Darjeeling First Flush (Maharani Hills)

There are mornings when the mist hasn't quite lifted from Maharani Hills — when the first pluckers move between rows at over 2,000 metres, fingers quick, pulling only the youngest leaves and their silvery tips.

This is first flush. Spring incarnate. The classic Darjeeling that tea lovers wait for all year.

The name Maharani means queen, and this rare section within the Margaret's Hope estate earned it. The altitude. The soil. The China bushes that have thrived here for generations. Together, they yield something fleeting — a tea that arrives only once a year, greenish and alive, carrying the briskness of mountain air.

Steep it, and the cup turns golden. Floral at first. Then comes the fruit — stone plum, perhaps apricot — with a gentle astringency that lingers, fresh and bright. It's the kind of tea that asks you to slow down. To notice.

How to brew: One level teaspoon per cup. Water at 100°C — just off the boil. Steep for 2–3 minutes and watch the cup turn gold. No milk. No sugar. Just the hills, in your hands.

✓ FTGFOP1 grade — the finest tips and leaves
✓ Harvested at peak spring — limited availability
✓ Hand-plucked from Maharani Hills
✓ Naturally high in antioxidants for gentle, sustained energy

This is the tea for mornings that matter. For quiet focus. For the kind of clarity that only comes from something this pure.

Steep a cup. Let the first flush show you what spring tastes like.