What is Darjeeling black tea?
What is Darjeeling black tea?
Darjeeling black tea, selected as one of the world's three most famous teas, is known for its rich, mellow, and gorgeous flavor, so much so that it is called the "champagne of black teas." The quality tea picking season occurs three times a year: the first flush picked in spring, the second flush picked in summer, and the autumnal picked in fall. The second flush picked in summer is particularly famous for the natural fermentation that occurs when green flies, an insect that flies in large numbers for just a few weeks during the approximately four-month tea picking season, nibble on the tea leaves, resulting in the "second flush muscatel" that gives the tea its Muscat flavor.
HAPPY HUNTER's tea buyer, Hiroko Ishii, chose Makaibari Tea Estate, the oldest tea estate in the Darjeeling region. It has been a supplier to the British Royal Family for over 100 years and produces the legendary black tea that sold for the highest price in the world at the Kolkata Tea Auction in 2003, a price that has yet to be surpassed.
The tea plantation, which boasts an area 525 times the size of the Tokyo Dome, is made up of four mountain slopes and is home to seven villages and four elementary schools. Organic farming is practiced throughout the entire site, with one-third of the site dedicated to tea plantations and two-thirds left as virgin forest. This virgin forest is home to two WWF-registered Bengal tigers, 18 leopards, and numerous other animals, birds, and insects living in the wild.
In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Modi presented tea from Makaibari Tea Estate to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as a souvenir from India. In 2023, the G20 summit will be held at Makaibari Tea Estate. In 2024, tea from Makaibari Tea Estate was chosen as the official gift for the coronation of King Charles II.
*Silver Tips Imperial is made by picking tea under the moonlight on a full moon night, which can only be done once every 108 years.
Makaibari Tea Estate's qualifications and awards
1993 Demeter certified (UK)
The world's first biodynamically certified black tea
1993 Fair Trade Certification Obtained Fair Trade Certification, which guarantees fair trade.
1996 Silver Needles achieves world record price at the American Tea Masters Association
1999 Received the King Charles II Award for outstanding organic food
2000 CTM (Tea Council of India)
Certified as a tea plantation that cultivates and sells pure Darjeeling tea without blending
2001 Organic JAS certification obtained (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan)
The first tea imported to Japan from overseas to receive organic JAS certification, which has been renewed every year since.
2002 Fourth generation tea planter Raja Banerjee receives Rashtriya Ratan Award Known as the "jewel of the nation," this award is given only to those who have performed outstanding works of loyalty to the nation.
Banerjee was awarded the national accolade for his organic farming methods and sustainable management that harmonizes people, nature and animals.
2003: Silver Needles fetches the highest price in the world at the Kolkata Tea Auction
2014 Silvertips Imperial trades at the highest price ever
2015 Prime Minister Modi presents a Silvertips Imperial to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
2023 Makaibari Tea Estate's tea is chosen as the official gift for the coronation of King Charles II of the United Kingdom.
2023 G20 to be held at Makaibari Tea Estate