The thing about Darjeeling, part 1
Happy Earth’s first flush lineup + learning to appreciate a prickly, particular brew.
Singular tastes of spring
The teas: Darjeeling and Nepal first flush, sold by Happy Earth Tea. $13 to $19 for 1oz.
There are two kinds of tea that I try to drink as close to their harvest dates as possible: green teas, wherever they’re made, and first flush black teas, a famed curiosity of the Darjeeling hills and surrounding Himalayas. Light, bright, and bristling with springtime sparkle, these first flush brews aren’t like anything else in the tea world. They’re sold as black tea, but the dry leaves often appear green. The liquor looks more like a white or an oolong, yet it tastes like neither. The flavor of Darjeeling first flush is endemic to the region in which it’s made—a unique confluence of historical circumstance, economic forces, plant genetics, and a climate that’s ideal for growing tea. When the tea is good, it’s really good, and it tastes best in the weeks and months after harvest.
The term “flush” refers to a harvest period. The first flush occurs shortly after the tea plants wake from winter dormancy. Their sparse initial growth is packed with nutrients; early spring teas trade low yield for concentrated flavor. Later pickings aren’t as potent, and in Darjeeling those subsequent flushes are subjected to different processing more suited to their chemistry. So even though “flush” is about time of year, it’s indirectly an indicator of style as well. Only first flush teas are made in this light, springy style that embodies the energy of the season.
My friend Niraj Lama of Happy Earth Tea (see this entry from May) was born and raised in Darjeeling, and like many Darjeeling sellers, he selects several first flush batches to offer every year. Each tea is its own experience, and even batches from the same garden made a few days apart can taste drastically different. He kindly sent me the five batches of his 2024 lineup, so let’s taste them all together.
To brew: First flush leaves are only lightly oxidized, so they’re easy to oversteep. Don’t brew them like other black teas. I’ve made all of these with 3 grams of leaf in a 150 milliliter pot (1g/50ml). When I pour, I trickle freshly boiled water in a thin stream down the side of the pot to reduce its temperature, then steep with the lid off for 1 minute. If you have an electric kettle that can dial in a specific temperature, 90 degrees Celsius or 195 degrees Fahrenheit is a good start. These teas are also great to brew cold in the fridge.
Okayti Estate 2024: A rich, thick brew with tinges of green olive and a spicy cedar aroma. I get a nice mouthwatering effect and an overall satisfying feeling from this one. The sweet finish reminds me of winter melon.
Okayti Estate Number 3 2024: A micro batch from one of the garden’s first picking days. It’s lighter than the other Okayti, more herbal and artichoke in its character. I smell savory spring vegetables when I sip, kind of like broth, and some creamy, buttery qualities that will appeal to fans of Taiwanese high mountain oolongs.
Risheehat Estate 2024: This one veers closer to classic black tea with a stronger, brisk flavor and deep, nutty notes of well browned pastries. But it’s still a light and elastic first flush, with aromas of candy apple and wintergreen.
Himalayan Spring (Jun Chiyabari Estate) 2024: Jun Chiyabari is an outstanding producer in Nepal just 50 miles or so from Darjeeling, and they make first flush teas too. There’s a lot going on in this batch—it’s smooth in texture, layered, and exciting to drink. I don’t just taste it, I feel it all around my mouth. With spicy radish and Marcona almond aromas, the wet leaves remind me of wild greens cooked after a foraging trip in the woods. Excellent re-steep value on this tea. It lasts through three or four brews.
Himalayan White (Jun Chiyabari Estate) 2024: I’m sneaking this one in as it’s early spring leaf, but processed as a white tea rather than a typical first flush. Like a good Fujian silver needle, it’s subtle but persistent in flavor. There’s marshmallow sweetness and a round, pillowy texture that lasts through several brews.
“The magic of Darjeeling first flush”
It wasn’t until I was in the tasting room of Jungpana Estate, winded and soaked in sweat from our 4,000 foot climb up a dirt road under the afternoon sun, that I began to understand why people fawn over Darjeeling teas the way they do. My bosses Sebastian and Ana of In Pursuit of Tea were doing their annual spring harvest visit to the region’s many gardens, and I was following along. 30 cups of Jungpana’s new teas were laid before us to sniff, slurp, taste, and spit, in order to see if any would make the cut for the company to purchase.
A cupping process like this is common at large estates like Jungpana. Different sections of the garden are ready for harvest at different times. Some may house specific cultivars or seed-grown stock, or this or that set of leaves may be processed in a particular way due to the demands of changing weather. Variation is expected, and batches of tea, called invoices, are sold individually to buyers that snatch up quality productions early in the season. So we made our way down the line of cups, swishing the coppery liquid around our mouths before spitting into an urn that rolled on castor wheels behind us.
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