Arya FTGFOP1

Here is one from Upton's Tea called Arya FTGFOP1. The discription on Upton's site states:

Description:
The rich amber liquor has a robust flavor, with a characteristic Darjeeling pungency. The flavor has intriguing nutty notes, with nuances of ripe apples and red grapes.

As a Darjeeling Tea lover all I have is praises for this single estate tea. This tea is also organically grown which is something I am coming to like more and more of and search for the organic label on the teas I purchase for I can tell in the taste if there were any foreign substances used in the growing of the tea or not.

The pungency of this tea is very classic in Darjeeling style, and has a clean finish.

So I'm off to steep another pot.

Season's Pick Dharamshala Estate TGFOP1

Here is my review for Season's Pick Dharamshala Estate TGFOP1, from Upton Tea.

Upton Tea's web site gave this description for the tea:

Description:
Produced in Kangra Valley (Valley of the Gods), this well-made tea has uniform, dark green needle-like leaves. The cup has medium body with a pleasing, vegetal aroma and fine floral notes. The finish is robust, and the character is much like that of a Darjeeling.

This tea happen to be a great buy for me. This buy happened to be in the Upton's Tea "Season's Pick" line which offers to the public teas that are normally reserved for their wholesale customers and the Food Service industry.

I bought a 250 gram package of this tea for $6.80, and because of the price and the bulk amount I got it for everyday drinking. I was really surprised on how good the quality of this tea was.

The description above is very accurate and I can not add to the description but to say that I'm going to check out the other teas in the "Season's Pick" line at Upton Tea's web site.

Golden Nepal (Kanyam Estate)

Golden Nepal (Kanyam Estate) is my next review.

Upton Tea's web site gave this description for the tea:

From the high Himalayan mountains, this tea is somewhat reminiscent of a Darjeeling. Bright amber liquor.

I find this description very modest for this tea. Even thought I agree this tea is somewhat reminiscent of a Darjeeling Tea, I would also say it has a more traditional taste that most people are familiar with in tea. The quality is excellent, the leaf is very pleasing to look at, both before and after steeping and the taste is moderate to bold with a clean and almost nutty finish.

The label that describes the tea states that this tea is a second flush (second picking of the season), which I did not find in the description of the tea on Upton Tea's web site. Most teas are a second flush tea that is sold in the United States (from what I have been told), and I have a few first flush teas in my stash, but this second flush tea here almost reminds me of a first flush quality and should not be overlooked when choosing a tea to buy.

Season's Pick Risheehat Estate

Season's Pick Risheehat Estate is the first pot I steeped out of my new order listed below.

Upton Tea's web site gave this description for the tea:

This tea has a pronounced floral aroma, a well-balanced nutty flavor, and a warm, sweet-floral finish. An outstanding value for premium Darjeeling Tea.

My favorite teas are grown mostly in the Darjeeling region of India, and as you can tell from my order in the blog post just below this one that the teas I ordered have been grown in the Darjeeling region or close to the region (all grown at a high altitudes) for the similar characteristics that I enjoy.

The description that Upton Tea gave about this tea is very accurate except for the sweet-floral part. I am missing the muscatel notes that I really enjoy from Darjeeling Teas.

The main reason I ordered this particular tea was due to the lower cost of this tea and that I could order it in bulk (I drink more tea in any given day than water alone) to keep my supply here at my home up for a while. Tuesday night I almost had a fit when I realized that I had only three kinds of Black Tea left in my stash (the tins were hidden in between all of my White Teas and Green Teas), so I went to my computer and ordered six Black Teas real quick.

I'm glad I ordered this tea, although it will not be a favorite, but it will give me some more variety in my Black Teas to choose from everyday.

Darjeeling #1 from Adagio Teas

Here is a little beauty I ordered from Adagio Teas recently. It's called Darjeeling #1 and it's one of the strongest Darjeeling Teas I've ever enjoyed.

It's surprising how strong this tea is with it's muscatel flavor after steeping the tea and seeing how light in color it is in the cup, and it's highly aromatic and pleasing to the taste with a light after taste.

This black tea is a first-flush offering from the Risheehat estate in the Darjeeling District of India. I will be ordering more when I run out of this shipment of Darjeeling #1 from Adagio Teas.

I've been sick for about a week now

I've been sick with a bad cough and a high temperature. My best saving grace has been using Pu Erh Teas with honey in the cuppa for a kick.

I know about the Medicinal value of Pu Erh Teas, so I take advantage of the tea often.

I am most certain this is nothing new under the sun...

Just for a different taste when I get low on any tea I have I toss the almost empty tea into a tea tin marked "Mixed Tea". I do this with my black, green and white teas, and each tin marked "Black Mixed Tea", "Green Mixed Tea" and "White Mixed Tea" appropriately.

I love my black teas, and I'm drinking more and more white teas all of the time. So just now I made two pots of tea, one from the "Black Mixed Tea" and the other from the "White Mixed Tea", then I combined the two finished teas into one pot to make a mixture of black and white tea. What a new taste experience! I'm enjoying the combination of the well know taste of black tea with the settle and almost nutty taste of the white tea in one cup!