Every batch of tea that leaves the factory is tasted first. The tasting room sits at the top of the factory, with a long north window so the light on the liquor never changes, and a row of white porcelain cups that have been used the same way for generations.
How a cupping works
Exactly the same weight of dry leaf goes into each cup, the weight of a silver coin, and boiling water is poured on and timed to the second. After a few minutes the liquor is drained into a bowl and the infused leaf is turned out on the lid for inspection. Then comes the tasting itself: a loud, quick slurp from a spoon, so the tea reaches every part of the tongue.
What we look for
Brightness of the liquor, the smell of the wet leaf, and in the mouth a balance of body and briskness that we call the character of a flush. First flush should be light and flowery, second flush fuller with the muscatel note Darjeeling is famous for, and the autumnal teas rounder and coppery.
Our tasting session runs most mornings at eleven during the plucking season, led by the estate's tea maker. It lasts about an hour, and you leave with a small caddy of the tea you liked best.