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Relationship between taste characteristics and picking time of Darjeeling black tea in India

Published: 2026-02-25 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/02/25, Darjeeling is located in the northern Indian state of Bengal, where there is a back to the Himalayas, 2100 meters above sea level town. Under the influence of the Himalayas, there are four distinct seasons here. With the different seasons, Darjeeling black tea produced here will also produce different aromas. Darjeeling's tea plantations are located on steep slopes where fog, wind and sun alternate to protect the tea trees

Darjeeling is located in the northern Indian state of Bengal, where there is a town 2100 meters above sea level with its back to the Himalayas.

Under the influence of the Himalayas, there are four distinct seasons. Darjeeling black tea produced here will produce different aromas with different seasons.

The Darjeeling tea garden is located on a steep slope, where thick fog, wind and sun take turns to protect the tea trees.

East India Company staff stole seeds and saplings from Wuyi Mountain in China's Fujian Province, planted them here, and eventually succeeded. So the tea produced here is grown in China.

Today, there are mixed teas made of small-leaf and large-leaf species, and their aroma characteristics are not inferior. But the output of this kind of tea plant is very rare, accounting for only 1.13% of India's output, so most of it is exported abroad.

Darjeeling black tea picking season can be roughly divided into four seasons: spring picking, summer picking, monsoon tea season and autumn picking.

[spring picking]

Spring picking is First Flush. There are more than 80 tea gardens in India, and the altitude varies greatly from place to place, so the initial picking period is also different, but generally from early March to April. The tea harvested during this period makes the first batch of new buds and leaves in spring in the Himalayas, so it is known as First Flush.

The harvest of spring picking is very small, and its selling price is relatively high. Spring picking tea contains a large number of silver buds called Yinhao. The overall color is green. The taste of spring picked Darjeeling black tea is refreshing and has a pleasant irritating astringent taste. the brown is light orange, suitable for direct drinking.

[summer pick]

Summer tea is a batch of tea after spring tea picking, which is called black tea in early summer. The period of picking green is from May to late June, and the development of new buds and new leaves is the most perfect and the quality is the best. Darjeeling brown color of this period is full of aroma, emitting a strong ripe musk grape aroma, astringent sharp and strong, brown for reddish dark orange, very suitable for brewing milk tea.

[monsoon tea season]

Darjeeling during this period, once known as Third Tea, was harvested between August and September. Under the influence of Rain Water and summer meaning, the tea in this period grew faster and the fragrance was less characteristic than that in other periods. Darjeeling black tea during this period is like fallen leaves, with a mellow and strong astringent taste, black and red, which is very suitable for making milk tea.

[autumn picking]

The harvest period of autumn tea is between October and November, and it is also the last harvest of the year. Autumn winds blow in the Himalayas in October, the temperature difference between hot and cold during the day becomes more intense, and there is often foggy rain, which stimulates the tea to produce more obvious characteristics. The aroma is not only the sweetness of ripe fruit, but also similar to citrus dried fruit, strong astringent taste with mellow, dark orange-red brown, also suitable for making milk tea.