2009 Darjeelings

[Victoria]

Victoria, I'm sorry the Sun Moon Lake tea didn't work out to be a great find for you but thank you for the review anyway! I love to hear everybody's opinions on these teas; they're very helpful to me. It's kind of surprising how enjoyable tea tasting is even vicariously.

Ahh, I loved trying it. And maybe the one from CS will prove to be better.
Anyway since I have been asked a couple of time, I decided to make a post of my favorite black teas.

[Victoria]

This afternoon I'm trying Darjeeling Balasun FTGFOP1 First Flush from SpecialTeas.
This is probably my favorite of the four '09 FF I've tried.

A nice fruitiness, mild astringency throughout, nice body,
medium gold color, fresh aroma. Not much dry leaf aroma.
A nice cup; sweet and fruity with peach overtones, lightly crisp.

[Victoria]

Is no one else out there having '09 FF Darjeelings?? I feel like I am talking to myself!

Today I am having Soom Estate FF. It is very good, maybe equal to the
Balasun, which is my favorite so far.

Still waiting for my Adagio sample, it must be coming from NJ, rather than the west coast.

[woozl]

We are all waiting your tasting notes
seriously sounds tough for FF this year. I may get one or I may wait for seconds

[Victoria]

Well these two are very good IMHO, but still I would like to find them from a
vendor that specializes in whole leaf.

[Proinsias]

I got in my sample pack from Lochan Tea this morning. I'm currently drinking the Castleton and I'm enjoying it. Although this is probably due in a large part to finishing off some off my rather past their prime Darjeeling I've had lying around over the past few weeks. I'll try to chime in something of value once I've tried a few more of the samples.

[Victoria]

I just got my Camellia Sinensis order today from Canada so I have a bunch to try also. This is my first order from them. Then I have one more shipment from the UK.

I wasn't too happy with the ones from Lochan last year. I hope yours are better.

[kymidwife]

Is no one else out there having '09 FF Darjeelings?? I feel like I am talking to myself!

Today I am having Soom Estate FF. It is very good, maybe equal to the
Balasun, which is my favorite so far.

Still waiting for my Adagio sample, it must be coming from NJ, rather than the west coast.

I think I've posted everything I've tried so far... the Puttabong, Margaret's Hope, and Balasun, all from Tea Emporium. I wonder if my Balasun is essentially the same as yours from SpecialTeas? If you wanna trade any, let me know. I have a Sungma organic I haven't tried yet. And haven't ordered anything new yet. Was waiting to hear a review from you on the Spring Darjeeling.... it was really good last year, and I have some tea-bucks to spend!

Sarah

[Victoria]

The Adagio STILL is not here!!! I guess as I said it must be coming from NJ. Oh we are so spoiled with the usual next day delivery.

I would love to sample your Balasun! But all I can send in return is the Soom.
Everything else I have been essentially buying in sample sizes and there is not enough to bargain with.

After buying so much unsampled from Lochan last year, I decided not to do that again. So I have been searching out sample sizes before I commit. I have probably spent way more than I did last year, but I have tried several new vendors and tried a few other new teas along the way.

Oh - and today I am sampling the Gopaldhara FF from Camellia Sinensis. It is VERY good. Classified as an oolong? I am new to this. It gets confusing. I would love MORE of this.

http://camellia-sinensis.com/tea/fiche/ ... flush+2009

.

[cyberhoofer]

I just received the following message from Tea Emporium on the upcoming 2nd Flush DJs:


"Dear Sir,
We are glad to receive your mail, please note that we are expecting some good muscatels from Castleton and Sungma this year , we are expecting some great moonlight from Castleton and also some great musk oolong from balasun , we are directly dealing with the estates this year as last year we had to procure some teas from Kolkata due to some agitations here,we will keep you updated with all the teas as soon as they arrive, we have just started tasting samples from different gardens but I feel we should wait for atleast 10 days for excellent SF teas, I would also suggest you to try the Puttabong dj7 1st flush 2009 tea with your order for SF as this tea is excellent this year, also note that this year since the Fedex rates have gone up so we can only provide you this service for orders over 2 kgs at a time, anyways we will soon have great teas and will update you as soon as it arrives. "

"Dear Sir,
Yes, the minimum order is still 49$ but what I mean is that below 2 kg order we are sending the teas by UPS or Dhl and above 2 kg by Fedex."
--- --- ---

I guess I just have to order a few kilos to receive the teas via Fedex, which in my opinion is the best courier. I've had bad experiences with DHL, they had knife torn a 'mixed bag' order of mine. If you have to choose, please prefer Fedex or UPS to DHL, I'm serious!

All in all, just 10 days to a fortnight before I get my 2nd Flush DJs.

Something to live for...

[Salsero]

I wasn't impressed by the Puttabong dj7 1st flush 2009 or -- for that matter -- by any of the 12 or so first flush Darjeelings I have tried this year. Let us know how you like the second flushes when they come in. I am a little afraid to order any after being so disappointed with the whole first flush ... maybe I am just not a first flush kind of guy.

I am, however, quite happy with a sample of 2009 1st Flush Doke Silver Needle white tea that I got from Lochan Tea. A couple years ago I also enjoyed a Doke Royal Snow Bud, 2nd Flush 2007, also a white. All in all, they are probably not as good as the best of the Chinese whites, but very enjoyable tea nevertheless.