This review has this structure:
*WHAT DOESTHIS REVIEW COVER?
QUALITY*
SPECIAL OFFERINGS FROM DILMAH:
WHY SINGLE ORIGIN TEA?
COMPARING DILMAH’S RANGE WITH OTHER OFFERINGS
VERDICT
NOTES ON TEA BAGS*
*CHECKING THE QUALITY OF TEA BAGS AT HOME
GLOSSARY
Headings are LIKE THIS
Tea Manufacturer names are like this*
Addition to the original text is like this.
WHAT DOESTHIS REVIEW COVER?
What’s covered: Regular leaf tea in some details based on my tea consumption in 6 years
What’s not covered/meant: This is NOT a know-all dictionary on tea. Organic tea, tea bags, speciality tea - Green tea, White tea etc are not covered.
*QUALITY
-Dilmah**’s leaf tea stands out for quality.
-I refer to the leaf/standard type consumed by most people, such as Chai/Chai Latte.as in India
and a good choice in overseas cafes.
-Quality of Dilmah leaf is high; close to what is claimed on their pack.
SPECIAL OFFERINGS FROM DILMAH:
-Dilmah has now introduced 20 Pack speciality teas. There are many offerings. Some are Assam Leaf tea; French Rose, Italian Almond, Arabian Peppermint Tea and similar.
-Dilmah also has special Ceylon teas; theya re quite similar in flavor and aftertaste like the Assam fermented black teas.
-Of course, they offer high end tea in metal cases; this is quite the elixir of their offerings and the price is in the range of approximately 10A$ for a pack of 20 bags. The tea is pure; having tried it in black, I conclude that most of Dilmah’s range is pure leaf and many not cater to dust flavor tea; which are unique for so many consumers in India.
WHY SINGLE ORIGIN TEA?
-Tea leaves from only one source/type/variety & even from the same area in the tea plantation.
-More than one type is not used in Dilmah. Twinnings does & mentions this on their product packs.
-Single origin maintains quality, while mixing types reduces consistency and tea quality.
-Dilmah offers this tea in leaf, dust, bag, premium and other types.
-Adulteration does not seem possible because the flavor is original.
COMPARING DILMAH’S RANGE WITH OTHER OFFERINGS
- Broke Bond Darjeeling alone, according to me, scores ahead of Dilmah Darjeeling Leaf in Tea
bags, unfair because Darjeeling leaf holds its own - is supposedly rated the best tea ever.
-Twinnings for instance uses blends.some like it, some don’t mind.
-Indian Chai
-Russian Caravan
-Olong
-Afternoon
-Irish a pungent flavor similar to strong dust tea in India
-In Australia, a new brand called David Jones offers great quality, is better than Dilmah in leaf
quality especially their Orange Pekoe, Orange Flavored Leaf
-Nerada offers Chai flavored tea bags and claims it as organic tea and I cannot tell the difference
between both organic and regular.you tell me?
-I understand HLL’s Taj Mahal offers Orange Pekoe. Did not see this in India in early 2000s.
-Better still try picking out Orange Pekoe from a tea estate in Assam or Darjeeling leaf that would
top-notch.See what am saying?
-Hotel Blend &Darjeeling.Assam blends offered by individual private retailers are just world class.
-Runglee Rungliot was a quaility brand in the 90s in India
-Tata Tetley never impressed me
-Many HLL brands were quite stale.full of color
-Kannan Devan brand was Ok, people in my family did not like that tea flavor
-Earl Grey flavor was not so poular in our family too.
-Dust tea is a joke in my opinion
-Some styles of chai latte as served in Northern India or Eastern India are top notch.tempts me to
say, kyon, ek CUP CHAI ho jaye?
*VERDICT
*-There are many brands that offer quality.suit yourselves.
-Dilmah offers high quality at different levels due to their single origin, purity per their claim on the
product packs.
-I have also checked this with a Sri Lankan couple and they approved of Dilmah’s quality. No-
brainer - that’s the only tea they sell in their cafe.
-FRESHNESS RATING - 10/10 for their premium range
*NOTES ON TEA BAGS
*-Tea-bags are not first quality, they are for convenience!
-Standard fare, but relatively better than many other brands that throw all garbage and unknown
flavors that are carcinogens.
CHECKING THE QUALITY OF TEA BAGS AT HOME
-Take a tea bag.from any brand.open it up and immerse that in boiling hot water in a cup/mug
-INSTANT COLOR: fake product, throw that away
-SLOW COLOR: not fake, depending on leaf and flavor, it is rated
*GLOSSARY: A SAMPLE LISTOF TEA PACKAGED PRODUCTS BASED ON LEAF TYPE, FLAVOR
*Tea is classified on production types
White tea: Un-Wilted and unoxidized, not so tasty to me
Yellow tea: Un-wilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow, haven’t tried it
Green tea: Wilted and unoxidized, Chinese folks consume this a lot
Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized, fine for some people
Black tea: Wilted, crushed, and fully oxidized, traditional English
Post-fermented tea: Green Tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost, never tried this
There are many more, above is a sample list .