Darjeeling House Blend - First Flush Teabags

Our large biodegradable Triune™ teabags are crafted so that we can fill them with the same loose-leaf tea that goes into our caddies, and this teabag is no different. We've delicately packed our award-winning Darjeeling First Flush house blend into our cornstarch Triune's. The result is a spectacular brew offering all the muscatel flavours of this special North-Indian region.

Sweet, light and floral, this high-quality blend is heavenly and has been formally recognised by the Guild of Fine Foods in their Great Taste Awards. Enjoy this tea hot with your choice of added sweetness if preferred.

Darjeeling is renowned for producing fine seasonal teas or flushes. These flushes are oxidised to varying degrees for teas of different strengths, with the first flush particularly known for delivering the muscatel flavour that's a hallmark of Darjeeling teas.

While Darjeeling is technically a black tea, it is processed more like green tea, where the leaves are given minimal oxidation before being rolled to preserve their natural flavours. Darjeeling is much lighter and sweeter than most black and green teas but has all the benefits of black tea. Among other things, it's high in antioxidants and associated with helping lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

What makes Darjeeling special

The name Darjeeling comes from the Tibetan for 'Land of the Thunderbolt', a reference to the region's monsoonal climate that's prone to frequent thunderstorms. Tea gardens here are laid out across the steep sub-Himalayan foothills at elevations of 90-1,750m, which are exposed to plentiful rain and sporadic bouts of sunshine. This weather, along with Darjeeling's steep terrain and varied, rocky soils, come together in a magical combination to create nuanced teas that can be as individual as the farmers who grow them.

Unlike most Indian teas, which are derived from the large-leaved assamica variety of tea bush, Darjeeling teas come from the small-leaved Camellia sinensis plant commonly grown in China.

This is down to a British civil servant called Dr Archibald Campbell, who was appointed Darjeeling regional superintendent for the East India Company in 1839. In 1841, Campbell started to experiment with planting seeds of the Chinese tea plant, Camellia sinensis, brought from Kumaon in Nepal. The plants took root, tea nurseries were established and by the 1850s commercial development of the industry was well underway.

As tea farmers adapted their tea-growing practices to the district's unique agro-climatic conditions, they passed down their knowledge through the generations. Darjeeling became established as one of the world's finest teas. In 2011, Darjeeling's special qualities and unique character were recognised internationally with the awarding of Geographical Indication status, which protects the style and means only Darjeeling grown in Darjeeling can be marketed as such. Given its light character and revered status, it's little wonder that Darjeeling is often described as the 'Champagne of teas'!