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73/100

Margaret's Hope 'Euphoria', First Flush Garden Darjeeling

Black Tea by Imperial Teas of Lincoln

Margaret’s Hope is one of the oldest and most famous of Darjeeling’s tea gardens of Darjeeling and is managed by one of the most knowledgeable of tea people, J.D. Rai. He is known as the man with the Midas touch, not only rescuing the famous Castleton Garden but being instrumental in growing the famous batch of tea that made the record sale at auction. Margaret’s Hope is a very hilly garden making it a difficult terrain to work on. For the best teas, where only two leaves and a bud are required, great gentleness is needed. The delicate task needs the great skill of the women pluckers, most of whose families have worked in the garden, handing down their tea knowledge for generations. This is why great attention is paid to their well being. The Goodricke group who own the garden provides good housing and sanitation, hospitals and health center, schools for children and recreational facilities. In the Margaret’s Hope garden the bushes are predominantly of this type and they produce exquisitely light teas with a divine fragrance. Very little tea in world terms is produced in Darjeeling and offerings like these amount to perhaps one or two each from just a handful of the finest gardens. The great care taken in producing this tea is evident in the appearance of the leaf, you can see the fine white hairs on the very young shoots. These add an unmistakable extra flavour and form part of the undescribable perfume when the tea is brewed. I would pay all this money and more for that alone. However, the sumptious flavour in the cup will not disappoint, it lingers for an age on the palate. This hilly and undulating garden was named after its founder’s daughter Margaret who fell in love with its beauty. It was planted in 1864 by Mr.Cruikshank and is located in the north Kurseong Valley. Recently an old, neglected lake was revived and is home to very rare salamanders.