AKIPRESS.COM - Ethnic unrest in India's Darjeeling hills has wiped out the harvest of the world's most expensive tea, disrupting supplies to European buyers and potentially pushing prices higher, Reuters reported.

Protests by Gorkhas, ethnic Nepalese living India's West Bengal state, halted the plucking of Darjeeling's premium "second flush" tea crop, named for the harvest period that starts in mid-May and peaks in June.

Second flush Darjeeling teas are prized by tea consumers for their amber color and muscatel flavor that is unique to the region and harvest timing. The taste and color characteristics are the result of genetic changes to the tea leaves caused by insects that infest the plants before the second flush harvest.

Some second flush teas have sold for as much as $1,850 a kg because of this uniqueness. Losing the second flush harvest will cut grower's incomes and leave blenders scrambling to find substitutes.