Summer Travels II: A bitter brew in Darjeeling
The Buddhist flags that flutter over Darjeeling hills remind you that both your joys and sorrows are fleeting. Nothing stays. So resist attachments - the root of all suffering.
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Summer Travels I: In Lipton's Hometown
Gorbals, my friend from Glasgow, pointed out is a rough part of the city. I was very surprised to hear that. Because 165 year ago Thomas Lipton was born in those very slums and it seems relatively, not much had changed.Read now -
Darjeeling as Bulgari perfume
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Some time ago, when we stumbled upon the pleasures of cold brew Darjeeling, my wife expressed a fancy for bottling Darjeeling perfume. The leaves of the first flush tea, after a cold brew, smelled so exquisite that had we the means, we’d have right away underwritten efforts to realize my lady’s dream.
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Pico Iyer and Darjeeling
Read nowOne of my favorite writers talking about Darjeeling?! I am glad that Pico Iyer has Darjeeling to assist him at his writing desk. Hopefully, he was not paid to say it. Would Pico do that? A guy who lived for...
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Darjeeling Second Flush 2013, Preview
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We have just finished sampling Darjeeling Second Flush 2013. My palate is singing and my heart is full. What a blessing it is to be able to partake of some of the earth’s best gifts!
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Puttabong in the rain
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Woke up to a wet and misty morning here in Rochester, NY. As I looked outside, in a moment I was transported back to the Darjeeling hills where half the year it is wet and misty. Saw the rhododendron in our neighbor's garden and that reminded me even more of Darjeeling. During spring the upper reaches of the hills are alive with gurans - as rhododendrons are called locally. It is a sight that will cheer even the most disconsolate heart.
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Masticating upon the origins of tea
Read nowThe other day chef-at-large Anthony Bourdain was munching on lahpet tuk, Burmese salad of fermented tea leaves. While for Bourdain it may be yet another weird/exotic (depending upon your point of view) dish to uncover, for us tea lovers...
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Darjeeling First Flush 2013 Preview with Fans
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When I first came to the US nearly 10 years ago and tried Darjeeling tea, I was as expected disappointed. The tea had to travel long and hard and obviously the tea without any harvest date marking was old. A decade later when much has changed, including the tea market here, the expectation has as needs be dramatically risen. The US tea market has exploded and the tea consumers are much better informed. Now one of the things the tea drinker wants is fresh tea. However, a lot of tea companies, especially the big ones, still decline to reveal the harvest season or year for the tea. This we find surprising.
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Darjeeling First Flush 2013 Sampling
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After what is always an anxious wait, the first batch of our first flush samples for 2013 finally arrived from Darjeeling. Thanks to modern transportation samples now take under a week to arrive from the gardens of Darjeeling! It's incredible. Think how long the wait must have been not too long ago when couriers were still rudimentary and expensive. We're lucky indeed!
