What is Darjeeling Tea?
Darjeeling tea is a black tea that must officially be produced in the Darjeeling region in West Bengal, India. The king of black teas, Darjeeling is light in color, has a thin body and smells floral — with a tannic astringency and spicy, musky quality known to tea geeks as “muscatel” — and a cool, sweet aftertaste. It is adored by the British. While primarily a black tea, you can also find Darjeeling oolong and green teas and Darjeeling is actually oxidized at a level closer to the oolong than black tea family. Some 3/4 of the world’s so-called Darjeeling tea is inauthentic, so if you want the real thing, look for an official Darjeeling logo from the Tea Board of India. Darjeeling comes in three varieties. The mild First Flush, which is harvested after the spring rains in mid-March; the more full-bodied Second Flush, harvested in June; and the less delicate and spicy Autumnal Flush, which is harvested in the post-rainy-season autumn.
