Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Drowning in samples

Alright, I am officially in over my head. Since receiving a package full (nearly bursting from the seams, in fact) of samples from Mr. Ankit Lochan today, and being fully aware that I will soon be receiving the Dragon Tea House samples (I don't know why it's taking so long... customs, maybe?), I have come to the realization that I will soon be completely addicted to and/or overdosed on caffeine.

I love it!

Lochan Tea ShipmentThe enormity of the amount of tea I got from Lochan Teas is almost unbelievable. Even better, it's all small samples of pretty much everything grown under the Indian sun. Here is the full list:

Lochan Muscatel Delight - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Lochan Oolong Imperial - 2nd Flush 2007
Lochan White Imperial - 2nd Flush 2007
Margaret's Hope - Black - 2nd Flush 2006
Margaret's Hope - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Makaibari - Imperial Vintage - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Caselton Wiry Clonal Delight - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Giddapahar - White - 2nd Flush 2007
Glenburn - Green - 2nd Flush 2007
Goomtee - Muscatel Delight - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Jungpana - Muscatel Oriental - Organic - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Glenburn - Snow Oolong - 2nd Flush 2007
Goomtee - Oolong - 2nd Flush 2006
Hattialli - Golden Bud - Assam - Black - 2nd Flush 2007
Khongea - Standard Assam - Black - 2nd Flush 2007

I will do my best to get through all of these and post about them, but I can't promise anything about how long that will take. Luckily school hasn't gotten too hectic yet, so I'll have some free time— for now. Wish me luck! :)

11 comments:

Salsero said...

Holy smokes! You may have to hire staff to help with the tasting! Of the 15 samples you received, NONE duplicate the 3 teas I have purchased from Lochan, all 3 of which have been absolutely great. Just for the record, my three holdings are

1) Lochan Premium Assam Tips, 2nd flush 2006
2) Giddapahar Muscatel Imperial, 2nd flush, 2007
3) Doke Royal Snow Bud, 2nd Flush 2007.

I warmly recommend all three, but I am very, very curious to know more about these 15 others.

I calculate that if you do head-to-head trials of 3 teas simultaneously, in 5 hours you can have them all tested. With all that caffeine in you, it'll take practically no time at all to write up the whole kit and kaboodle!

BTW, just out of curiosity, are the samples large enough that you will be able to try them several times to adjust your brewing technique and get to know them before you form an opinion, or will it have to be the "one-shot wonder" tastings?

Lovely post. I sure enjoyed the pix.

Brent said...

5 hours... I have no words for this.

I received approx. 1 oz of each sample, so I should have enough for at least a couple of attempts and/or samples for one or more people of my choosing. :)

As for brewing technique, I'm going to try and standardize the parameters when possible (especially among all the Darjeeling blacks) for the first round, and if I'm not satisfied I'll play around a bit.

Hmm... I'm also getting a feeling I might be coming down with a cold. It seems my immune system always knows when I have a tasting to do. :(

Mary R said...

Bloody hell!

I am officially jealous. See my skin? The Wicked Witch of the West couldn't be greener.

Enjoy your tasting!

Space Samurai said...

That's awesome, and I too am a little envious. I look forward to seeing the reviews.

ankitlochan said...

hello everyone!

we are trying to promte indian teas to the consumers all over the world and we have done up an offer for all of you - please visit our site for details - www.lochantea.com

we look forward to making every person who loves his cup of tea try the finest indian teas...

the teas offered are of the best quality, upto the extent that we wholesale the caselton snow bud at 400 USD per kilo - our clients go on to retail it at a price of approximately 1600 t0 1800 USD per kilo.

brent, we look forward to your tasting reviews.

~ Phyll said...

This post somehow reminds me of an old Queen song "Under Pressure!"

Hope you aren't catching any cold. Have a great tasting! Great samples there.

Mary R said...

P-p-p-pressure! Pushin' down on me, pressin' down on you...

I adore that song. As I recall, David Bowie did the vocals, no?

Brent said...

Yes, David Bowie provided the vocals, and Vanilla Ice stole the beat. Thanks to everyone for your comment(s)!

-Brent

~ Phyll said...

Ice ice baby!

Ice ice baby!

:)

Ido said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jamie D. said...

Wow - congrats and good luck! I look forward to all those wonderful reviews!! :-)

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.