Organic Okayti Wonder – Second Flush From Vahdam Teas

by kittylovestea

Okayti-Wonder-Darjeeling-Black-Tea-Second-Flush-_Organic_-main_grandeTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black Darjeeling Tea

Where to Buy: Vahdam Teas

Tea Description:

A certified organic fresh summer black from Okayti. The well manufactured leaves offer a delightful appearance with golden tips sprinkled all over. The tea is elegantly rich and bodied supported by aromas of fruits and berries. Discover zesty notes of chocolate with hints of muscat grapes in every sip. The aftertaste lingers on to a sweet floral finish. 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I will start by explaining that Vahdam Teas is a new name for an older company, formally known as Golden Tips Teas. This tea was a free sample from my previous order with them; of which I am thankful to try.

Darjeeling to me is perfect for the summer months and today has been a little dull but warm and dry non the less, ideal to review this sample. This tea is certified organic and is graded as: SFTGFOP1 which stands for (Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1).  The packaging label also shows the ‘Date of Picking’ which is a bonus and very nice to see. My sample was picked 15th May 2015, so it’s just over a year old. This crop is still available for sale on their website.

As I open the packet and spread a selection of the leaves in my palm I can note: small/medium dark brown leaves, thinly rolled with some curl and a few golden tips scattered about. They have a dry and sour scent with elements of musk and wood.

Steeping Parameters: 3-4g of leaf into a 320ml vessel with boiling water for 3 minutes. 

The result is an amber coloured tea liquid that bares the same muscatel, wooden scent as it’s raw form.

Flavour is slightly sour with mild leather and malt flavours with dryness in the after taste. There is also some sweetness which cuts through the sourness a little. The musk is also present but it smells stronger than it tastes. As it cools the sourness tones down slightly but the malt and dry leaf flavour remains dominant and fills my mouth. The dryness increases but remains at a manageable level.

After the steep the used tea leaves are mostly whole and now fully opened, baring a brown colour with a red hue. They have no discolouration or holes/marks and I can see no stems other than those that have broken off from the leaves.

There are a few reasons that I tend to prefer 2nd flush Darjeeling and the main reason is the muscatel flavour/scent. It is unique to Darjeeling and that makes it special, and also a favourite of mine. This is a nice example of a 2nd flush Darjeeling, though the musk is not as strong with this one as it can be. Still, overall it tasted and smelled wonderful which is all I can ask for. And it’s aided me on this warm day beautifully.

Until next time, Happy Steeping!

kittylovestea

My name is Kayleigh Jade and I was born in Leicester, England, UK. I have always had a love for herbal and fruit tea (even as a child) but my curiosity got the best of me in my teen years and I started to look into other teas. I eventually found some companies in the UK that offered different teas and eBay was an easy source for international (particularly Chinese) teas. I found myself liking specific teas more than others such as Pu Erh and jasmine green pearls (which are two of my favourites still to date) and my obsession kept growing. Now I am in tea clubs and regularly order new products to try and though I have tried a good variety of different teas I still consider myself to be a beginner student. My goal in life is to keep tasting and steeping and learning and hopefully by having this blog I will pass on what I learn and feel. My name is kittylovestea because it combined my two favourite things in the world. Those being cats and tea (of course!). My cats are also interested in some of my teas (especially dessert or sweet teas) and always seem to become excited once they smell what I’m brewing. I have arrived home before to find a few tea packets on the floor with suspicious looking holes which any cat owner know are made from biting. I now have to be careful with the storing of my tea but it’s nice to know my 4 angels have the same interests as me. =^_^=

This post was posted in Black Tea, Darjeeling, Tea Company, Type Of Tea, Vahdam Teas

Makaibari Estate Autumn Flush Organic Darjeeling Black Tea From Golden Tips Tea

by thelastdodo

Makaibari_DarjeelingTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Golden Tips Tea

Tea Description:

Our maiden ​autumnal offering from the bio-organic and fair-trade Makaibari plantations. Floral, zesty and and stimulating, the tea is a classic pre-winter Darjeeling. The coruscating liquor shimmers your tea experience and brings in scintillating fruity aromas. Characteristic of a typical combination of black-brown and light green leaves, the flavor is an alluring melody of accentuated briskness and sharp astringent notes which make for a unique delightful cuppa. An excellent tea for all Autumn tea lovers.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I like to know everything I can about my tea. Where it was grown? When was it picked and processed? What did it do in its free time? All important questions.

So when I see the exact estate/region and date of picking, it just makes me feel better knowing. I think that influences my tea purchases greatly. So, on the sample package of Makaibari’s Autumn Flush Darjeeling, seeing basic details is a comfort. Golden Tips even goes so far as to put the exact day when the tea was plucked. (November 28th, 2014 to be exact.)

Opening the package, I see the usually tricolor leaves; dark brown, sliver-tipped, and the occasional green. The leaves give off little to no aroma, very light bread and fruity notes.

I steeped my tea loose in my elephant teapot, letting the tea evolve on it’s own in the pot. The first couple steeps were light and had prominent bread and malt qualities. The more I got down into the pot, the more fruity and acidic the tea became. It was a very good experience, even down to the last sips. The astringency never got too much to handle, and the muscatel notes were very nice and noticeable thought the body of the liquor. An excellent and simple Darjeeling, great for when I want a black tea, but still crave something on the lighter side of the genre!

thelastdodo

I dream in tea. Hello! My name is Maddi and I love to gongfu and listen to good tunes. I live in Denver, CO with my big dumb malamute and three other people who are not bid dumb malamutes. I like to take boiling hot showers and meditate in my closet. I talk about tea so much that it has become a punch line of sorts with my family and coworkers. Besides my unhealthy obsession with the drink that gives me life, I do yoga frequently, watch Korean Dramas religiously, run as a form of moving meditation, make green smoothies out of any vegetables and fruits within the nearest vicinity, and play video games with my patient and forgiving boyfriend. I also cook for a living and have at least one waffle a day. Likes: Tea, Teaware, All forms of nature, Old movies, People with infectious laughs, Blankets Dislikes: Watching sports, People who don’t tip servers, Slipping on ice, drinking tea for the ‘health benefits’ I tend to only drink loose leaf, although I will have a bagged tea every once in a while in an emergency. I also never sweeten my tea because, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ I like the following flavors: Smokey Floral Coconut Majority of chai Anything Tropical Vanilla Grassy/Vegetal Citrus Stone fruit/melon Earth/Wood I am not so fond of the following flavors: Hibscus Lavender Strong Bergamot Berries Chocolate Cloves/strong cinnamon

This post was posted in Black Tea, Darjeeling

Mankota Exotic Assam Black Tea – Second flush – Single Estate – Summer 2014 from Golden Tips Tea

by teaequalsbliss

Mankota_largeTea Type:
Black Tea

Where To Buy:
Golden Tips Tea

Product Description:

Mankota produces some excellent second flush black teas every year. This tea in particular boasts of all characters of a premium Assam tea. The tea is robust, bold and extremely malty. The full-body of the tea finishes on a slightly sweet note which makes it an absolute prized possession. Sprinkled with golden tips all over, the dark red liquor shimmers in the cup.   A fantastic breakfast tea and a must-try if you love Assam tea.
Tasters Review:
My mother always said that breakfast foods could be served any time of day – that’s how much she loved breakfast foods – but rarely ate breakfast foods in the morning at breakfast time.  That’s kind of how I feel about this tea.  It’s a fantastic breakfast tea but I think it would be fantastic any time of day!  I agree that this is a premium Assam.  It;s robust, bold, malty, full-bodied, and sweet.  It teases with hints of cocoa and is quite forgiving if you under infuse or over infuse.  It keeps up well to the elements and tastes extremely fresh.  I can’t think of a thing I don’t like about this black tea.  It’s wonderful!  Of course I am partial to the black teas that have the long and windy tea leaves that also sport the two toned light brown and dark brown leaves which this tea does have, too, but this is incredibly delicious and I guess when you get right down to it that is what counts, most, right!?

teaequalsbliss

Co-Founder/Co-Creator of Sororitea Sisters at Sororitea Sisters Jennifer (TeaEqualsBliss) is in her upper 30s and lives in the eastern snowbelt area of the US with her husband, 3 dogs, and cat (however the number of furkids can change at anytime as she LOVES providing a forever home for many shelter animals. Her several interests include music, movies, veganism, sports, traveling, collecting Baseball Cards and Unicorns, Radio, Computers, Crafting, and of course…TEA. She started drinking tea at the tender age of 3 thanks to her Grandmother and her love for tea has gotten stronger with each year! In addition to being a co-founder/co-creator of Sororitea Sisters - her main site is MyBlissfulJourney.com. Find out more about Jennifer on MyBlissfulJourney.com.

This post was posted in Black Tea