Darjeeling, Arya Spring Diamond 1st Flush Black Tea

Every year I wait anxiously for my shipment of Darjeeling tea from the Arya Estate, and this year was no different. When I opened the bag I was overwhelmed with the aroma of fresh ripe oranges with a complex mixture of floral & nutty characteristics. Underlying that was a slight hint of dark chocolate % caramel. To say the aroma of this exquisite tea is intoxicating is an understatement! Arya's Spring Diamond is made in very limited quantities & only by demand so our supply is extremely limited in the best of years.  This year’s first flush was off to a slow start due to climatic conditions. There was a severe lack of rain early in the season & when it finally did rain the temperature dropped to winter-like conditions. It wasn’t until the first week of April that the tea leaves started to appear in the high elevation gardens & production was started.   Spring Diamond is carefully hand-plucked solely from the prized AV2 cultivar from the highest section of the estate whe