What temperature for Darjeeling first flush?

The Tea Makers of London use 80°C, a couple of minutes off the boil, for three to five minutes; Vahdam gives 90 to 100°C for Okayti's. Start cool and go hotter if the cup is too delicate.

What is the difference between first flush and second flush Darjeeling?

First flush is the spring picking, roughly March to April: light, floral and brisk. Second flush is picked in early summer, roughly May to June: darker and fuller, with a muscatel character.

Is Darjeeling a protected name?

Yes. The Tea Board of India restricts it to tea grown and processed in 87 registered gardens in the Darjeeling district, and the EU has protected it as a geographical indication since 2011.

How to brew Darjeeling tea, first and second flush

Darjeeling is grown on the slopes of the eastern Himalaya in West Bengal, and it is the black tea that behaves least like one. A spring Darjeeling made like a builder's tea — boiling water, five minutes, plenty of milk — loses nearly everything that makes it worth the price; brewed with a little care, it is one of the finest cups there is.

A protected name

Only tea from the registered gardens of the Darjeeling district may be sold as Darjeeling. The Tea Board of India defines it as tea grown in one of 87 registered gardens in the defined area and processed there. The European Union has protected the name as a geographical indication since 2011. Under the Board's rules even "blended Darjeeling" means Darjeeling from more than one of those gardens and nothing else; a tea that is only partly Darjeeling may not use the name at all, whatever the tin would like you to think.

The flushes

Darjeeling is picked from spring to autumn, and the season is divided into flushes — bursts of new growth, each with its own character.

First flush is the spring picking, from about late February or March into April. Light, green-gold in the cup, floral and brisk; the most expensive, and the one people mean when they call Darjeeling the champagne of teas.

Second flush follows in early summer, roughly May and June. Darker, rounder and fuller, with the muscatel note the region is known for.

Autumnal tea comes after the monsoon: mellower, woodier, and usually the best value.

How to brew it

Leaf: 2 to 3 grams to 200 ml of water, which is The Tea Makers of London's figure for Darjeeling of any flush.

First flush: The Tea Makers brew it at 80°C — leave the kettle a couple of minutes after it boils — for three to five minutes, stopping at three for a lighter, more floral cup. Vahdam, which sells the 2026 first flush from Okayti, one of the registered gardens, gives 90 to 100°C and three to five minutes. The respectable figures, then, run from 80°C to the boil. Start cool and go hotter if the cup is too delicate for you; that is far easier than rescuing a bitter one.

Second flush and autumnal: freshly boiled water, as The Tea Makers have it, and three to four minutes.

Milk?

A first flush, no. It is a light, aromatic tea and milk buries it. A robust second flush can take a little, and plenty of people take it that way; but try it without first, if only once.