Darjeeling · 27°03’ N · 2,140 m

First Flush

The mountain’s first green thought,
plucked before the mist lifts.

Garden 0473day / spring6.4 kg
Descend to the copper room

I · The copper room

Patience,
rendered as colour.

Each harvest has its own clock. Watch a teaspoon of leaf turn mountain water into liquor, second by second.

Pale celadon88°C

Choose the flush
Elapsed00:00

Awakening

Green almond · white magnolia · rain on slate

Brightness92
Body28
Bitterness06

Lot FF-04 · 2.4g / 180ml · spring water at 88°C

II · The plucking table

Only the
tender measure.

At 6:10 each morning, forty-two pluckers read the slope by touch. The Serein standard is exacting: one closed bud, two new leaves, and no stem below the second node.

“The bud gives perfume. The first leaf gives lift. The second gives the cup somewhere to land.”— Nima Rai, leaf master
Specimen FF / 04Scale 1 : 1.7
Two leaves and a bud plucking standard A botanical line drawing showing the central bud, first leaf, second leaf, and the precise plucking point. THE BUDstill furled FIRST LEAFsilken face SECOND LEAFsoft serration PLUCK HERE
2 + 1Average pluck
weight 0.74 g

III · Between leaf and cup

Thirty-one hours,
four quiet transformations.

No conveyor belts. The day’s leaf moves across one long loft, guided by nose, fingertip, and the sound it makes when turned.

  1. 07:20 · 14h

    Wither

    Bamboo troughs and valley air draw the leaf from 78% moisture to 61%.

    01
  2. 21:35 · 22m

    Roll

    Light pressure twists the leaf just enough to release its floral oils.

    02
  3. 22:10 · 2h

    Oxidise

    Spread two fingers deep until the room smells of pears and warm hay.

    03
  4. 00:15 · 18m

    Fire

    Copper drums arrest the leaf at 92°C, sealing in the high notes.

    04

IV · A garden in four altitudes

The slope writes
into every cup.

Serein rises 620 vertical metres from the Rangbhang river to the old cedar boundary. A walk uphill crosses four climates and almost a full week of harvest time.

96
hectares
under tea
4.2°
mean night
temperature
187
mist days
each year
South ridge transect6.8 km
Elevation profile of Serein Tea Estate A profile rising from the river garden at 1520 metres through the middle terraces and cedar turn to the cloud garden at 2140 metres. 2200m2000m1800m1600m RIVER1,520 M LOFT1,786 M CEDAR TURN1,960 M CLOUD GARDEN2,140 M 0 KM6.8 KM
mist line · 1,900mprevailing wind ↗

V · Spring ledger 2026

Six mornings.
One fleeting harvest.

14 Mar

FF / 01 · North Steps

Sweet pea · Meyer lemon · wet granite

18.2 kgOPENING
17 Mar

FF / 04 · Cloud Garden

White magnolia · green almond · rainwater

6.4 kgTASTING
21 Mar

FF / 08 · Cedar Turn

Muscatel skin · cucumber · cold honey

12.7 kgRESTING
26 Mar

FF / 13 · East Face

Unwritten — plucking begins at first light

—NEXT
29 Mar

FF / 16 · Rhododendron Walk

Silver bud · lime blossom · mountain thyme

4.9 kgWATCH
02 Apr

FF / 21 · Old Cedar

Last first-flush pluck · frost forecast at dusk

7.1 kgCLOSING

From the cloud garden

The mountain asks
only that you wait.

Taste another flush