There are so many things to love about this tea company.
But first off I will give props to kymidwife for her many endorsements and recommends. Which mostly fell on deaf ears as I had not been pleased with tea bought in bulk from another Indian tea company. The shipping had been outrageous and you didn't find out the amount till after you ordered the tea. Thereby holding your tea for ransome basically; you pay or you don't get the tea. The volume you had to buy was also large for never having sampled it. In those cases you are stuck with a lot of not so good tea.
But this year Sarah and I exchanged many samples and we got to taste a lot of the 2010 First Flush crops.
The Tea Emporium 2010 Castleton Moonlight just floored me. The best First Flush I had tasted so far ... until the Puttabong. Oh my! The Puttabong has a bit more bite, leaving the memory of the smoothness of the Castleton behind. I was ready to order right there on the spot. But then, then, came the Turzum. Oh this just keeps getting better! Full of flavor and a nice bite of astringency. A beautiful light golden brew, this stuff is the ultimate FF Darjeeling.
Just to be sure I ordered 2 lots of the Turzum and one Puttabong. And the Dooteriah White Delight was just to interesting to pass up.
And guess what? The shipping is included in the price!! No surprises.
And they take Paypal!
How can it get any better? How about this lovely presentation?
A hand stitched muslin bag, and boy can you smell the fresh greeness of the tea right though the packaging!
I hated to cut the bag, but it had to be done!
Inside - brown waxed bags with an overwrap of foil and tied with string:
I know in the past I have warned off newbies from buying direct from India, until they really know their preferences, or have sampled. Which is still sound advice. These teas do eventually make it to local vendors, but chopped and cut and not as fresh. You can still get a good feel for the tea buy sampling there first, then buying direct. But Tea Emporium has restored my faith in buying direct, and I no longer would hesitate to recommend. As long as you know which flush you love, I say go for it. I know you will be pleased!
