Ambootia's first flush from Kurseong turns out coppery and light in the cup, with a muscatel character running through floral top notes and a citrus edge of lemon and orange. Honey sweetness shows up alongside, and depending on the picking there's a stronger malty pull toward coffee that reads almost as an undertone to the fruit. It's black tea, and this particular grade — SFTGFOP1, or Super Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe — signals a leaf set heavy on golden tips, picked and sorted to a high standard.
The estate sits in the Kurseong sub-division of Darjeeling, West Bengal, and has been growing tea since 1861. It's known for organic, biodynamic farming, and under Sanjay Bansal's ownership Ambootia expanded well beyond its own boundaries — taking over a number of struggling neighbouring gardens across Darjeeling and Assam, among them Chongtong, Happy Valley, Monteviot, Moondakotee, Mullootar, Nagri, Nurbong, Sepoydhoorah and Sivitar, and returning them to biodynamic production. Tea & Coffee packs this particular batch fresh to order from its Kent factory.
To brew it, use freshly boiled water and steep for two to four minutes. The liquor is light and coppery, and it holds up equally well on its own or with milk, sugar or lemon — first flush Darjeelings like this tend to reward drinking it black at least once before reaching for any of those.
