OUR OFFERINGS - SUNGMA ESTATE 2ND FLUSH DARJEEING

Elevation: 1900 - 2360 m
Varietal: Chinery Hybrid
Origin: Darjeeling, India
Harvest: June 2007

Characteristics

Body:  Full, silky
Flavor:  Fruity, citric, sweet
Finish:  Crisp, floral

Tasting Notes

Our Sungma Estate 2nd Flush Darjeeing has a subtle aroma with a very round, rich fruit flavor up front. Other flavors of muscatel, citrus and peach blossom mingle seamlessly, further complimented by a honey sweetness. The Sungma finishes with a very nice lingering floral essence.

Doug’s Notes

Tea picking with the Himalayan foothills in the background.

For the second year in a row I’m proud to offer a 2nd Flush Darjeeling from the Sungma Estate. I had the opportunity to taste a lot of Darjeelings this year, but unfortunately the bulk of them were defective due to unusually large amounts of pre-harvest rain in the region. Water-damaged tea is often salvaged by over-roasting the leaf in an effort to cover up the defect, but it can never be completely hidden. Fortunately, due to the location of the gardens, the Sungma Estate was able to produce a Darjeeling comparable to last year’s crop.

The Sungma Estate is located high in the Himalayas about 30 miles southwest of Darjeeling. The estate covers about 280 hectacres and produces about 190,000 kilos of tea per year. The tea is broken up into lots of about 500 pounds that are numbered according to the order in which they are picked and processed.

The lot we purchased was one of the premium, high-grade lots. The first flush lots (spring-picked) always start the counting. The lowest number or first-picked lot would obviously be #1 and the last might be numbered 50 or 150 depending on how large the garden is. The numbering of the second flush lots begins where the first flush left off.

The best lots, from either first or second flush, tend to be the lower numbers. They typically possess the best leaf while the higher-numbered lots typically consist of picked through or second-quality leaf. It’s the lower-numbered lots that get auctioned off while the higher numbers are blended away.

This year I purchased lot # 167, which was one of the first second flush lots picked. While a lower number doesn’t insure the best quality, I think this lot was equal in quality to the lot we purchased last year. This year’s tea demonstrates an excellent, complex muscatel flavor without the defects I found in a lot of other samples.

Often the muscatel flavor is most prevalent in the 2nd flush or second picking. Tea trees are like evergreens as they never lose their leaves during the change of seasons. (Once the leaves are picked, however, they regenerate quickly.) The first flush is picked in the early spring while the second flush is picked in the early summer. If there is a lack of rain in a given year, the pickings can be delayed to allow the teas to develop a fuller flavor with more character. This year’s crop suffered the opposite fate when an abundance of rain delayed picking in most areas and actually ruined the crop for many gardens. The muscatel flavor needs near perfect conditions to be truly special.

While our Sungma Estate 2nd Flush Darjeeling is a perfect afternoon tea, it is equally suited for breakfast because it is flexible enough to compliment food and complex enough to drink on its own. I think people who are new to tea will find the Sungma inviting and perhaps unlike any tea they ever tried. Tea enthusiasts will find it to be a stunning example of what a high-grown tea from India can offer.

Download a PDF version of this article here.
Purchase this tea in our online store here.