I have been set free with my tea tasting spoon and have selected some super super super (you get the idea) special teas which we have christened ‘top of the crops’. The Indian tea bushes are just waking up from the long winter snooze so now is the perfect time to launch our first top of the crops….. da da da daaaaa....darjeeling first flush.
Where is it, what is it and why is it sooooo fancy?
For those who didn’t pay attention in geography, Darjeeling is in India, bordering Nepal it sits in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is really hilly, misty and very cold in the winter. The tea bushes grow clinging to the sides of the mountain – the cool weather and challenging growing conditions produce a very intense unique flavour to the tea.
Plucking the leaves is not as easy as it is in other areas of India (and the rest of the world) the steep hills make it tricky.
The first flush (the first growth) appeared in March this year but with no rain the growth was very slow, the rain came at Easter this year and the leaves flourished. The teas produced during the first flush are in huge demand in Germany and Japan, there is a rush to secure the finest teas and they fetch crazy high prices.
The first flush Darjeeling we have selected is from the Singbulli tea estate which is highly respected tea estate. The tea is grown over 9 hills and is cultivated between 1200 ft and 4100 ft.
We are now the proud owners of a small batch of the finest organic singbulli SFTGFOP1 … or as we like to call it in the office OMG this is dam good. The flavour is delicate, flowery with a hint of pears – unique and really yum.
Buy it now before it all goes – quick quick!
