A Fresh Dawn with Darjeeling First Flush 2025: A Tasting Session at Puttabong Tea Estate
The new season dawned quietly over Puttabong Tea Estate, a tranquil expanse nestled in the misty hills of Darjeeling. It was early spring, and the air carried the promise of renewal as the tea bushes, roused from their winter slumber, offered their tender first leaves. The year was 2025, and with it came the much-anticipated Darjeeling First Flush —a tea celebrated for its fleeting freshness and delicate complexity. On this crisp morning, we gathered to mark the beginning of the season with a tasting session, sampling three freshly made lots from clonal varieties: EX2, EX3, and EX4. The setting was Puttabong, one of Darjeeling’s most storied estates, and the experience was nothing short of a revelation. Puttabong: A Legacy in Every Leaf Before delving into the tasting, it’s worth pausing to appreciate the place that made this moment possible. Puttabong Tea Estate , established in 1852 by Dr. Campbell, holds the honor of being Darjeeling’s first commercial tea plantation. Sprawli...