Vahdam Teas

I am not an expert on Earl Grey teas. The citrus in this one is very strong and a little bit sour. Overall it is good.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Catching up on a tea which I drank on Sunday but didn’t have time to enter. Out of the bag, the dried leaves looked appealing—very few broken leaves or stems in the mix, and I see a few golden tips mixed in.

I steeped the tea using 5 grams of dried leaves in 12 ounces of near boiling water for 4 minutes.

This didn’t taste much like a typical second flush Darjeeling. I was expecting a muscatel flavor and aroma, but there wasn’t that at all. In fact, there really wasn’t a notable aroma or flavor at all, above and beyond typical black tea. I gave a cup to my mom (it was Mother’s Day, after all) and she told me “it tastes like Lipton.” I personally would not go that far, but it really didn’t have any hints of unique flavor or aromas—just a basic, orthodox black tea.

I was a disappointed that there wasn’t more to it but I still enjoyed it. I would drink it again, but would at least have a lowered expectation next time and hope to be surprised.

NOTE: The bag I used showed the date of packaging as July, 2016

Another of the samples I received in my black tea sampler ordered from Vahdam. This is a Darjeeling blend.

I steeped this tea for 4 minutes, using 6 grams of dried leaves in 18 ounces of water. The color of the brewed liquor came out looking like bourbon—medium brown.

The only aroma I found with the brewed tea was floral. It was definitely appealing. The floral aroma followed into the tea’s flavor—present, but not too overpowering. I also picked up flavors of muscatel grapes and wet rocks. It was slightly astringent as well, but that could be from over-steeping. I’d have to try a second steeping to find out. But, I can’t do that with this sample since I used the whole sample with this steeping. :(

Overall, this was another quality tea from Vahdam, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I have some of the others. That comment should not be taken as disparaging, as this was very good. I have been happy with Vahdam’s products so far—each Darjeeling has been similar enough to the others in the batch, yet unique in its own way. I am definitely enjoying these samples and getting some good ideas for future orders.

NOTE: The package was marked as packed in November, 2016.

Alright everyone, we have another sample sipdown to celebrate. I polished this one off earlier in the evening. At this point, I am beginning to think that I’m starting to get a better handle on what to expect from first flush Darjeelings. This one was interesting. It reminded me a little of the Goomtee Exotic (a tea that wasn’t bad, but didn’t do as much for me as the others I have recently tried), but I found it to be much smoother and more floral.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced subtle floral, grassy, nutty aromas. After infusion, I detected scents of grass, hay, malt, rose, and nuts. In the mouth, I immediately detected mellow, surprisingly refined and well-integrated notes of almond, chestnut, nutmeg, malt, butter, cream, grass, coriander, and hay that were soon balanced by impressions of spring honey, rose, Muscatel, and wood. The finish was gentle with a slight astringency. I was still able to detect faint, lingering impressions of butter, cream, malt, Muscatel, rose, and wood.

This was such a nice tea. At first, I was a little uncertain about it, but once my nose and mouth became accustomed to it, it really grew on me. I came to see it as a subtler, sweeter, more sophisticated version of some of the Gopaldhara and Goomtee Darjeelings I have tried recently.

After seeing the generally positive reviews of Vahdam teas by eastkyteaguy, I decided to order a sample pack. This was the first tea I pulled out from the pack.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I brewed 4 grams in 12 ounces of near boiling water for just over four minutes. The first aromas I found in the brewing process were floral and nutty. I also tasted those flavors in the liquor, along with slight malt and honey flavors. Underlying these flavors was a nice woody base. The combination of all of these works very well together! I especially appreciate the slight bitterness of the floral essence, as that is what I was hoping for with a first flush Darjeeling. The nutty aroma/flavor was very unexpected!

The leaves brew into a deep gold liquor. It is a beautiful tea to look at as well as to taste.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this tea. I hope this is a good sign for the rest of the teas I received from Vahdam. I look forward to trying my next Vahdam sample from another Darjeeling estate!

NOTE: My packet is marked with a picking date of 17 March 2017.

I feel like utter crap today. I couldn’t sleep at all last night. It had little to do with caffeine intake either. For one thing, I got my on-call schedule confused. I thought I was on-call this week, but I’m not. I spent the last week getting myself in the proper mindset for that and now my body and mind still want to remain alert when I’m free to get some extra rest. Secondly, I have started dreading going into the office so much that I now have difficulty relaxing when I’m at home. If I didn’t need the insurance and the extra income, I would go ahead and quit, but that won’t be a possibility until July or August at the very earliest. Anyway, I was milling around the house in the wee hours of the morning and ended up using the last of my sample of this tea to calm my nerves.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant fruity, grassy aromas with floral underpinnings. After infusion, I noted scents of grass, hay, malt, almond, citrus, herbs, and Muscatel underscored by hints of dried flowers. In the mouth, I picked up notes of almond, malt, nutmeg, straw, grass, lemon balm, tangerine, apricot, peach, mango, rose, and Muscatel. I also thought i caught hints of chrysanthemum and dandelion petals, but that may have just been me reaching. The finish was smooth, though slightly astringent, offering lingering traces of almond, straw, grass, malt, and Muscatel underscored by a ghostly, indistinct floral quality.

This was another nice first flush Darjeeling. To me, it was more flavorful than the Glenburn Classic I recently reviewed, but not quite as smooth and approachable. Of the two, I can safely say that I preferred this one. It had a little bit of bite, as well as a pronounced muskiness that I enjoyed. I would have no issue with recommending it to fans of first flush Darjeelings.

This was my morning sipdown a little earlier. I have been making a concerted effort to finish the Vahdam samples I recently received and get reviews for each of them posted in a timely fashion. Of the bunch, this one was strange. It was completely unlike any of the others I have recently tried.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off unexpected aromas of grass, hay, smoke, and dried flowers. After infusion, the tea took on a smokier, woodier, nuttier character with faintly grassy, vegetal undertones. I did not pick up on Muscatel at all. In the mouth, I immediately detected notes of almond, roasted peanut, smoke, grass, hay, honey, malt, and wood underscored by traces of stewed legumes, nutmeg, and dried flowers. The finish was predictably vegetal, grassy, nutty, and woody, though I could detect a slightly stronger floral presence (tea blossoms and chrysanthemum) that lingered briefly after the swallow. I again could not come up with any Muscatel presence whatsoever.

This tea was so odd. It has never been unusual for me to find nutty, grassy, and vegetal characteristics in many first and second flush Darjeelings, but what was so shocking here was not only how pronounced these presences were, but how there was no discernible Muscatel character to provide balance. This tea reminded me a lot of the Gopaldhara “Moondrop” First Flush Darjeeling from Tealyra that I reviewed fairly recently, except this tea was smokier, grassier, and more vegetal. I was torn on that tea and I am only somewhat less torn on this one. I appreciated how unique it was, but at the same time, it did not really offer what I look for in a first flush Darjeeling.

This is quite good. There is a sweet note of muscatel grapes, the classic note of a first flush Darjeeling. It doesn’t taste like a black tea to me at all. Some have said that it should be classified as an oolong but it doesn’t taste like any oolong I have had either and it certainly doesn’t have any green tea notes despite having a number of green leaves. I really think that first flush Darjeelings should be classified as a seventh type of tea, they are that different from everything else.

I steeped this tea one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

I wrote a review for this tea last night and tried to post it at least four separate times, but it got eaten each time. Steepster was hungee!!! Anyway, this was another of the samples that Vahdam Teas so kindly sent to me. I had long been aware that the Arya Tea Estate was one of the most consistently acclaimed tea producers in Darjeeling, but until I tried this tea, I had yet to try any of the teas produced by this estate. If this one was representative of their offerings, I guarantee I will be trying more soon.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted a pronounced Muscatel aroma underscored by grass and sweet corn. After infusion, I again picked up a strong Muscatel scent balanced by sweet corn and grass, but this time I also picked up nice aromas of citrus, malt, herbs, and peach. In the mouth, there was a strong Muscatel note from the entry to the swallow. Notes of white peach, tangerine, sweet orange, grass, herbs, malt, cream, honey, and sweet corn provided balance. The fade offered lingering traces of Muscatel underpinned by citrus, honey, grass, sweet corn, and malt.

This was a seriously impressive offering. Of the first flush Darjeelings I have tried, this one probably offered the clearest and strongest Muscatel presence. Fortunately, there was a lot more to this tea than that. I would recommend this one highly to those looking for a sweet, fruity first flush Darjeeling with a well-defined Muscatel character.

This is a very tasty tea. It has strong notes of muscatel grapes. It has a nice natural sweetness to it. I really like this tea. It however does not taste to me like a black, green or oolong but as something I have found only in First Flush Darjeelings.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

This is a very nice tea with muscatel notes as advertised. I like this one.

I brewed this one time with a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Okay, I’m back. That work retreat was even worse than I anticipated. It was equal parts exhausting and infuriating. I got back home Tuesday evening, and since then, I have mostly been focused on resting and clearing my head. I spent yesterday finishing a tea I started working my way through a couple days before I left. I started working on my sample of this first thing this morning.

This particular tea is a blended Darjeeling. A lot of commercial Darjeelings are blends (if you’ve ever had a bagged Darjeeling, then you’ve had a blend) and many of them are crafted from leaves picked during multiple flushes. This particular blend, however, is crafted exclusively from first flush leaf material. Basically, Vahdam sourced first flush leaf material from a number of estates and blended it to produce a pleasant and consistent set of aromas and flavors.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf mix produced an herbal, slightly grassy bouquet with a noticeable Muscatel undertone. After infusion, I picked up delicate aromas of grass, straw, Muscatel, flowers, peach, and citrus. In the mouth, I found a delicate mix of straw, grass, herbs, Muscatel, cream, malt, honey, apricot, peach, lemon, and tangerine underscored by a subtle dried flower note. The finish was smooth, offering lingering touches of apricot, peach, grass, citrus, malt, and Muscatel on the back of the throat.

This was an extremely pleasant, approachable blend. Normally, I prefer stronger, muskier aromas and flavors in Darjeelings, but this managed to hit the spot for me. To this point, I have found a lot of first flush Darjeelings to be grassy and herbal, but this blend wisely downplayed these qualities in favor of highlighting the uniquely appealing fruitiness of the best teas from the region. I could definitely see this blend making a great introduction to first flush Darjeelings. If you have had difficulty getting into this particular style of tea, I would recommend giving it a shot.

Okay its back to the Darjeeling tea today. I figured it was time to start going through this sampler pack, and we have Namring Upper Imperial Darjeeling First flush. The leaves are beautiful and lightly green. They look more like a darker green tea than a black. I started by heating the glass pot.

Brewing 3 grams for 3 minutes at about 195, I brought it up to 200 and then let it cool for just a moment, then poured it into the pot and let the leaves steep. After much testing and experimenting ive determined first flush Darjeeling are a bit on the finicky side.

Pouring it out into a small glass pitcher, I get a very clear just slightly golden liqour, something between a green and light black. The aroma is almost impossible to describe, it’s floral and fruity but.. it doesnt smell like a green or a black, or even an oolong. Sipping it got a very slight bit of astringency but its not actually unpleasant at all, it actually seems to compliment the flavor.

This tea is wonderful, it takes a bit of practice to get the brewing right but once you do, its amazing tea. It does have a few notes of black tea in it, but they are very subdued from what you would find in a proper black tea.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy lighter black teas or heartier greens.

This is an excellent tea. Not really sure how to describe the notes. I am relatively new to first flush Darjeelings. I only know that these teas taste nothing like a traditional black tea, nor a green, nor a oolong. Perhaps they should be considered a seventh type of tea. While there were a lot of green leaves in the tea it does not taste vegetal or grassy. Not sure if I would say this one is muscatel.

Brewed this twice in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water. I steeped it for 3 min and 4 min. Put the second steeping in a thermosfor work.

This is one of Vahdam’s cheaper teas. The leaves are all black like a traditional black tea. It still doesn’t taste quite like a black tea to me. It is somewhat malty and there are some other notes as well. Not really sure how to describe them. They sell this tea for $9 and I think it was on sale when I bought it. I will not be putting in another order with Vahdam for a while. Got about 2kg of tea in this last order, some 21 teas.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water.

Got this with my order yesterday. It is a very light colored and light tasting tea. It does not taste like a black, a green, or an oolong to me. It is very hard to describe. It is classified as a black tea but has a lot of green leaves. The green leaves don’t give off a vegetal note however. It does have that Muscatel grape note to it. It is a very good tea.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Teta Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

This is a very tasty tea with that Muscatel grape note to it. There is a little bitterness but not much. It has a very light taste for something classified as a black tea. I think of first flush Darjeelings as more of a cross between a black, a green, and an oolong. It does not however have any of the vegetal taste of a green or an green oolong. It is really har to describe this tea.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

I finished off another Vahdam sample this evening. Glenburn is an estate about which I have long been curious. The teas that come from Glenburn seem to be consistently regarded as some of the best teas to come out of the Indian state of West Bengal, receiving a great deal of praise from regular tea drinkers and tea industry insiders alike. I, however, never went out of way to try a Glenburn tea. Until today, it was just something to which I had yet to get around.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I went with a temperature at the lowest end of the vendor’s recommended 194-212 F range simply because I have been having good luck with brewing Darjeeling at that temperature as of late. It worked for me again here.

Prior to infusion, I detected pleasant aromas of orchard fruit, Muscatel, straw, and citrus. After infusion, I was able to pick out stronger, more distinct aromas of white peach, Muscatel, straw, lemon, and tangerine. In the mouth, I picked up smooth notes of nectarine, white peach, pear, Muscatel, spring honey, lemon, and tangerine that were soon balanced by straw, cream, malt, and almond flavors. The finish was smooth, offering lingering touches of almond, cream, Muscatel, straw, and citrus coupled with what I can only describe as a touch of corn husk.

This was a nice, light first flush Darjeeling that was very smooth and approachable. The aromas and flavors it offered were delicate and at times subtle, but it remained consistently appealing. Personally, I like a little more muskiness and herbal character in first flush Darjeelings, but this was still a fine offering.

Before I begin this review, allow me to offer a sincere thank you to Susmita Mukherjee and the folks at Vahdam Teas for graciously providing me with free samples of this and a number of other interesting teas. I relish the opportunity to try new things. It was great of you to send some of your teas to me and I honestly appreciate it.

This particular tea is a second flush Darjeeling from the Lopchu Estate. I was unable to find much information about the estate itself, but I did discover that several purveyors of fine Indian teas offer a range of teas from this estate. I also discovered that Lopchu teas are kind of outliers compared to many other Darjeeling teas. They are noted for their intensely woody, smoky, and often spicy aroma and flavor profiles. They are not regarded as smelling or tasting much like other Darjeelings. After spending a day tinkering with this tea, I can definitely offer the opinion that it is unique compared to every other second flush Darjeeling I have tried.

I prepared this tea Western style. I initially started with a 5 minute steep in 205 F water, and while the results were drinkable, the flavors seemed a tad muted. I then tried a 5 minute steep in 200 F water. The results were better, but still lacked a certain vibrancy. I then took a research break and discovered that Teabox also offered a second flush Lopchu and provided a brewing guide. They recommended a water temperature between 185-194 F for this tea, and realizing that I have lately been having better luck with slightly lower temperatures when I brew Darjeelings, I decided to follow their approach. I ended up steeping a teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. That did the trick for me.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced smoky, woody, and somewhat chocolaty aromas. After infusion, the dark amber tea liquor produced pronounced scents of wood, smoke, bread, malt, dark chocolate, and bitter, oily nuts. In the mouth, I detected a unique mix of malt, baked bread, smoke, wood (it reminded me of both oak and pine at points), and roasted nuts (beech, hickory, walnut) balanced by touches of autumn honey, Muscatel, semi-sweet dark chocolate, fig, and prune. The finish was decidedly woody, malty, nutty, and smoky with pleasant Muscatel and honey presences on the back of the throat after the swallow.

Wow! This was a different kind of second flush Darjeeling! Previous reviewers and other vendors weren’t lying about this tea being unique. Though I failed to note the spiciness that some people seem to get out of Lopchu Darjeelings, I was impressed by this tea’s aroma and flavor profiles. At times it reminded me a little of some milder lapsang souchongs, or perhaps even some Keemuns. That being said, I found this to be a boisterous tea with a very forceful presence, especially in the mouth. All in all, it’s the sort of tea for which I would have to be in the mood. I would have no issue with recommending it to fans of orthodox Indian black teas, but I would also offer the opinion that one’s enjoyment of this particular tea may depend on the degree to which one is willing to tolerate more strident aromas and flavors than many contemporary Darjeelings seem to offer.

First up today we have Earl Grey by Vahdam tea, and we all know anything thats good enough for Captain Picard is good enough for me. I started by heating the glass pot and putting the dry leaf and giving it a sniff. I smelled tea in general, but I really got a strong smell of a very citrus orange. Ive never had bergamot, but I have seen it described as a cross between a lemon and an orange, and thats pretty close to the aroma I got.

Brewing it for 3 minutes in a glass pot. This is still a bit strange to me as Chinese blacks you never brew in glass because of the heat retention, but in England this seems to be the classic way to brew tea, so when in Rome. 2 grams in 180 ml, I also went western style with this.

I got a really nice aroma on opening the pot, and tasting the tea, there was surprisingly little bitterness and the tea was thicker than I expected for a western brewed tea. The flavor is very nice, orange and citrus blending with a bit of malt and chocolate flavors that you usually get in Indian tea.

Im impressed with this tea, and the caffiene level is whoooo…. so yes its a nice morning cup of tea to wake up and the orange gives it a nice morning feel. I think this one might be going on my reorder.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Earl Grey, a squeeze of lemon in their tea, or just wants to wake up in the morning really fast.

This is a tasty black tea, malty and somewhat chocolaty in nature. As I recall it didn’t cost a lot. It is not quite so malty as I find the average Chinese black to be but less like a Darjeeling than a Chinese black.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Having spotted their sale for new customers, I decided to try a few of their tea, as Id like to get a little more acquainted with Darjeeling tea.

First up with have Lopchu Golden Orange Pekoe, second flush.

I started this by brewing 2 grams in 180ml of water at 200 degrees, as per some steeping advice Ive gotten on brewing Darjeeling tea. The firs thing I noticed is on opening the lid is the most intense chocolate and earth aroma. I mean wow…

Giving it a few seconds to cool off a bit and pouring it into my gong dao bei, I poured the tea into tasting cups and sampled it. Im very impressed, chocolate, spiceyness on the tongue, malt, mineral and a bit of creaminess.

After watching some videos on brewing Indian and Ceylon teas, it seems its traditional to slurp a bit more than you do with Chinese teas, so when in Rome or in this case Darjeeling, the slurping began. This actually did seem to intensify the flavors a little, the chocolate was just like wow, and the tingle of the spice stayed on my tongue. Also I think I caught a little bit of what Darjeeling is known for the muscatel flavor, almost abit like dark fruits but I cant quite place it, Im going to chalk that up to my inexperience with these kinds of tea.

It did have that nice aftertaste you get with the higher quality blacks and dark oolongs, this is one that will probably find a home in my cabinet even after the samples are gone, especially since we are only a short time away from the 2017 second flush.

This is a nice tea, but it tastes more like a black tea than any oolong I am used to. There are no grassy or vegetal notes. Certainly no roasted notes. If anything it has a malty and slightly sweet characteristic that tastes like a Darjeeling second flush black tea.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

This is a nice tasting black tea that has little bitterness, a slight malty flavor and a subdued sweet note. It is very good.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.