Why summer Darjeeling smells of muscat

In the Himalayan foothills, the Darjeeling gardens climb in terraces up to 2,360 metres. It is here, between June and July, that the second harvest is picked – the famous second flush – the one that gives the tea its muscatel fragrance, found nowhere else.

The culprit is a tiny insect, the green leafhopper. By biting the young leaves, it triggers a defence reaction in the tea plant: the leaf concentrates aromas which, once oxidised, evoke muscat grapes, ripe apricot and honey.

That is why a summer Darjeeling is unlike any other black tea: the cup is coppery, rounded, with no harsh astringency at all. Try our Darjeeling Himalaya: infuse it at 90 °C for 3 to 4 minutes and, above all, without milk or sugar. It needs nothing else.

Eliane