Celebrate the First Flush from Darjeeling

Tea lovers start the season in springtime – with the first leaves that sprout on the tea bushes in Darjeeling. The fresher they are, the greater the quality. Thus everybody races to be the first to import this year’s tea. Darjeeling classifies as a black tea, although its taste and light-coloured liquor rather resemble green tea. It is prepared from hand-picked, only slightly oxidized, young and underdeveloped leaves and buds. It is these so-called tips, glittering in silver colour in the dry leaves, which are characteristic for the first harvests.

The quality and processing of these teas, for which we also know their place of origin and harvest date, by far surpass any commonly available bag teas, whose contents resemble dust rather than tea leaves, furthermore, these are usually mixtures of unknown origin. While these teas have a constant taste throughout the year, the taste of a brew from the new Darjeeling tea leaves will remind you of spring. Its much higher price corresponds with its quality – in spring, Western traders often buy in advance whole batches of tea which has not even been harvested yet.

Similarly to sprouts and shoots, spring teas have the highest contents of nutrients, energy and power. Unlike heavier black Assam teas, spring Darjeeling is as fresh and full of life as young leaves from which it is prepared, thus it is ideal for overcoming “spring fatigue”. The tea contains many beneficial substances, vitamins, catechins and antioxidants. It speeds up the metabolism, on a long-term basis prevents cancer, Alzheimer’s disease or other brain cell damage. Some Darjeeling gardens, for example Shree Dwarika, grow BIO (organic) quality tea and have Fairtrade certification.

To bring out the rare taste of Darjeeling first flushes, use five teaspoons of dry leaves for a litre of boiled water. While pouring the water from a pot to cups and back to pre-heat them, the water cools down to 85 – 90°C. Then pour water over tea and steep for a maximum of three minutes to prevent it from getting bitter and losing its rare taste.