Like verdant waves breaking a sea of cottony mist rolling down the mountainside, the evergreen bushes anchored to sloping foothills of the Himalayas in the district of Darjeeling, India, are reputed to produce some of the world’s most astonishingly high-quality tea. Known to many as the “Champagne of Teas” (though the eponymous sparkling wine producers of France are loathe to having their IP protected name used to describe something as mundane as tea), storied former tea garden owner, Rajah Banerjee calls it the “Magical, Mystical, Himalayan Herb,” while indigenous monks once termed it, “the Elixir of Happiness.”
Notwithstanding the accolades, Darjeeling’s reputation has been marred in recent years for a myriad of reasons: misunderstanding of the characteristics of the tea and misconceptions about other Himalayan teas; adulteration with other leaf; association with down-market products like teabags; and cheap tea being falsely marketed and marked-up by retailers as “premium Darjeeling.”
Such woes occur because of how Darjeeling tea is sold: fine viniculture regions to which Darjeeling is compared, produce, bottle, and label their product on-site instead of say selling the wine in large barrels to wholesalers; Darjeeling is offered up very much like the latter—in bulk bags for auction or to private buyers—permitting the wholesaler and retailer the latitude to sell it however they desire.
Then there is the Darjeeling teabag, popularized by stalwarts of the tea industry like Twinings, Typhoo, and others. Filled with tea dust or fannings (the lowest grade of tea) what goes into a tea bag is a cheap granular byproduct of tea processing, grossly unrepresentative of fine Darjeeling tea.
“If ever there was a tea that shouldn’t be called ‘tea,’ it is Darjeeling,” says Anshuman Kanoria, owner of Darjeeling’s Goomtee Estate and Chairman of the Indian Tea Exporters’ Association. Kanoria says that the availability of cheap commodity teas worldwide has left consumers, including Darjeeling's specialty tea and luxury product, in the same category.
Flavor Characteristics of Darjeeling Tea
While greens, whites, oolongs, and others are produced on Darjeeling estates, its black tea is no monolith. Depending on the season, the elevation, facing, and the moisture, one will get teas of distinct colors and flavors but with similar exemplary qualities. Four distinct "flushes" or harvests responding to the conditions of the season, typify the region, each with their own character.
First Flush: A Fresh Spring Harvest
The year’s production begins with First flush as tea bushes ‘wake up’ in the spring after lying dormant in winter by offering a tender green leaf sometimes bearing a silver sheen on the buds from cottony fibers protecting them as they develop. Harvesting starts in February or March, depending on the elevation of the garden, and extends until roughly the end of April.
Often commanding the highest prices, the leaves grow slowly in the cool spring temperature synthesizing sweet and fragrant aromatic compounds. Delicate, they must be pried from the stock with great care. Plucking, to a general standard of two leaves and a bud, is done by hand at Darjeeling estates by well-trained and supervised workers, and inspected for consistency.
Leaves stay green in appearance through the manufacturing process due to deliberately gentle oxidization performed during processing to preserve the flowery, garden-like, and fruity aromas comprising their flavor profile. Out of the package, First Flush tends to be bottle green; hence, it is often mistaken for green tea. However, one whiff of the sweet scent of the tea corrects this misperception.
Steeped, the emergent brew turns pale golden to light amber in color. The flavor carries notes of peach, berries, mild sweetness, and sometimes has gentle vegetal undertones reminiscent of a spring meadow or freshly cut grass. There is little or very light liquor finishing the cup.
Generally, the higher elevation gardens produce a more fragrant leaf. North facing plots are preferred for First Flush because the cooler winds from the North and fewer hours of sunlight lead to slower growth, enabling those matchless flavor compounds to form within the leaf.
These teas are mellow and smooth, though some (from original China bushes) carry mild astringency but are delightfully devoid of harsh character. What distinguishes Darjeeling First Flush from other teas is the mélange its of floral and fruity, occasionally nutty, flavor notes, and the divine aftertaste that clings to the palate. One retastes the tea with each successive breath. Breathing in the flavor of the tea even after finishing a cup of Darjeeling tea is a meditative experience.
“It transports one to the beauty and ambiance of the tea garden, bathing one in the misty air, with every breath,” Kanoria waxes lyrically.
In fact, the introduction of oxygen helps bring out the flavor, which is why tasters and connoisseurs are known to slurp Darjeeling tea rather than sip it. With different nerves responsible for the sense of taste situated throughout the palate, tasters swish the tea in their mouths like wine sommeliers to fully appreciate the complexity of the brew. The cup must be allowed to cool some for the delicate flavor and complexity to be perceived.
Consistent and gentle plucking is crucial to preserve the elegant profile of First Flush leaves, which is soft and delicate. Leaves must be handled with great care to avoid bruising because the desired level of oxidation required is minimal and must be managed at the factory.
The best First Flush teas are grown at between 3,500 and 6,000 feet above sea level where it is cool and the mineral-rich mountain soil is acidic, with leaves being routinely doused with an ambient cloud-like mist that rolls off the Himalayas, providing just enough moisture to keep the tender shoots from drying out.
The older China are more mature in characteristic than the ‘clones’ (which are actually just selectively bred cuttings). In Darjeeling most, clones have been selected for flavor and increasingly, due to climate change, drought resistance. Younger than the original China plants, clones are silky in texture, and typically attract higher prices for their smooth consistency.
Pranab Mukhia, retired garden manager at such prestige Goodricke Group gardens as Castleton and Thurbo tea estates has been dealing with cultivars throughout his career. “AV2 [clone] and P312 [clone] are the most sought after due to their distinctive flavor, citrus lemony aftertaste, and notes of mild flowers,” he says. AV2 clone is known to carry honeyed notes as well.
Mukhia maintains that the original bushes sourced from China and planted by the British have more depth and character than the newer cuttings even though the clones are light, smooth, and intensely aromatic. “If withered hard, light rolled, and oxidized less, [clonal teas] give off a delicate aroma and smooth taste to the palate,” Mukhia elaborates. He also says that buyers like the look of clonals because the leaves are longer, and they contain “chunky tips.”
“The longer the leaf, the more attractive the tea but it brings a coarser taste,” Mukhia says. “The tips add the mellowness.”
Mukhia would know, for he is credited with creating the first batch of Darjeeling “Moonlight Tea” from a clone for Harrods luxury department store, UK, when he was manager at Castleton Estate.
Second Flush: A Coppery Summer Bloom
Sometime in May, continuing through June, the second set of leaves sprout from the tea plants. This Second Flush or summer tea and provides a very different tasting experience than the spring harvest but is exquisite in in own way.
Unlike leaves of brisk character which grow during First Flush, the second growth is far more earthy and mature. Greater oxidation is required to bring out the flavor. As these leaves are less aromatic, the tasting experience is all about the mouth.
The best Second Flush teas bear a unique musky, ‘perfumy’ character reminiscent of the Muscat grape (also used in wine) with notes of guava, peach, flowers, and blackcurrant combining to form a flavor called “Muscatel” – a quality only produced from the original China Bush grown from seeds clandestinely procured from China by the British in the 19th century through their agent, aptly named Robert Fortune, and seeded in Darjeeling.
While Muscatel teas are much sought after and abundantly marketed, misconceptions about it abound. Muscatel is musky, honeyed, fruity and carries a hint of spice. It is never bitter or burnt!
Other varieties of Second Flush are also floral, mildly sweet – and full-bodied, some carrying a woody character. The tea is heated (or fired as they say in the factory) far more than First Flush but never roasted. Leaves are typically double rolled (as opposed to the single roll of First Flush) to extract the maximum flavor and juices. However, the brew ought not bear a hint of smoke, which is consistent with over-firing, which would be considered by most to be an error in processing. This is not to compare to ‘roasted’ teas, which by roasting in a pan brings out sweetness rather thana carbonic taste.
Second Flush teas have a bold character with a heavy mouthfeel, satisfying in depth of flavor. One need not search for the taste; rather, it blankets the palate. The finishing polish of second flush is long and smooth, leaving a mild and sweet aftertaste on the palate. Although an intensely robust cup that can be complemented by some astringency, Darjeeling second flush teas are far less astringent than other black teas, making them enjoyable without any additives like milk and sugar. A premium selection should never taste coarse or harsh.
The leaves, once processed, appear brownish before steeping, turning coppery after they’ve been brewed. The infusion is also coppery, amber, or somewhere in between.
Interestingly, the best leaves for Muscatel teas begin oxidation while still on the plant. Insects, principally, the Taiwanese Greenfly land on the sweetest leaves, piercing them and extracting some sap. The resulting damage called chlorosis sparks oxidation where pierced. The tea plant responds by by releasing defense compounds called phytoalexins (principally Terpenoid) which give the leaf a sweetly fragrant character.
Leaf maturation while still on the plant enhances quality even before plucking occurs. Such leaves produce the highest quality Muscatel teas. In Taiwan, the part of a tea garden attracting the greenfly is called Oriental Beauty, for it signals to the farmer where the sweetest leaves have appeared that year.
A South facing favors Second Flush as Chief Operating Officer of Chamong Group, Indranil Ghosh explains: “South-facing slopes, with longer sun exposure and more direct heat, tend to accelerate photosynthesis and metabolic activity…warmth helps intensify the muscatel flavour, body, and mouthfeel — hallmarks of a well-made second flush,” he says.
He adds: “That said, Darjeeling’s steep topography means many sections of even a single estate will have variable exposure – East or West-facing sections, shaded gullies, or wind-sheltered corners — each contributing to subtle variances. Some gardens even selectively pluck from particular slopes depending on the flush to optimise quality.” Such attention to detail is indicative of the professionalism synonymous with Darjeeling Estates.
Other Harvests
The monsoon season brings torrential rains after Second Flush season is over. Ample rainfall feeds quick regrowth of barren bushes. Still, these leaves have neither the same aromatic character as First Flush nor the musky flavor Second Flush. ‘Rains Tea’ as it’s also called grows too quickly for the unique flavor compounds typical of premium flushes to fully form. Still, deep in color and with its own heady and often redolent character, Darjeeling Monsoon Flush can be compared to a fine Assam orthodox tea. Consequently, it is marketed as a morning “pick-me-up” tea with many adding milk and sugar. Monsoon Flush is also reserved for blending and making tea bags.
As rains conclude and sunlight returns, an Autumnal Flush occurs in bushes that are capable of flushing while the weather cools. Complexity forms in the leaves as temperatures fall prior to winter’s arrival, again slowing leaf development, building flavor. Less floral than First Flush, autumn teas can be fruity bearing notes of grapes and berries with deep body. Its woody character and natural sweetness form a pleasant confluence producing an infusion that ranges from copper-gold to amber, sometimes even crimson-like. Overall, it’s a deep and layered cup of tea, combining elements of the first two flushes, that can be enjoyed daily.
Preparation
Standard instructions, industry-wide, are to add two grams of tea (about a teaspoon) per 250 ml cup to water that has not quite reached boiling point and steep for between three to five minutes. Quality of water also matters.
Notwithstanding ‘the rules,’ it really depends on the batch. Some require more or less leaf and only release peak flavor after five minutes; others become harsh if steeped too long. This writer has accidentally steeped a sample of fresh First Flush tea for nearly seven minutes and found it to be silky smooth with a luxurious flavor. Authentic single estate teas vary from batch to batch. Hence, it’s recommended to experiment a little to ‘get to know’ the batch one is steeping.
While Darjeeling tea may seem expensive, if bought in bulk it costs less than a can of soda per cup. Most don’t know that premium Darjeeling whole leaf tea can be steeped more than once! Sometimes the second steep can bring out complexity and flavor masked by the headiness of the first steep – this too, without becoming too astringent.
PITFALLS OF THE DARJEELING TEA MARKET
First and Second Flush teas are the most sought after and highly priced on the market from which some 60% of sales are made.
For retailers competing in a market without an established luxury segment – it’s still highly commodified – blending Darjeeling with cheaper leaf to realize higher returns is tempting. Consequently, the tea that ends up in one’s cup isn’t necessarily the premium Darjeeling claimed by sellers, blemishing its reputation.
Even though Darjeeling tea is tagged byGeographic Indication (GI) like Champagne, identifying 87 gardens as being legally permitted to sell their tea as Darjeeling, most estates don’t sell under their own brand creating the opportunity for retailers to adulterate. Here, Darjeeling lags behind other tea-producing regions like Japan where traceability is key to sales.
Retailers are becoming increasingly open about blending with other high-altitude teas like Nepal, Kangra Valley, and Kumaoni mountain leaves, calling the product “Himalayan Tea.” Others, relying on blended Darjeeling aroma to cover-up inferior blended tea, fraudulently sell this as pure Darjeeling to realize a higher price. The Tea Board of India reported that in 2024 that 5.6 million kilograms of Darjeeling tea was produced but industry insiders claim that at least three times the amount was sold as Darjeeling, demonstrating how deep the problem of adulteration cuts into the industry. The free trade treaty between the two nations enables Nepal tea to flow into India unchecked, and how much of it is sold as Darjeeling tea is not known.
What Makes Darjeeling Unique
Globally, some draw parity between Nepal and Darjeeling tea. A well-known retailer and tea educator specializing in East Asian tea asserted to this writer: “it’s basically the same; the plant is the same; the altitude similar – there is really no difference.” This misconception held by those who may have gained credibility through having experience tasting and selling other teas – but don’t know Darjeeling tea – unfortunately proliferates within the industry, impairing the reputation of Darjeeling tea.
While it is true that tea growing in Nepal is of the same genus and species as that of Darjeeling’s, most Nepal cultivars have been selected for yield rather than taste. By contrast, Darjeeling clones have been fashioned mainly for flavor. This results in a significant difference in aroma and taste. Moreover, aside from Nepal’s Ilam Garden, where seeds gifted from the Emperor of China to the first Prime Minister of Nepal were planted, the country has no other source of China bush, which grows in abundance in Darjeeling.
A distinguishing aspect of Darjeeling district that is lacking in other regions is the rolling mist. “The position of the mountains relative to the position of Darjeeling and the winds coming off of them creates a microclimate in which a cloudy blanket covers the tea plants helping to slow down their growth, encouraging the formation of polyphenols and flavor precursors,” Notes Sumit Dalan, CMO of Jayshree Tea & Industries Ltd., a major producer of Darjeeling tea,. While Nepal matches Darjeeling’s elevation, the microclimatic mist is a unique feature of Darjeeling’s environment, and is not replicated in any other tea-growing region.
The combination of its singular terroir and climatic conditions causes development of Volatile Flavor Compounds (VFCs) in Darjeeling leaf. Specific VFCs like linalool, geraniol, and methyl jasmonate are germane to the formation of floral, fruity, and muscatel notes, and distinguish Darjeeling tea other teas.
“Yield-selected Nepal tea grows quickly, which doesn’t allow for the same flavor compounds to develop,” says Mukhia, adding: “It is plucked without the same care as in Darjeeling because the workers can be iterant, unlike the permanent employees of Darjeeling tea estates who are highly trained, paid more, have healthcare benefits, and pensions – and whose pickings are inspected for quality and consistency,” Mukhia says.
In 2022, Nepal’s main English daily, the Katmandu Post reported: “Officials say that as the country’s tea industry does not provide these benefits [housing, healthcare, and pensions], tea has become a cheap export commodity.” The paper had previously reported that many Nepal workers were required to pluck a minimum of 30 kg/day, else their government-mandated minimum wage was deducted, hardly an environment that leads to good plucking standards not to mention being dreadfully exploitative. But the practice is akin to those found in other countries on plantations that are even Fairtrade Certified as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported in an exposé in March, 2025 about tea cultivation in Sri Lanka.
Dalan actually infers that much potential is lost in how Nepal leaves are plucked and manufactured: “Maybe you start with quality leaf, and you might be able to make good tea from it – but it’s very difficult to make a great tea like that. The major difference between Nepal tea and Darjeeling Tea is that it is made from bought leaf of small farmers and processed at central factories rather being than sourced and processed on an estate. There is no formal consistency and quality control system in place during the plucking process as we have on Darjeeling tea estates – and there is no doubt, we have long experience making tea,” says Dalan.
Still, Mukhia claims that consumers are unlikely to tell the difference between blended Himalayan tea and 100% pure Darjeeling due to the overpowering aroma of the blended Darjeeling. “The only way for the consumer to discern the difference is to compare a premium Darjeeling single estate offering – which they likely won’t find in most tea stores or hypermarkets – side-by-side with a Himalayan blend.”
The premium teas find their way into high-end boutiques, mostly in Europe Japan, and to some extent, North America. Hence, the cheaper blends sold as Darjeeling in less posh stores or in tea rooms and cafés by the cup diminish the impression of Darjeeling tea among consumers.
Also, teas sold online can be suspect because relatively newer retailers don’t have the same motivation to protect a well-established reputation, which most high-end boutiques have worked long and hard to develop. Some contain misleading endorsements from celebrities like one retailer which carries a picture of well-known celebrity on their website accompanying a quote about how much she loves “chai shipped directly from India” – but no actual recommendation of their Darjeeling tea or brand, even.
I happened to be interviewing a Darjeeling tea garden owner when he got a call from this same retailer during March, 2025 when teas were flushing late due to drought and small amounts were coming in, commanding high prices. To give me an inside look into tea negotiations, the garden owner put his phone on speaker, and I could clearly hear the retailer state his ceiling price – it was one tenth of the most recent invoice the garden owner had sold. After the garden owner hung up, he threw his arms in the air and said, “How can I sell him First Flush tea at that price? Even if he finds someone who’ll meet his demand, it’ll be ‘throw-away tea.’ He’ll then mark it up at least five-fold and sell it as premium Darjeeling. How can that be good for the industry?”
Indeed, I came across the damage in reading an archived New York Times “staff picks” piece on tea a few days, later. The writer, a self-confessed “tea fanatic” recommended that same retailer to his readers for Darjeeling tea. The writer is not to blame (he probably couldn’t procure any better tea than the ‘throw away’ variety and, due lack of familiarity with the true taste of premium Darjeeling, didn’t know any better) but the system that impedes real premium Darjeeling from making it to mass market surely is at fault.
Despite such challenges, Darjeeling tea may thrive in the long-run if it can: rebrand as an elite offering distinguishing it from cheaper imitations; establish a reliable regime of traceability; and sell as a luxury product – like the very Champagne to which the famous metaphor about the quality of Darjeeling tea refers.
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