An approach to 1st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea

An approach to 1^st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea:

   It has been a very dry and cold winter in Darjeeling after the autumn flush harvest in Darjeeling since last weeks of December 2015. We received a very good rainfall on the 10^th of February 2016 which is surely a very good sign for the upcoming 1^st flush 2016 Darjeeling tea harvest. It’s very difficult to choose the right 1^st flush Darjeeling tea during the initial stage of the 1^st flush harvest as the amount of the fresh leaves and shoots on the tea bushes are very limited and most of the lots produced during this period often contains some winter leafs in it and if one is really in a hurry to get the 1st flush teas of the initial stage of the this harvest then he/she can land on buying a mixed lot or a batch of winter and spring mixed Darjeeling tea.So one has to be very careful while choosing the teas.

      Since we are in this trade for the last 70 years and have been tasting the samples of different teas right from the beginning to the end of the harvest each year we have seen that once the few rounds of plucking is done properly during this harvest we can get rid of the winter leafs   and only then we expect to get the fresh shoots and buds from the tea bushes which is actually used to make the 1^st flush Darjeeling teas.

    We have tasted few samples from few of the gardens of Darjeeling and Dooars and can say that this year the 1^st flush harvest is a bit late. We expect that we will get the early 1^st flush teas from the clonal bushes like the AV2, P312, and BB157 etc. The 1^st flush teas from the pure china bushes will take some time to arrive as the china bushes usually takes some time to conceive the new leafs and shoots during the early spring due to cold and dry conditions during this time.

     A pure and good 1^st flush Darjeeling tea should have a bright greenish appearance, filled with tiny white silver tips. The cup should give out bright yellow liquor in the cup with fruity-floral aroma with a bit of astringency at the end of each sip.

 As usual we will taste and only procure the early season pure and true first flush teas and start offering them to our tea lover friends all around the world through our website. Till then we request you to keep visiting us at our website www.teaemporium.net and our official face book page www.facebook.com/teaemporium