Darjeeling Black Tea｜Flavor Introduction

Darjeeling Black Tea is known for its gentle aroma, with a tea soup that exhibits a light golden-yellow color. It has a rich flavor with a hint of sweetness. The fresh leaves are covered with fine hairs, soft, and bright, requiring more raw materials in the production process compared to other types of tea leaves.

Variety: Small leaf variety | Origin: Darjeeling, India | Process: Fermentation

Darjeeling Black Tea originates from the Darjeeling highlands at the foothills of the Himalayas in the northern part of West Bengal, India. It is a type of black tea known for its fruity and rich flavor. It is highly esteemed in the United Kingdom, having won numerous awards and often regarded as the “champagne of black teas” or the “king of black teas” for its exceptional quality.

In 1834, the British East India Company established a Tea Committee to study the tea cultivation issue. They dispatched the committee secretary, C.J. Gordon, to China to purchase tea seeds and saplings and seek out experts in tea planting and processing. They hired tea industry technicians from Asia to instruct and train in the methods of tea processing, bringing back many tea seeds to be planted in Darjeeling. In 1836, the Chinese tea workers brought back by Gordon successfully experimented with Chinese processing methods in C.A. Bruce’s tea factory.

The tea plants in the Darjeeling region were introduced by Scottish doctor Arthur Campbell Doctor, who served as the regional supervisor. In 1841, he successfully experimented with Chinese tea seeds brought from Kumao in his residence garden. Subsequently, tea cultivation in the Darjeeling region entered a rapid development phase. Scottish botanist Robert Fortune was also dispatched by the East India Company to Wuyi Mountain, China, in 1849 to clandestinely obtain tea seedlings and seeds. He hired eight tea artisans and, in 1850-1851, shipped large quantities of tea seedlings and seeds to Calcutta, cultivating 12,000 new tea plants in Assam and Darjeeling.