Tea · Makaibari
Taste first, second and autumn flush
Sit down with three or four Makaibari teas from different seasons and taste the difference: light green spring tea, fuller muscatel summer tea, round autumn tea. Learn to read the dry leaf, the liquor and the wet leaf.
Tea tasters in Darjeeling taste with a ritual: a fixed weight of leaf, boiling water, a timed steep of about five minutes, then the liquor poured into a bowl with the wet leaf turned out on the lid. You slurp loudly to spray the tea across your palate.
Try a first flush from March or April, light, floral and often greenish. Then a second flush from May or June, darker, fuller and, in a good year, with the grape-like 'muscatel' note. Then an autumn flush, rounder and coppery. If the estate has an organic white or oolong-style tea, add it.
Ask what the estate charges for a tasting and which teas are available that week. Buying a pack afterwards is welcome but not required.
Cost: ₹200–500
Questions people ask
Good to know
What is the difference between first and second flush?
First flush is the spring plucking, March to April, giving light, floral, often greenish tea. Second flush, May to June, is darker and fuller, and the best lots have the 'muscatel' grape-like note that made Darjeeling famous. Prices for good lots of both can be high.
How much does Makaibari tea cost?
At the estate, ordinary grades start around a few hundred rupees per 100 g, while special hand-made lots cost far more. In 2014 a hand-made second-flush lot sold for about US$1,850 a kilogram. Ask for the flush and manufacture date on any pack you buy.
Is Makaibari tea organic?
Makaibari was certified fully organic in 1988 and has followed organic and biodynamic methods since. Check the certification marks on the pack you buy, as certifications are renewed and can change.
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