Golden Tips Tea Co Pvt Ltd

I received a very generous package from Nicole yesterday and had to dig straight into this tea this morning since I’m dying to try it after her review. Brewed the tea has a decidedly woodsy scent with a touch of malt and what I think is very very delicate mushroom.. When I close my eyes I imagine a dense overgrown forest towering above me and picking hen-of-the-woods mushrooms in the dappled afternoon light…. But at the same time there are some cocoa and dark chocolate scents peaking through as well… It sounds a little strange but smells amazing! Taste wise this is pretty much on par with my last sentence! The tea is smooth, it’s complex, and it’s malty. It’s got that slight woody taste combined with the cocoa/chocolate notes and a hint of caramel sweetness. Im sad that my cup is now empty…. Thanks for the share Nicole I’ll be picking some of this up soon for sure!!

Trying the 2015 version this morning. I had been avoiding opening it until I used up the 2014 but I couldn’t help myself any longer. This is the 2015 Summer blend.

Erhmagerd.

Pure brown sugar and molasses with enough bite to make you know you have a tiger of an Assam blend. Followed my normal method of Western steep at just off boiling for 3+ minutes then let it cool for about 5 minutes. That step of cooling from scalding hot to warm seems to make all the difference in bringing out the malty, sweet notes in an Assam, at least for me.

It’s been so long since I had GTT/Vadham’s Signature Malt Assam I can’t remember which one I preferred – this one or that one. But this is a wonderful Assam.

Oh, hello, darling. I’ve missed you so much.

Steeped up a small travel thermos of this today. Heavenly. Malty & chocolatey doesn’t even begin to cover it. I so need to sit down and compare this with Signature Malt but for now, I feel so indulgent having both of them in my cupboard. :)

Ho-leeeeey cats, this is good stuff.

Malty, sweet, woodsy but not too woodsy and with a scent but not taste of coconut. Even more coconut smell as it cools down and I stuff my nose deep in the cup. And yes, the cup is clean so I’m not getting coconut impressions from a previous tea. :)

This I need to have around always. This is beautiful and completely delicious.

Oh, and this was my first order from Golden Tips. Overwhelmed by the samples thrown in doesn’t even begin to cover it. There are as more samples in here than tea I actually ordered, I think! Color me impressed. :)

update turns out that while I wasn’t imagining the coconut smell it was on my hands from my shampoo. LOL

One of the CTC’s I grabbed from Marzipan and her latest stash sale.
This Crush Tear, Curl style tea is surprisingly much smaller in size than the Jalinga CTC. It’s a blended tea, and I can tell by the varying sizes of the little balls of malty goodness. Although the Jalinga is a better cup, I think I like this one for making lattés at work. Yes, I still have a LOT of the Tea Guy’s Assam to go through, but I am confident that my lattes on the weekends will really help to deplete it and I can get some much nicer (If there is such a thing) mouse poop tea.
First serving of this tea had the awful remnants of Witches Brew Chai, and my gravity steeper made it taste like nothing but cumin. Blech. The next time I had it was a much better experience.

Finally! a darjeeling i think i can get behind :D
im coming to understand that i dont care for many teas other than Chinese blacks, and possibly greens. I have been through several darjeeling, and several oolong, and while they are pleasant, none really make me say “I like this!” like a good yunnan black can. But this one is just about there :)

The leaves smell slightly floral, and kinda like a classic Chinese black. The leaves are short, and thin, only slightly curly. The colors in the bag range from black to light brown, with even some silver sprinkled in.

I used 1.5 tsp for 10 oz water, tired of sipping on (what i consider) weaker tea. I used 190 degree water, for 3 min, adding a min for the second steep.

The liquor is a red tinged dark amber. It smells of floral honey. It has a nice earthy tone, undercut with light floral notes, and even less malt as in a classic Chinese black.
A slight astringency becomes noticeable as the tea cools, but is only there if you look for it. I did not notice any real bitterness, but i am used to drinking strong Chinese blacks, so i might not notice anymore lol.

For a darjeeling, this was quite pleasant, and if i have to pick a darjeeling to drink from now on out of the ones i have tried, this would be it.

found this in my basket from my Golden Tips subcription, which ended for me this month… all good things seem to come to an end too quickly :)

A spring flush from the renowed Teesta Valley gardens.

1tbs/220ml. 90 C. 3 minutes.
golden brown tea.

This tea reminds me of my nan. She loved to drink darjeelings, and whenever I came over, we shared a cup & some home backed apple cake.

It’s good, dark brown cup, strong, yet smooth.
Lovely cup that brings back golden memories….

A proper morning kick, though quite a standard assam IMHO. Miss the maltiness of other assams I tried from Golden Tips.
This one is o.k. but I probably won’t buy this again.

Right now I’m sipping on a cup of darjeeling from Golden Tips that has completely blown my mind. It’s a white darjeeling, something I’ve never tried before, but what is so striking about it is how much more complex it is than the Chinese-grown Silver needle teas that I’m more familiar with. There are fruit and floral undertones that give it a sweet flavor and become more pronounced as the tea cools. With later steepings the flavors shift away from sweet and begin to taste more like freshly cut hay. While the flavors of the tea remind me of summer, I think this is a tea best suited to cooler months since it left me with a slightly dry-mouth feel.

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/3/3/tuesday-tea-okayti-silver-needle-darjeeling-white-tea-golden-tips

Put this leaf in front of me without telling me what it is and I would guess Golden Monkey. Beautiful dark leaf curls and golden tips. The fragrance is malt, and honey, and cocoa. Mmmmm. The brew is ruby/orange. I inhaled malt all the way to my lips. Then I was was hit with a rush of briskness. I did not flinch. Next I noticed how smooth and thick this felt. The taste is similar to the fragrance, though not as intense. This is not bitter. For an Assam, it wasn’t particularly drying. I am highly sensitive to tannins, especially in Assams. I could not drink this regularly on an empty stomach. I did, however, steep it four minutes, so willing to take the blame. A shorter steep might calm it down, though seriously it was pretty smooth after the initial hit. The addition of milk and sweetener might be another route. I just didn’t want any additions messing with it. No, I can’t believe I just wrote that either. The Splenda monkey is currently ashamed of me. He can go fling poo. This is too tasty for additions :) The aftertaste lingers of malt.

Most of the time I can’t tell much difference between Darjeeling and Nepalese teas. I’m just not that familiar with them even though I always enjoy them. This one though, maybe it is because it is autumn flush or maybe it is the estate but this is the first time I get why some people are obsessed with Darjeelings.

The dry leaf looks like fall, which is somehow comforting on this miserably cold day. The scent is tobacco, then cocoa. Followed by a range of notes I can’t pull together long enough to grasp but at this point its sort of mint, orange, citrus, and candy.

I steeped for 3 1/2 minutes at 200F. It could have gone longer and hotter but I erred on the side of caution. Kind of light in color. The wet leaf is juicy grape followed by woodsy and a hint of chocolate.

This is mellow with only a light briskness and no bitterness. The flavor is grape, but it isn’t straight up grape. It is fuller like there is a hit of citrus backing it up. This is followed the woodsy leaf taste with just a hint of chocolate. As that fades the grape rises up again and remains in the lingering aftertaste.

Backlog:

A really lovely white Darjeeling. Then again, I love White Darjeeling teas! Probably among my favorite white teas because I love the stronger flavor they offer. It’s still a delicate flavor, but not as delicate as you might usually expect from a white tea. It has a very pleasant, thick mouthfeel, with floral notes and notes of melon and sweet grape. There’s also a nice honey-like flavor to this tea.

Later infusions offered a softer honey flavor and brought forward some nutty flavors and more of a wine-like taste. I could taste a more distinct floral note.

A highly recommended white tea experience. Read the review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/01/10/organic-okayti-silver-needle-second-flush-darjeeling-white-tea-from-golden-tips/

Having one of ‘those’ days. Got loud on the phone with a young lady that was just doing her job. She works for our new internet provider. They lied to me. Surprise. I truly am one of the easiest going people you will meet. Once the line is crossed, I can kind of go all Hulk on you. All I want is for them to bury the cable from the satellite pole mount to my house. Now they want $100 for something that should have been done to start with. Sigh. I NEED tea.

This one struck me as awesome. The leaf smells sweet of hay and fruit. The leaf is gorgeous. I may have formed it into the shape of a heart for my blog picture, and I am neither a teenager or a girl. Steeped the ruby red brew has a sweet, fruity, maltiness.

The tea has a briskness that will open your eyes wide. It does not cross into bitter. It fades fast into a rich malt that continues into the aftertaste as is joined by a sweet kind of fruity note. Two thumbs up and I have never considered myself an assam guy.

The dry leaf gives off a heavenly spicy scent that is tempered with slight notes of musk. I couldn’t wait for the tea to finish steeping because it smelled absolutely fabulous. The first sips didn’t let me down, those notes of spice and musk were the first flavors that were apparent before the honey-like sweetness began to creep in. As it cooled the fruit and floral flavors began to develop, reminding me somewhat of my favorite oolong. There is no astringency or bitterness to this tea, it’s very smooth, making it something I could easily drink a lot of. This was a great first-step in my Darjeeling education.

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/1/27/tuesday-tea-darjeeling-thurbo-moonlight-black-golden-tips

Guess what, it is game night! Also it is computer ordering time, yes my oh so wonderfully tech savvy boyfriend has found the perfect computer for me and is ordering it. I do not know much about it other than the screen is big, it is not Vista (I am free of the curse!) and I will probably be able to play Minecraft on it. So for all the terrible angst I have been going through with not having a computer, it looks like it will be having a happy ending. Also, guys, wish me luck that I do not manage to either blow myself up or damage my fellow party members in tonight’s D&D game!

Today we are taking a look at Golden Tips Tea’s Halmari Gold Assam Black Tea Second Flush (Clonal) a fuzzy golden tea from Assam, how neat! I have seen very fuzzy golden teas from places other than China, but the glorious fuzzy golds have become iconic to me, I always get excited seeing them from somewhere else. From the Halmari Tea Estate, these leaves come from the P126 Clonal bushes and are picked under very special circumstances, and of course, they are the highest grade of leaves with the GTGFOP grading. The aroma of these lovely fuzzies is pretty rich, a blend of maltiness that you expect from a high grade Assam, along with potent notes of cocoa, roasted peanuts, cooked cherries, and a subtle woodiness at the finish.

Into my fancy little steeping double boiler tea alchemy thingy the leaves go! After a nice steeping (thank you oh great and fancy timer app, though I am pretty sure programming it to sound like a Creeper hiss is going to bite me one day) the aroma of the leaves is again, very rich. There are notes of the expected malt, along with pepper, roasted peanuts, and a distinct oak wood undertone. The liquid is pretty much identical, it is very rich and malty, both the aroma of the leaves and the liquid is very rich and not at all sweet.

This tea wakes you up if you are asleep, I was expecting a rich and mild tea, again spoiled by Chinese fuzzy teas, what I got was an intense Assam. I have not had a straight Assam in a while, it used to be my go to black tea to drink, especially in the mornings, I loved the way its bold flavors wake you up and make you alert. The taste is very malty and accompanied by roasted peanuts and oak wood. There is a bit of an astringency to it, but it avoids being bitter, just super brisk. At the finish there is a bit of sweetness that lingers, like distant stewed cherries. Thank you Halmari Gold, I had forgotten my love of Assam’s intensity.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/golden-tips-tea-halmari-gold-assam.html

In appearance this blend consists of: small black tea pieces with noticeable cinnamon stick pieces, clove pieces and green leaves of some kind.

It smells of cardamom, clove and cinnamon in particular. A little dry but very refreshing and citrus(y) with a spicy, peppery finish.

Once steeped this tea is dark reddish brown in colour and has a sweet yet spicy aromatic scent.

Please note: A drop of milk was added.

Flavour is medium in strength with crisp, spice notes. It’s a little dry from the spices but the milk helps. Spice wise I can taste the cardamom, cinnamon, clove and pepper which pretty much matches it’s raw scent. The cardamom in particular freshens the blend and adds some sweetness whilst perfuming my mouth in the after taste.

Overall: I found this Chai to be a particularly dark blend which is perfect for adding milk. It can be enjoyed without milk but it may be slightly astringent or too dry. That is all personal preference, though usually Chai is served with milk as standard.

I have sampled many Chai in my years and this is certainly one of the darker, ‘full on’ blends that I tend to favour. The spices are strong but not too much and though dry it’s not an issue once milk is added. It’s a very nice example of a classic Masala Chai. My only criticism is that I love sweet Chai and my all time favourites contain almond, though again that is down to personal taste.

For pictures and more information please view my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/01/22/discover-indian-tea-with-golden-tips/

In appearance this tea consists of: long, thin leaves that are covered with silver hairs. Some are darker in colour though they still have the silver hairs.

They have a sweet, light and floral scent that is dry and almost perfumed.

Once steeped this tea is light orange in colour and has a light, floral and sweet scent.

Flavour is light to medium in strength and bares a floral sweetness. It’s dry and nutty which comes through in the after taste. Also elements of light peach which contrast nicely against the peony and honeysuckle notes. It has no astringency.

As it cools it becomes creamy though remains highly sweet and dry.

Overall: This was a delicious white tea, full of flavour and of great quality.

While I am not the hugest fan of white tea in general I do appreciate a nice pot of it from time to time. This particular type had more flavour and strength than I anticipated which made it a wonderful drink. At times it reminded me of a light Oolong rather than a white tea, and the quality blew me away.

For pictures and more information please view my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/01/22/discover-indian-tea-with-golden-tips/

In appearance this tea consists of: small, dark and curly leaves with some stems and golden tips present.

It smells sweet and woody with elements of cocoa, malt and smoke.

Once steeped this tea is garnet in colour and has a light malt scent with a hint of fresh wood.

Flavour is medium/strong in strength with rich malt tones that are slightly astringent and smoky. Also has a dark fruit flavour which goes into the after taste, prunes and dates in particular. Some dryness is present throughout.

As it cools it becomes more dry and seems thicker, especially the malt tones. Also getting fresh tobacco and wood shavings.

Overall: This was pretty much as I predicted: it was rich, it was dark and very full of flavour. The fruit flavours made me think of a few Taiwanese blacks that I have tried recently, so while this had Assam qualities it also kept my tasting fresh and interesting. That being said I prefer a more classic Assam. Also the quality was again very good.

For pictures and more information please view my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/01/22/discover-indian-tea-with-golden-tips/

One of the more interesting teas I’ve had the pleasure of trying, this white tea from Assam is pleasant, smooth, and sweet. I think it’s more flavorful and deep than most white teas, with a malty caramel flavor and a light fruity finish. The taste is full and rounded without being overwhelming.

I typically steep with under-boiling water for about 4 minutes, and have re-steeped this tea successfully. Each infusion is lovely and flavorful, and I’ve accidentally steeped it longer without any negative effects on flavor.

This has quickly become a favorite tea of mine when I want something more malty than a regular white or green tea but don’t want a black tea.

It absolutely does not feel like Tuesday, though to be honest if asked what day it does feel like, I would probably just slur a bunch of syllables together and end it in day. I always find it strange when the perception of time gets messed up and it does not feel like the time or day it is supposed to, I wonder what causes that? I am going to blame my sleep being weird and not having my normal computer access, it has messed up my very distinct schedule. By very distinct I mean I sit in front of my computer, drink tea, and write most the day, it is only distinct because I wear a top hat and monocle at times.

Silliness aside, it is time for another Darjeeling! From Golden Tips Tea, today we are having a little looksie at Thurbo Moonlight Darjeeling Black Tea Second Flush, a FTGFOP1 Moonlight grade black tea picked the 11th of June, 2014. Now I am going to be honest, I have no idea what makes a tea Moonlight grade, doing a quick bit of research did not reveal any tasty nuggets of information, so clearly more in-depth searching must be done! I could find information of Thurbo Estate of course, located in the Mirik Valley and first planted in 1872, the name Thurbo might be a reference to the British setting up camp in the garden while they were invading Nepal, they used tents called by the locals as Tombu, which could have been mistranslated to Thurbo. A fun little bit of history before sipping, something that I always enjoy. So, the aroma of the leaves is as expected, sweet and loamy, the familiar aroma of a second flush that I have grown to love. It has notes of raisins (in comparison to first flush’s fresh scuppernong aroma that I run into) dried berries, honey, leaf loam (oddly I should specify dry rather than wet loam) a touch of malt, and at the finish a distinct note of corn silk. Darjeelings, no matter what flush they are, smell like summer to me, some of them early summer and some late, this is a tea that seems to soak up the essence of the season they were plucked.

The now steeped and soggy leaves have taken on a hint of spice in their aroma! Along with the aroma of loam (ok, now it is wet loam) and raisins, there is now spicebush flowers giving their delightful blend of floral and spice. There is also a bit of pepper and honey, with a slight hint of dark rum at the finish. The amber colored liquid is a blend of malty and fruity, with notes of well obviously malt, along with dried cherries, raisins, a hint of rum, and amusingly enough at the finish there is a creamy sweet note of custard.

The taste is rich! I had a mouth explosion of raisins, it is just like I took a handful of sultanas and regular old brown raisins and munched on them, except much juicier. It mixes honey sweetness and a touch of floral at the midtaste, with just a hint of loam and spice. Around the midtaste the juiciness turns to briskness and leaves a slight dryness to the mouth, it gives a bit of a waking up feeling after the slightly heady effect of honey and raisins. The finish is sweet, though not much else, there is just a lingering sweetness and briskness, I found this a little odd after such a distinct start that it just kinda disappears at the end, but, at least the finish has a lingering sweetness!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/golden-tips-tea-thurbo-moonlight.html

I continue my education with Darjeeling tea with this one today. This is completely different than the Giddapahar Muscatel I recently tried. With that one I caught a bready note along with fruit and hints of malt. It was quite brisk. This one is a beautiful golden color, tasting fruity and grape like along with wonderful floral notes. Neither the fruit or the floral are overwhelming. Actually, though obvious, they stay on the quiet side. Mostly smooth and mellow, with mild to moderate briskness (I really think mild but I seem to be a little desensitized to it from years of meh tea). It leaves only a light dryness. The aftertaste was my favorite part. It is a neat swirling of fruit and floral, that weave in an out of a woodsy leafy taste.

I am not well versed in Darjeeling tea. That won’t stop me from giving my opinion. The dry scent is a combination of fruity, woodsy, and fall leaf (Muscat?). The brew is bronze/caramel and has a similar aroma to the dry leaf with the addition of a bready note. In sipping this begins fruity and mellow, then swells mid sip to a brisk bite that just as quickly recedes back to fruity and mellow. This is kind of naturally sweet. The aftertaste hangs on. It is fruity, woodsy, and almost malty.

I had no bitterness as prepared. There is a standard amount of dryness. I drank this on an empty stomach and it did not cause me discomfort.

Is this a great Darjeeling? I have no idea. I did enjoy it.

I grabbed this at random out of the box from Golden Tips. It will be my first from them and my first Darjeeling white. Golden Tips puts almost all the information even the most demanding label reader could want right there on the sample. The exception would a product description. If you ordered it you probably already know what it says.

Beautiful furry silver buds that smell like a field of sweet hay and clover. Once steeped I get an additional note of dandelion greens.

The taste is cucumber, nuts, and sweet hay. Late in the cup I detect a finish of clover. Golden Tips calls this fruity but it did not strike me that way. However, the important thing is this is a complex and excellent white tea.

For pictures see here: http://theeverdayteablog.blogspot.com/2015/01/golden-tips-okayti-silver-needle.html

I’m not a big fan of this one,
I loved the in your face boldness of this one as it was quite strong to me(at first)with a good bit of astringency which I also enjoyed, no bitter tho, malty, slightly fruity at times with some bready notes and some woody notes even other than that nothing very special to make note of.
Not bad but not my cup of tea.
The second and third steeps didn’t keep the in your face boldness.
Would probably be pretty good steeped one good time strong with some milk and sugar or as a base to a chai maybe.
Not bad.