Darjeeling tea Darjeeling tea Darjeeling tea is a tea grown in the Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India, and widely exported and known. It is processed as black, green, white and oolong tea. When properly brewed, it yields a thin-bodied, light-coloured infusion with a floral aroma. The flavour can include a tinge of astringent tannic characteristics and a musky spiciness sometimes described as "muscatel". Unlike most Indian teas, Darjeeling tea is normally made from the small-leaved Chinese variety of "Camellia sinensis" var. "sinensis", rather than the large-leaved Assam plant ("C. sinensis" var. "assamica"). Traditionally, Darjeeling tea is made as black tea; however,
Indian tea culture tribe, inhabitants of the regions where the "Camellia sinensis" plant grew native, have been consuming tea since the 12th century. It is also possible that tea may have been used under another name. Frederick R. Dannaway, in the essay “Tea As Soma”, argues that tea was perhaps better known as “Soma” in Indian mythology. The tea plant is native to East Asia and the Indian subcontinent, but the origins and history of tea are not precise. Many of the origin myths for tea are found in Chinese mythology, and the first verifiable records for tea consumption also point towards China.