1st FLUSH DARJEELINGS ARE HERE!

With great anticipation, I awaited the arrival of the Makaibari Imperial Vintage Darjeeling. Tim from Cargo & James and I ordered 30kgs of this tea and now that it is here - and I have tasted it again, I wish I had a hundred kilos!

The tea came packed in .5 kg foil bags with an outer plastic bag. It was undamaged and the leaves are in pristine condition.

I've done a few cuppings already and have sold a few of the bags to some of my clients. They have been blown way by the beautiful muscatel notes and super clean finish on the tea.

This invoice is by far one of the best Darjeelings that I have tasted in over 5 years.

If you would like a sample, please let me know and I'll see what I can arrange for you.

talk soon tea people,

Makaibari Imperial Vintage - bio - Best Darjeeling

Makaibari Imperial Vintage - what can I say...wow, wow and wow again.
This impressive Garden has produced an exceptional 1st flush this year.
They have been using biodynamic growing practices for quite some time now and this season's tea 1st Flush Imperial Vintage clearly shows that all their hard work and committment to quality and sustainability is paying off. I used 7 key variables to score the teas and the Imperial Vintage came out on top. Here is the cupping criteria I used:
1. Aroma
2. Astrigency
3. Body
4. Briskness
5. Character
6. Greeness
7. Muscatel
8. Thickness
I used a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the least desirable to 10 being the most desirable.

The top 3 in order of thier scores are:

Makaibari Imperial Vintage Bio - 62 points
Margarets Hope FTGFOP1 - 60 points
Glenburn Wiry Vintage - 41 points

I will be ordering a chest or two of this tea. Let me know if you want some yourself.

Happy sipping,
Brendan

Darjeeling cupping shots

On Friday I cupped some primo 2007 1st flushes.

Here is a photo essay of the sensory experience:

2007 First Flush Darjeelings are here!

My cupping pack of the top picks from some well known gardens in Darjeeling arrived on Friday - yeah!.

Caselton, Margarets Hope, Thurbo and Makaibari to name a few.
I sipped some yesterday - just skimmed the surface, and so far, I am thoroughly excited with the quality.

These are exceptional Darjeelings, and this seasons picks are the best I have tasted in 3 to 4 years.

I am doing a full cupping with the 8 later this afternoon. I will let you know the results of my slurping.

STAY TUNED!