From Darjeeling, Distinguishing Between \'Flushes\'

Enrico Fabian for The New York TimesA woman plucking tea leaves at a tea estate in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Tea is tea, or so I thought before a recent trip to Darjeeling. I had not realized there were different tea seasons. And I had never associated the word “flushes” with tea.

Tea, to me, was just the sugared-up, over-milked liquid adrenaline burst offered without fail at almost every interview I'd ever conducted in India. And every time I'd happily accepted it.

Yet Darjeeling tea is more than that, as I came to learn during a recent visit to the area. I'm still not a tea expert â€" if anything, I'm the opposite â€" but here are a few examples of why many people believe that teas can be as distinctive and nuanced as fine wines:

Most tea served in India is “CTC tea,” with the leaves machine-processed to a consistent size used in ordinary tea bags via a method called “Crush, Tear, Curl,” which gives the tea its name. Darjeeling, though, is an “orthodox” tea, with a more nuanced taste, which is plucked by hand so that growers can better control quality.

Anil K. Jha, superintendent of the Sungma Tea Estate, one of the oldest tea estates in Darjeeling, explained to me that tea is governed by four basic seasons, known as “flushes.”

The First Flush begins around late February and ends in late April or early May. Workers combing through tea bushes are looking for the small green leaves, usually two to a stem with a bud, or conical shoot, in the middle. The leaves the First Flush produces are yellower in color than those that follow and more delicate in taste. For years, Germany has been a major importer of First Flush teas from Darjeeling, and prices are often the highest of the year during this season.

The Second Flush runs from early June through the middle of July. These teas are more amber in color and have a fuller taste. Mr. Jha said the Second Flush teas are also more expensive. Japan is a regular importer of Second Flush tea, and many Americans also prefer it, he said.

Then comes the Monsoon Flush, which runs during the rainy season from the middle of July through the end of September. These teas are considered of lesser quality compared with those harvested in the other seasons in Darjeeling, because the plants are absorbing lots of water.

Finally comes the Autumn Flush, from early October through early December. The taste is closer to the Second Flush, with a more floral ar oma and a full body.

Tea plucking shuts down from December to March in Darjeeling.

Tea bushes can live for well over 100 years, though production declines over time. Growers are now cloning plants so that they can keep the Darjeeling taste alive as the older plants die off.

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