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Ian 4/4/05

> I guess I've never had first flush Darjeeling before. I just got in a
> shipment from Upton today, the Special Arya Estate Organic Pekoe First
> Flush (EX-1). I was a bit shocked when I brewed it and it was green
> tea. Or is it? I went down to the website, and that tea is listed as
> black. So is it that first flush Darjeeling is greenish, or this tea
> in particular is, or that they made a mistake?
>
> Ian
>
> Ian

Ian,

I read the responses to your question. Let me add that there is indeed a
partial oxidation of Darjeelings, which places them by (Chinese) definition
into the Oolong class rather than the red/black tea class. Further, once
upon a time, Darjeelings were processed in a thoroughly oxidized way,
placing them squarely into the red/black class at that time. Nowadays, we
tend to see them in a less oxidized -- that is, a greener -- state, but they
retain their old classification as a black tea. Following what Lew
suggested, call them anything, just don't call them late for dinner. As
Ripon suggested, the darker, heavier types are more popular on the
sub-continent, while the greener ones are more popular here in North
America and in Europe.

Personally, I love those first flushes, and the more gentle and complex they
are, the better I like them. If you take milk and sugar in your tea, as you
say, then first flushes are definitely not for you until you put down those
adulterations.

Michael