I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First Flush Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that? Could someone familiar with the Darjeeling harvest explain to me what the times are for First Flushes and how these could be FF? Thanks!
Melinda
Until Karsten reports on what's happening this year, let me say that, when I was in Darjeeling last winter, the lowest elevation Gopaldhara tea was first harvested, in quantities too small for sale, at the end of *February*. Higher elevation tea would of course come later.
/Lew
Well, I ordered some of this, so I'll report when it arrives.
To be fair, Upton's description is "While designated a First Flush, this early production Darjeeling has also been described as a 'Winter Tea'." This intrigued me so I thought I'd spring for some.
Regards, Dean
Thanks Dean, I'd be interested in what you think. They have two offerings from the same garden, one of which has your description and one which just says early 2006 production. Even so, I wasn't aware a tea could be produced at all this early in the year, at least not in the India/China/Ceylon/Japan area. I'm not sure about African teas, they may be produced all year around for all I know.
Melinda
Is Camillia Sinensis inexorably perennial, or would it continue to bud and sprout throughout the year in a warmer part of the country?
--Blair "Dammit, Jim, I'm a tea-drinker, not a botanist!"
Definetely so. As Lew said, most likely the lower gardens around Mirik like Gopaldhara, Thurbo, ... will be the first to serve the "real" FF , probably around the last week of February, depending on the weather.
These days I'll be visiting some of those lower gardens with local friends of mine, I agreed on doing some environmental engineering down there, but it's to early to talk about the details. Until last week I was also working on a tea related webpage, but alas, my laptop fell into a bag of tsampa (of all things, finely ground tibetan barley flour, LOL) and hasn't recovered yet. Let me see if I can fix it and continue with that page.
Dean, keep us updated on those "winter" leaves from Uptons. I'll try my best to keep you updated with news from the hills, especially on the FFs I'll try to snatch fresh from the gardens with a little help from my friends.
Karsten / Darjeeling
Surely you can get tea at any season of the year BUT Darjeeling has to be from Darjeeling, not from Australia.
Kuri
Please let us know about Makaibari. I liked their 1st F in 2005 but was disappointed by their 2nd F. All color and low flavor .. almost like Lipton Green label!
I'll stock up on 1st F in 2006 if I can identify a few good gardens' products.
Same with me so far, but the Autumn invoice I reported on in a previous thread IMO was nothing short of terrific.
BTW: I'm just back from a meeting with my "tea guru" and when told about anyone selling "winter leaves" he had a good laugh. As far as we could remember it hasn't rained for more than 2 months anywhere in the district (apart from some short drizzle) and the old saying goes: no rain > no juice in the leaves > water in the cup. If you're interested in the coming FF just keep an eye on the www weathernews on Mirik, Kurseong, and Darjeeling. While lots of rain doesn't necessarily turn out high quality DJs; no, or little rain, like in last years most critical period (mid/late Feb./early March) most probably results in "water in the cup".
Again just my 2 drops, Karsten / Darjeeling
It will, and plenty of lower grade teas are continuously picked rather than picked in individual flushes.
--scott
The Nilgiri district of India has a warm climate and tea fields that are harvested year-round. Most colder climates do not harvest tea during the winter months. Japan, however, produces Kukicha tea ('winter tea' or 'twig tea') during the winter which consists of old leaves and Camillia Sinensis twigs.
Karsten and his tea guru is right.... I have a friend who sends me teas from Darjeeling, though he is in no way related to tea, but some of his friends are tea garden managers and I always get the good lot - I pay him though:). He too has to pay. He too had asked the guys in the tea gardens and they said winter months are totally dormant with no tea production at all. Most of the managers will be somewhere lying on a beach bathing in the sun. Its vacation time for them. So according to the early first thing, the factory must have worked on their own :)
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