Division 3.2 Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

The botanical name of the Darjeeling tea plant is Camellia sinensis L.O. Kuntze. The Darjeeling tea plant is a hardy, multi-stemmed, slow growing evergreen shrub tree which if allowed to, can grow up to 2,5 metres in height. The Darjeeling tea plant takes about 6 to 8 years to be mature to give economic harvesting and is known to have an economic life of well over 100 years with good agricultural practices. It is able to withstand severe winters, extended droughts and the high altitudes of Darjeeling. The green leaves are small, bright, glossy green in colour often covered with a downy silvery pubescence and long buds. The productivity of Darjeeling tea is much lower than any other tea growing area, making it expensive to harvest and produce. Such lower productivity is due to high elevations of the geographical area and rare climatic conditions. The Darjeeling tea plant was first planted in the early 1800s. Over the years it has adapted to its natural environment and developed the native characteristics, i.e. the unique Darjeeling character referred to by renowned tea tasters and consumers.

The Darjeeling tea when brewed gives a colour of pale lemon to rich amber. The brew is said to have remarkable varying degrees of visual brightness, depth and body. The flavour emanating from the brew is a fragrance with a complex and pleasing taste and aftertaste with attributes of aroma, bouquet and point. The organoleptic characteristics of the Darjeeling tea brew are commonly referred to as mellow, smooth, round, delicate, mature, sweet, lively, dry and brisk.

The chemical components present in the Darjeeling tea in very higher concentrations are linalool oxide I, II, III and IV. Linalool, geraniol, methyl salicylate, benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol, dihydroactinidiolide, hexanoic acid, cis-3-hexenoic acid, trans-2-hexenoic acid, trans-geranoic acid, 3,7-dimethyl-1,5,7-octatrien-3-ol (can be quantified in % as 0,36 % to 1,24 %) and 2,6-demethyl-3, 7-octadiene-2, 6-diol (quantified in % as 3,36 % to 9,99 %). The last two components are present in very high concentration (coming up to 1,24 % and 9,99 % respectively).

The rare flavour of Darjeeling tea is a direct result of a combination of plant genes which is native to the Darjeeling area, the soil chemistry which is rich in minerals, the Darjeeling hills which receives high rainfall (up to 160 inches per annum), altitudes (the highest 2 250 metres and the lowest is at 600 metres) and unique variation of temperature (between 5 and 30 °C). The effect of agroclimatic conditions including light, temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. play important role for the production of quality related secondary metabolites for Darjeeling tea. It has been observed that some tea cultivars grown in other parts of the country having different agroclimatic conditions do not produce the unique aroma/flavour of Darjeeling tea.

The Darjeeling tea industry follows an established set of agricultural practices which has been developed and used for over 150 years to sustain growth of shoots, while maintaining bush heights suitable for plucking by hand. Each kilogram of made tea consists of around 20 000 individual hand-picked shoots. This gives an idea of the extent of human effort involved in its production.

The Darjeeling tea is processed in the traditional orthodox method only, where human effort and traditional skill/knowledge is involved in every stage, which is referred as Darjeeling style of manufacture.

There are three different grades of sizes of Darjeeling tea which are traditionally referred as Whole Leaf, Brokens and Fannings.