Darjeeling tea

Thé de Darjeeling

What it is

The gardens sit between roughly 600 and 2,000 m and are planted with Chinese bush rather than assamica, which is why even the black grades are only partly oxidised and stay green-tinged in the leaf. It was the first Indian product granted a geographical indication, in 2004 — the annual crop is a fraction of what is sold under the name.

In the kitchen

Second flush is the muscatel one and the only grade worth putting in a poaching syrup for apricots or white peaches: 10 g per litre at 90 °C for four minutes, then sugar. First flush is greener and dies under heat — drink it, do not cook with it.

Goes with

Peach Apricot Grape Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise Honey Nectarine

Same species

Assam tea Ceylon tea Da Hong Pao Earl Grey Genmaicha Gunpowder green tea

In season alongside

Lychee Tupelo honey Acacia honey Apricot Blood orange Cantaloupe melon

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