Darjeeling Tea

Darjeeling tea was the first GI recognised by the Government of India, in 2004–05. It is the only tea in the world to hold protection under a GI trademark — which is why the word appears on so many packets that have never been near the district, and why the registration matters commercially rather than ceremonially.

The character comes from a combination that cannot be assembled anywhere else: plant genetics, soil chemistry, elevation, temperature and rainfall specific to the Darjeeling hills. Move the same bush a hundred kilometres and the muscatel note does not travel with it.

The crop divides by flush rather than by grade. First flush, picked as the bushes wake in spring, is light and briskly astringent. Second flush carries the muscatel that the name is sold on. Autumn flush is darker and rounder. They are not three qualities of one tea — they are three teas off one hillside.