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No. 8

Darjeeling House Blend - First Flush Teabags

Indian Black Tea Blend

This award-winning, first-flush loose-leaf Darjeeling boasts a delightful light amber colour and refreshing muscatel flavour that can be enjoyed any time of day.

From: Darjeeling, India

Delivery Info

Shipping policy

 

 UK Deliveries

Method

Cost

Carrier

Transit time

Standard

£3.50, Free - over £35

Royal Mail

2-5 days, Tracked

Tracked

£6.50, Free - over £100

DPD

1-3 days, Tracked

Next-Working-Day

£9.95

DPD

Orders placed before 2pm, Delivered Monday - Friday, Tracked

Saturday

£15.00

DPD

Orders placed before 2pm, Saturday delivery, Tracked

 *Most deliveries will be made within the usual time frame, but some areas and services may experience delays.

 

European Deliveries


Currently, there are some delays with sending parcels to EU countries from the UK. This is due to the UK leaving the European Union. We will keep you updated with any notifications as they happen.

Please note that a tracking number is not provided for EU Standard deliveries. 

CUSTOMS CHARGES: All commercial goods arriving from the UK are subject to VAT, Import Duty and a handling fee in the country receiving the goods.

Method

Cost

Carrier

Transit time

Standard

From £5.50

Royal Mail

3-7 days, up to 21*, Not Tracked (Offered for orders less than £50 only)

Economy

From £5.50

Royal Mail

3-7 days, up to 21*, Not Tracked (Offered for orders less than £50 only)

Tracked

From £15.95

Fedex

3-5 days, up to 8*, Tracked

*Most deliveries will be made within the usual time-frame, but some areas and services may experience delays.

Customers Ordering From Ireland - Please Note: Due to recent restrictions we are unable to ship Chinese teas to Ireland at this present time.

 

Rest of the World

 

Method

Cost

Carrier

Transit time

Standard

From £4.00

Royal Mail

8-15 days, up to 30*, Not Tracked (Offered for orders less than £50 only)

USA tracked

From £15.00

Fedex

2-3 days, up to 7*, Tracked

ROW Tracked

From £18.95

Fedex

1-5 days, up to 5*, Tracked

 *Most deliveries will be made within the usual time frame, but some areas and services may experience delays.

 

International Buyers (Including EU) – Please Note:


Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be before buying.

Customers Ordering From Ireland - Please Note: Due to recent restrictions we are unable to ship Chinese teas to Ireland at this present time.

If you have any questions, please contact us via sales@theteamakers.co.uk | 01322284923

*We aim to dispatch all orders within 1-2 days of receiving your request. However, this can vary during peak times and other conditions outside of our control. Therefore, the below estimates of shipping times have been provided by our couriers.

About our Darjeeling House Blend 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.

Read more about our Darjeeling First Flush Teabags

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'!

Ingredients


Pure Indian black tea

Tasting notes


This tea offers a sweet fruits and floral aroma and golden infusion. A delicately muscatel cup and notes of orange blossoms with fruity mouthfeel.

Region


Darjeeling is the northernmost district in West Bengal, Eastern India. Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, it is bordered by Nepal in the West, Sikkim state to the North, and Bangladesh on the South-eastern boundary. The eponymous city, 2,100m above sea level, is located on a long, narrow mountain ridge of the Lesser Himalayas.

Learn more about the Darjeeling Region of India

On a clear day, the city offers unparalleled views of Kanchenjunga (the world’s third highest mountain), and Mount Everest can also be seen from nearby Tiger Hill, which itself sits at 2,590m above sea level. The highest peaks in the district are part of the Singalila Ridge and reach 3,600m. Depending on the elevation, the climate is either Humid Subtropical (CFA) in the lower areas, or Subtropical Highland (Cwb) on the higher hills, with a Tundra climate (ET) on the higher mountains, and numerous microclimates along the steep relief.

The city itself enjoys a mild and temperate climate (Cwb), with average lows of 10°C in the winter, and average highs of 21°C in the summer. The summers are wet and overcast with high precipitation from May until September; and the winters are mild and clear. Winds are generally low throughout the year. The land between 1,000m and 2,000m is mostly used for cultivation: principally tea, but also rice, corn, wheat and cardamom. The slopes above 2,000m are covered in forests, with a mixture of semi-evergreen, temperate and alpine trees. The forest around the city of Darjeeling is home to rare, protected orchids.

The reserve forests are also home to small Indian civets, mongooses, badgers, as well as a conservation centre for the elusive and endangered red pandas. Teas from such altitudes are considered high-grown. Considering that Darjeeling is only 280 miles from Assam, it is remarkable that the two regions produce vastly different teas.

As well as climatic and topographic differences, soil quality varies. Whilst Assam is considered very fertile, Darjeeling soil is loose and poorly consolidated, with risks of landslides. But the steep slopes ensure efficient drainage, and the misty, wet summers with limited direct sunlight are ideal for the cultivation of the Camellia sinensis sinensis. The mild, dry winters also encourage a period of dormancy, so the new Spring leaves can burst with flavours (First Flush harvest).

How to brew these teabags

1 Triune™ Teabag

1 Triune™ Teabag

100°C

100°C

200ml

200ml

3 - 5mins

3 - 5mins

Darjeeling House Blend - First Flush Teabags has a rating of 4.7 stars based on 16 reviews.