Imperial First Flush Darjeeling

Similarly, green teas have suffered from low quality and high prices this year. We have decided to once again think out of the box. Although Darjeelings are almost always classified as black tea, first flush Darjeelings are mostly lighter oxidized, and in reality more like green teas in most cases. For this selection, we have decided to purchase from the famed Darjeeling garden of Junpapa, one of the most respected Darjeeling estates that are famous for producing hand-crafted Darjeeling with the elusive “muscatel” flavors. In terms of leaf style, this is one of the best looking first flush Darjeelings in recent memory. The aromatics from the dried leaves are floral, with exotic spices and honey notes. The infusion is bright yellow with just a hint of reddish pink. When gently infused in low-mid temperature water the floral notes, honey and spices are augmented with a light Swiss chard vegetal freshness. This great Darjeeling comfortably straddles the line between Eastern and Western preferences, that is to say if you would prefer to treat this tea as a black tea (e.g. using near boiling water) adding milk, sugar, lemon, honey, etc, this tea would certainly rise to the occasion. If you prefer to treat this tea as a high-quality green tea, as in Eastern culture, using low-mid high temperature water infusions, this exceptional Darjeeling would offer unique twists unlike any other “regular” green teas of this season.