Saicho Darjeeling

Nose. The nose shows bergamot oil, pink grapefruit, sandalwood, and saffron, alongside a pronounced muscatel character drawn from the summer flush.^[3]

Palate. On the palate it shows mandarin, ginger, and wood spice, with crisp acidity. Against foods such as chocolate it is described as malty and caramelly.^[3],[4]

Structure. Reported structural markers:^[4],[5]

• Acidity: crisp
• Tannin: gentle, dry

Da Terra, London. At the two-Michelin-starred Da Terra in London, Saicho Darjeeling is paired with a smoked pigeon breast dish accompanied by beetroot purée and cocoa nibs.^[6]

The Peninsula. The Darjeeling sparkling tea has become a signature offering at The Peninsula hotel, served alongside its pastry selection.^[4]

The declared ingredients are cold brewed Darjeeling tea (93%), white grape juice from concentrate, citric acid, vitamin C, and carbon dioxide.^[3]

Darjeeling Black Tea — Aromatic and Tannic Core. The tea comes from the Gopaldhara Tea Estate in Darjeeling, India, grown at 2,000m altitude in the Himalayan foothills. It draws on China and Clonal cultivars, handpicked during the summer flush, the harvest window credited with the tea's muscatel flavour. It is cold brewed in English spring water and accounts for 93% of the finished drink.^[3]

Ingredients Policy. Saicho Darjeeling contains no alcohol, no preservatives, no artificial colours, and no added sulphites. It is vegan-friendly, low-calorie, and halal certified.^[1]

Single-Origin Cold Brew. Saicho Darjeeling is a single-origin sparkling tea built around a single black tea rather than a blend of botanicals or fruit juices. The tea is cold brewed in English spring water to extract flavour with restrained bitterness and astringency, then finished with gentle effervescence. Its summer harvest is chosen specifically to develop the muscatel character that defines the expression.^[1],[2]