An Approach to 1st flush 2012 darjeeling tea

An approach to 1st flush 2012 Darjeeling tea:

The winters have finally passed away in Darjeeling and we had a very cold winter season here. It also rained at certain intervals here during the winters so we are expecting a much better 1st Flush 2012 darjeeling tea harvest this year than the previous last 3 years.
I had recently taken a drive downhill towards the Mirik Valley in Darjeeling where world famous tea gardens like Thurbo,Phuguri and Singbulli tea estates are located and saw a lot of newly grown baby shoots and buds on the tea bushes in the tea fields. This period of time is better known as the pre-1st Flush period. During this period of time the flushing of new shoots and buds are very minimum, so most of the invoices are often mixed up with the old leafs as a result of which the shelve life of a tea produced during this period of time is very less and a tea produced during this period often loses its flavor within 2-3 months from its manufacture. It really takes years of observation and knowledge to understand the real and pure 1st Flush tea. We have already been flooded with samples from various different gardens in Darjeeling but we are still waiting for few invoices to roll out of the gardens so that the yellow or the old leafs are fully cleared out from the tea bushes and then we shall start choosing the best invoices of Darjeeling teas as usual for our clients worldwide.
The manufacture of 1st flush teas have already started in lower elevations gardens in kurseong valley like Rohini,Tindharia,jogmaya and Jungpana tea estates but as I have mentioned above that the pure 1st flush will only start after 2-4 invoices roll out of these individual gardens and for that of course you will have to depend on your tea supplier.
The right temperature difference between day and night should be about 8 degrees Celsius for a perfect 1st flush harvest. Most of the finest teas are made from the clonal/young bushes during this period of time,as a perfect cup of 1st flush Darjeeling tea should be light/bright in color ,fruity and flowery in flavor and it should leave a slight astringency on the tea lover`s palate as an after taste. If all these factors are present in a 1st Flush tea then I would call it a well made tea.
I request all tea lover`s to have patience and keep visiting us on facebook (www.facebook.com/teaemporium) and our blog for latest updates!