First Flush Darjeeling Tea are only the fresh teas from the best tea gardens of the Darjeeling hills are cataloged for its tea lovers, hence in an attempt toward that goal, DTB ensures that all tea lovers would get only fresh teas, that is, Darjeeling first flushes teas grown and produced only in the current year.
The Darjeeling first flush teas are best enjoyed without milk. The premium ones may be re-steeped at least twice with amazing results.
First Flush Tea:
- Arya Tea Garden PEARL Tea
- Namring Tea Upper Gloria
- Avongrove Tea
- Arya Long Leaf Tea
- Ringtong Tea First Flush Moon Shine 100G
- Giddapahar Darjeeling First Flush Tea
- Rohini First Flush Darjeeling Tea
First Flush (late February to mid-April) and Second Flush Darjeeling Tea follows (May through June)
First flush teas are the most delicate Darjeelings of all.
“First flush is a spring tea “The cup’s light, it’s bright, it’s fresh, it’s green, it’s brisk,” “It has that hint of astringency, so that lends a little crispness to the cup, it’s fresh on the palate.”
The short, early spring rains have passed, and gleamings of verdant freshness are in the Darjeeling hills. Giant ferns blanket the mountainsides. Pink magnolias and camellias bloom, the first of the pinkish-red rhododendrons.
Darjeeling tea is “self-drinking,” meaning not only that blending it with another tea is not required—a standard practice among most of the world’s black teas—but also that it doesn’t need milk or sugar or even, because of the slight astringency, lemon.
While the bold and brisk black teas from other regions in India are often prepared as sweet, milky masala chai, spiced by ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon, and slurped scalding hot from a glass held nimbly between thumb and middle finger, Darjeeling’s flavors are delicate, easily buried by such additions, and washed out by more than a few drops of milk.
Commanding top prices, they are highly anticipated by aficionados, especially in Europe, where certain boutiques and tea rooms celebrate their arrival with pomp generally given over to Beaujolais wine.
“Springtime in a teacup,”
The tea bushes, stimulated by the moisture after a winter of dormancy, begin to flush new shoots so quickly that they need to be picked every four to five days. As the light filters through the darting clouds, workers pluck the young leaves: slender and lightly serrated, lacquered green in color, sprightly.
The finished tea comes out of the dryer grayish green. Steeped, it produces a pale-gold to almost-green-toned liquor that’s grassy with fresh-cut-field aromas and a floralness in its bouquet, intensely fruity in the mouth, with a hint—no more—of tartness. The season is still cool and breezy in the high hills, and that freshness carries on into the cup.