FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

In our classical one-kilogram-package you will get a blend of First or Second Flush, and also in units of 250g we offer a blend of First Flush or Second Flush. A blend will consist of teas from up to eight different tea gardens in Darjeeling. The advantage: Blending allows us to offer a consistent standard with regards to taste and leaf appearance.

Garden Teas or Single Estate Teas, which we offer only in a 500g-packagage, only come from one particular tea garden - often from a heritage estate in Darjeeling or Assam. Each tea garden produces tea with a unique flavour which you thus can directly experience.

The volume of Single Estate Teas is limited and we would never want to sacrifice quality for the sake of more quantity. The availability varies from year to year and his highly depending on weather conditions during harvest. We can only buy one lot at a time and therefore you will usually find them in our shop one after the other. This also helps to keep our costs low and we can offer you those specialties at a good price.

 

Green tea and black tea are made from the same tea bushes. Only their way of manufacturing is different. Whereas black tea always undergoes an oxidation process this is prevented in the case of green tea. (Oxidation means the chemical reaction between the cell sap of the tea leaves and the oxygen in the air.) For green tea production the leaves are exposed to hot water steam right after plucking. This happens in cylindrical drums which contain a pipe that discharges the steam. After that procedure the green tea will be rolled, dried and sorted in the same manner as black tea would.

There are two top harvests in Darjeeling – First Flush and Second Flush. ‘First’ and ‘Second’ refer to the point of harvest and not to quality! First Flush is the first plucking season after winter and starts usually in the beginning of March and lasts until the end of April. Second Flush is the summer harvest. This tea is plucked from the beginning of June to the beginning of July. As to Assam Tea, we only offer Black Assam Second Flush as it is of higher quality. Our green tea is usually produced after Second Flush until November. Depending on the time of harvest our tea from India will arrive at different times in the year and accordingly we will ship the tea out to you. As per standard procedure we will only send out your order once it is fully completed, thus keeping shipping costs low for you.
Updated information about availability and delivery times of each type of tea you will find in our online shop.

We try to keep the procession of orders as efficient and simple as possible, because complexity drives up costs. No matter if you place your order by phone, e-mail, or letter – all orders are processed by the same system and only can be distinguished according to the type of tea and the packaging size.

 

The lab results we display on the back side of each tea package are based on the analyses by PiCA GmbH in Berlin. Sound scientific analyses operate with a measurement uncertainty, meaning that the true value is found within a specific interval.

Depending on the time of harvest our tea from India will arrive at different times in the year and accordingly we will ship the tea out to you. As per standard procedure we will only send out your order once it is fully completed, thus keeping shipping costs low for you.

Under normal circumstances our shipping schedule looks as follows:

Darjeeling First Flush: August/September
Darjeeling First Flush Single Estate Tea: August/September
Darjeeling Second Flush: October/November
Darjeeling Second Flush Single Estate Tea / Assam Second Flush Sincle Estate Tea: October/November
Green Darjeeling / Green Assam: end of December/January
Gift set: December onwards
Darjeeling Earl Grey: Mid February, as soon as the pure organic bergamot oil is available.

Selected Darjeeling is always availabe.

Updated information about availability and delivery times of each type of tea you will find in our online shop.

 

This is a service that DHL provides within Germany only. After providing your billing address choose a different delivery address and put in the DHL parcel deposit number. Further information can be found here:

https://www.dhl.de/en/privatkunden/pakete-empfangen/an-einem-abholort-empfangen/packstation.html

 

Detailed information about our packaging material and tea bags you will find here.
 

In comparison to a package containing one kilogram of tea we have to bear the costs of filling the bag, the pouch itself and labels four times - that makes a 250g-pack more expensive.
 

To preserve the fine aroma of our teas is close to our heart. Whenever possible we enclose those wonderful metal clips which are so handy to tightly re-close the tea package once it was opened. We order those robust clips (useful also for many, many other things) at a company called Maul and give them as a little gift to you. If  you want to buy them you might find them where you shop your office supplies, however, a clothes-peg will serve the same purpose.


 

The sustainability projects which we finance in Darjeeling and Assam are directly linked to our products.
Of course there are many more organisations and charities who do a wonderful job and deserve support. However, as a company we don't want to impose those decisions, we rather keep our prices as low as possible to give you the chance to donate money. You define the amount you want to spend and to whom you want to give it.


 

Projektwerkstatt belongs to 70 percent to its founder, Prof. Günter Faltin, 20 percent of the shares are held by the foundation of Entrepreneurship and 10 percent by Prof. Dietrich Winterhager.