Plucking of First Flush 2013 about to start...

I live in the USA. To obtain FRESH 1st flush Darjeeling from an estate above 2000 meters, I would do most anything! <p/> Thank god for the Tea Board of India's new Darjeeling label. By next year, we should no longer have to worry about getting the real thing. If it does not have the label it is NOT Darjeeling! <p/> This should send a STRONG message to Twining's and many smaller abuser's of the Darjeeling name. Twining's sells a 20 bag (3 ounce) box simply labeled "Darjeeling" in USA supermarkets. I believe it either has NO Darjeeling or is an OP Indian blend with a small quantity of OLD Darjeeling dust or broken leaves; —perhaps, from the previous seasons. Once picked, Darjeeling begins aging rappidly. After about a year in the box, it looses it's unique qualities that we love so much.<p/> In a few years SFTGFOP1 will again mean something!! If the public is educated, I think people will switch from coffee to tea. Tea contains less caffeine, yes, but it also contains over 100 natural stimulants that coffee does not contain. <p/> Tea contains theophylline, which is an important drug for asthmatics. I had a doctor once who always told me that if I ever got a serious asthma attack and did not have my inhaler, I should make a cup of black tea using about 4-5 bags in a single cup. I can report that this is absolutely true and it may have saved my life once. I find tea far more stimulating than coffee in the long run. Coffee has a faster "pick you up" but tea keeps your brain working longer -i.e. it keeps you more intellectually alert. Also, many wu long teas have excellent diuretic properties (hence the "slimmng teas"). <p/> I urge Teekampagne to offer Darjeeling from specific estates and in the original estate packaging. Sort of like, "Mis en bouteille au château". The parallels to the French wine industry are instructive. If India did not make her bold move to protect Darjeeling as a tea growing region and the Darjeeling name, it would have disappeared from the face of the Earth. <p/> Here is to the first flush of 2013! May the picking, drying and blending go well and yield the finest tea that has touched a human's lips in a thousand years.