I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First Flush
Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that? Could someone familiar
with the Darjeeling harvest explain to me what the times are for First
Flushes and how these could be FF? Thanks!

Melinda

--
"I know. You know I know. I know you know I know. We know Henry knows,
and Henry knows we know it."
We're a knowledgeable family." ::smiles:: -Geoffrey, Lion in Winter

"Melinda" > writes:

> I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First Flush
> Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that? Could someone familiar
> with the Darjeeling harvest explain to me what the times are for First
> Flushes and how these could be FF? Thanks!

Until Karsten reports on what's happening this year, let me say that,
when I was in Darjeeling last winter, the lowest elevation Gopaldhara
tea was first harvested, in quantities too small for sale, at the end
of *February*. Higher elevation tea would of course come later.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

"Melinda" > wrote in message
...
> I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First
Flush
> Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that? Could someone familiar
> with the Darjeeling harvest explain to me what the times are for First
> Flushes and how these could be FF? Thanks!
>
> Melinda
>
Well, I ordered some of this, so I'll report when it arrives.

To be fair, Upton's description is "While designated a First Flush, this
early production Darjeeling has also been described as a 'Winter Tea'."
This intrigued me so I thought I'd spring for some.

Regards,
Dean

"DPM" > wrote in message news:NVVAf.6446$Me5.4235@trnddc05...
>
> "Melinda" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First
> Flush
>> Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that? Could someone
>> familiar
>> with the Darjeeling harvest explain to me what the times are for First
>> Flushes and how these could be FF? Thanks!
>>
>> Melinda
>>
> Well, I ordered some of this, so I'll report when it arrives.
>
> To be fair, Upton's description is "While designated a First Flush, this
> early production Darjeeling has also been described as a 'Winter Tea'."
> This intrigued me so I thought I'd spring for some.
>
> Regards,
> Dean

Thanks Dean, I'd be interested in what you think. They have two offerings
from the same garden, one of which has your description and one which just
says early 2006 production. Even so, I wasn't aware a tea could be produced
at all this early in the year, at least not in the India/China/Ceylon/Japan
area. I'm not sure about African teas, they may be produced all year around
for all I know.

Melinda

Is Camillia Sinensis inexorably perennial, or would it continue to bud
and sprout throughout the year in a warmer part of the country?

--Blair
"Dammit, Jim, I'm a tea-drinker, not a botanist!"

Melinda wrote:
> I see that Upton's is advertising that it has some early season First Flush
> Darjeelings for 2006...isn't it way early for that ?

Definetely so. As Lew said, most likely the lower gardens around Mirik
like Gopaldhara, Thurbo, ... will be the first to serve the "real" FF ,
probably around the last week of February, depending on the weather.

These days I'll be visiting some of those lower gardens with local
friends of mine, I agreed on doing some environmental engineering down
there, but it's to early to talk about the details. Until last week I
was also working on a tea related webpage, but alas, my laptop fell
into a bag of tsampa (of all things, finely ground tibetan barley
flour, LOL) and hasn't recovered yet. Let me see if I can fix it and
continue with that page.

Dean, keep us updated on those "winter" leaves from Uptons.
I'll try my best to keep you updated with news from the hills,
especially on the FFs I'll try to snatch fresh from the gardens with a
little help from my friends.

Karsten / Darjeeling

"Blair P. Houghton" > wrote in message

> Is Camillia Sinensis inexorably perennial, or would it continue to bud
> and sprout throughout the year in a warmer part of the country?

Surely you can get tea at any season of the year BUT Darjeeling has to be
from Darjeeling, not from Australia.

Kuri

> wrote in message
oups.com...

> Dean, keep us updated on those "winter" leaves from Uptons.
> I'll try my best to keep you updated with news from the hills,
> especially on the FFs I'll try to snatch fresh from the gardens with a
> little help from my friends.

Please let us know about Makaibari. I liked their 1st F in 2005 but was
disappointed by their 2nd F. All color and low flavor .. almost like Lipton
Green label!

I'll stock up on 1st F in 2006 if I can identify a few good gardens'
products.
--
Aloke
----
to reply by e-mail remove 123 and change invalid to com

Aloke Prasad wrote:
>Please let us know about Makaibari. I liked their 1st F in 2005 but was
>disappointed by their 2nd F. All color and low flavor .. almost like Lipton
>Green label!

Same with me so far, but the Autumn invoice I reported on in a previous
thread IMO was nothing short of terrific.

BTW: I'm just back from a meeting with my "tea guru" and when told
about anyone selling "winter leaves" he had a good laugh.
As far as we could remember it hasn't rained for more than 2 months
anywhere in the district (apart from some short drizzle) and the old
saying goes: no rain > no juice in the leaves > water in the cup.
If you're interested in the coming FF just keep an eye on the www
weathernews on Mirik, Kurseong, and Darjeeling.
While lots of rain doesn't necessarily turn out high quality DJs; no,
or little rain, like in last years most critical period (mid/late
Feb./early March) most probably results in "water in the cup".

Again just my 2 drops,
Karsten / Darjeeling

Blair P. Houghton > wrote:
>Is Camillia Sinensis inexorably perennial, or would it continue to bud
>and sprout throughout the year in a warmer part of the country?

It will, and plenty of lower grade teas are continuously picked rather
than picked in individual flushes.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

The Nilgiri district of India has a warm climate and tea fields that
are harvested year-round. Most colder climates do not harvest tea
during the winter months. Japan, however, produces Kukicha tea ('winter
tea' or 'twig tea') during the winter which consists of old leaves and
Camillia Sinensis twigs.

Karsten and his tea guru is right.... I have a friend who sends me teas
from Darjeeling, though he is in no way related to tea, but some of his
friends are tea garden managers and I always get the good lot - I pay
him though. He too has to pay. He too had asked the guys in the tea
gardens and they said winter months are totally dormant with no tea
production at all. Most of the managers will be somewhere lying on a
beach bathing in the sun. Its vacation time for them. So according to
the early first thing, the factory must have worked on their own