an order with them. It's actually over $59 now for 2-week delivery and over $150 for express, less than one-week delivery.

[Rainy-Day]

shipping from Thunderbolt Tea is free if you order over $49 just like tea emporium iirc...but you need to enter the special offer code...its displayed at the top of the site in big letters.

I'm an idiot, I didn't see it. Next time...

[cyberhoofer]

About shipping:

Tea Emporium ships free on orders over 49 bucks, but it's by UPS or DHL. If you buy 2 kilos or more, Mr. Mitra ships by Fedex. This is something he doesn't tell at the website.

Lochan Tea ships 1 kilo of Darj for 50 bucks by TNT, that's all you have to pay for a kilo of tea. Their Darjs are on discount to promote Darjeeling teas. And TNT is a reliable courier.

Benoy Thapa (Thunderbolt) ships by UPS saver, if you order worth 150 bucks or more. They have recently had problems with Indian Air Mail for lesser orders, causing complaints from customers. I'm still waiting for 300 grams of Arya Ruby (Tippy) they accidentally left out from one of my major orders. They sent it afterwards via Air Mail, August the 11th, and it hasn't arrived yet. Another major order of mine from them came in just 5 days by UPS, September the 10th.

The absolutely worst courier I've dealt with (here in Finland) is DHL. They have knife torn my tea pouches, resulting a 'tea cocktail' !! And this was an order for a friend of mine from Lochan. You should avoid DHL at any cost, if possible. Lochan now ships all my orders by TNT.

Other couriers I've never had problems with & every order of mine usually arrives within 4 to 7 days.

[ericnicolaas]

Another good one Benoy has for sale is GIDDAPAHAR MUSK (DJ 29) 2nd Flush 2009, I have some and it's a classy tea.

I agree. I just finished writing a review of this one, and it's seriously fantastic. On the one hand, it's a very typical Darjeeling, with a rich muscatel flavour. But it's so balanced and smooth. I've found a few Darjeelings tend to be overly astringent (especially if you screw up the brewing time or temperature), but this one is very forgiving.

[cyberhoofer]

Another good one Benoy has for sale is GIDDAPAHAR MUSK (DJ 29) 2nd Flush 2009, I have some and it's a classy tea.

I agree. I just finished writing a review of this one, and it's seriously fantastic. On the one hand, it's a very typical Darjeeling, with a rich muscatel flavour. But it's so balanced and smooth. I've found a few Darjeelings tend to be overly astringent (especially if you screw up the brewing time or temperature), but this one is very forgiving.

You can also screw up by putting in too much leaves, if the tea is heady & complex. I first made this mistake with Thunderbolt's Risheehat Clonal Flowery & Goomtee Muscatel Valley. Both brew wonderfully, if one uses a slightly lesser amount of leaves & a fraction shorter steeping time.

I have 5 different Risheehats from the last three years. To my palate this year's Risheehat Cl Flowery is the most complex one. The appearance of the leaves also differs from previous years, being small & needle like. Whereas Risheehat leaves from 2007 & 2008 remind me of Oriental Beauty, both in leaf size & the variety of different colours.

I also happen to have some 2008 2nd FlushRisheehat classic musk (sftgfop-1/oolong type) DJ-130 from Tea Emporium left. This particular the tastes quite a lot like this year's Sungma Turzum. It's more than medium fermented for an Oolong & is heavily roasted, so to me it's more like black tea than an Oolong. However, it's one of my 2nd Flush favourites from 2008.

I also managed to get a 'rounder' brew for both 2009 Risheehat & Goomtee by using bamboo charcoaled water. Whether it's just in my head or for real, I don't know. I just feel the charcoal makes them both 'rounder'.

[cyberhoofer]

I just placed a new order at Lochan Tea, they gave me a REAL bargain:

We will be sending you 10 teas – 250 gms of each tea. The list of teas is as below:



1. GOOMTEE MUSCATEL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

2. MARGARET'S HOPE MUSCATEL DELIGHT, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

3. SINGBULLI FTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

4. CASTLETON IMPERIAL MUSCATEL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

5. PHUGURI FTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

6. THURBO FTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

7. JUNGPANA MUSCATEL DELIGHT, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

8. GIDDAPAHAR SFTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

9. HILLTON SFTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

10. MEGHMA HONEY OOLONG, 2ND FLUSH 2009, NEPAL

All this for USD 100, including expedited courier shipping.

You guys should try them out. Just can't wait for the Castleton, which I haven't tasted this year!

They have others, too:

MARGARET'S HOPE FTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
GOOMTEE MUSCATEL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
MARGARET'S HOPE MUSCATEL DELIGHT, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
PHUGURI FTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
SINGBULLI FTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
CASTLETON IMPERIAL MUSCATEL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
CASTLETON FTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
GOOMTEE SFTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
JUNGPANA MUSCATEL DELIGHT, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
THURBO FTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
THURBO FTGFOP 1 CL TIPPY, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
MAKAIBARI IMPERIAL VINTAGE, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
MAKAIBARI FTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
JUNGPANA SFTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
GIDDAPAHAR SFTGFOP 1 CH SPL, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
HILLTON SFTGFOP 1, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
HILLTON GREEN TEA, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
MAKAIBARI GREEN DELIGHT, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING
GLENBURN BAI MU DAN, 2ND FLUSH 2009, DARJEELING

[woozl]

Must say I enjoyed Gommtee most this year, 1st and 2nd,
but I don't need 250 g of any 1 tea.

[cyberhoofer]

Must say I enjoyed Gommtee most this year, 1st and 2nd,
but I don't need 250 g of any 1 tea.

I've already had Thunderbolt's Goomtee 2nd Flush Muscatel Valley, which was outstanding. Lochan's is something I'm looking forward to brewing.

[Chip]

Holy smokes, what are you going to do with that much tea? Pretty cheap, albeit.