#405 2026 First Flush Darjeeling Singbulli SFTGFOP-1

There is nothing like the bouquet of early spring Darjeeling First Flush. They call this special Darjeeling «Moonshine». Look at the leaf and you see it immediately: silvery, downy buds that catch the light like something nocturnal, luminous, unhurried.

«Moonshine» in the Darjeeling tradition has nothing to do with illicit whiskey in the hills. It refers to this, the pale shimmer of a first flush clonal tea harvested in the second half of March, before the season fully opens, when the mornings are still cold and the buds still carry their silver.

This particular Moonshine comes from Singbulli, a well-regarded estate in the Mirik Valley spread across nine hills at altitudes between 400 and 1,350 metres. The garden was established in 1924, is 100% organically certified by IMO Control, and holds Fair Trade status. Since 2003 it has been managed by Jayshree Tea Industries, a group that has consistently produced some of the most sought-after lots in Darjeeling.

This tea is made entirely from the AV2 clonal cultivar, which is responsible for the distinctive character of the cup: elegant, fine-tipped, and notably light. In the cup, the liquor is a clear, bright gold. The aroma is explosive: white flowers (lilies, roses, a hint of hyacinth), with exotic fruit beneath, a trace of citrus, and an underlying suggestion of muscatel that builds on the second steep. The taste is fresh and juicy, gently sweet, with minimal astringency. There is refinement here, and also brightness, the particular energy of very early spring compressed into a single cup. Production is small every year. Once this lot is gone, it is gone until next March.

This is a truly fantastic and surprising Organic First Flush Darjeeling tea. As you probably have realized, we don’t list Darjeeling teas as «Black Teas or even as «Red Teas»  but as «Himalaya» Teas. The reasoning is evident with first flush teas like this which undergo such a light oxidation that it really makes no sense to call them Black teas.

Origin: Singbulli Estate, Mirik Valley, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India

Harvest: Late March, 2026

Color of liquor: golden

Aroma: White flowers, exotic fruit, melon, citrus, muscatel

Flavor: fresh and juicy, gently sweet, with minimal astringency. 

Temperature: 85º c

Steeping Time: 40sec; 50sec; 1min…