Nestling in the foothills of the snow covered Himalayan range, Darjeeling grows this exclusive tea at altitudes ranging from 600 to 2000 metres. The cool moist climate, the soil, the rainfall and the sloping terrain, all combine to give Darjeeling its unique ‘Muscatel’ flavour and exquisite bouquet. The exquisite qualities of Darjeeling tea manifest themselves distinctly during the growing season from March to November each year.

Tea quality is assessed by subjective judgement of the tea taster. So far, no chemical index is established for the quality. In general, quality of Darjeeling tea is characterized by the presence of higher level of monoterpenes and differs significantly with Assam and south Indian teas on this parameter. The later teas are, however, rich in non-terpenoids. A quantitative change in the level of terpenoids and non-terpenoids bring about the changes in the quantity of flavour of these teas. To date around 600 volatile flavoury compounds are known to exist. Characteristic “muscatel flavour” of Darjeeling teas are reported to be associated mainly to comply with viz. 2, 6–dimethyl–3, 7–octadiene–2, 6–diol and 3, 7– dimethyl–1, 5, 7–octatriene-3–ol.