Tag: Darjeeling Tea

Reading The Darjeeling Tea Leaves

By Kunal Bose

Nearly a century and a half ago, a renowned English tea expert J. Berry White wrote tea “has the reputation of furnishing a beverage that cheers but does not inebriate.” White at the same time described “tea mania as an addiction.” This addiction was not confined to the ones for whom tea drinking became a religion. Enthusiasm to grow tea for many decades since then became so infectious that Robert Fortune, whose reputation is based on expanding tea cultivation here using seeds smuggled from China lamented that “in India every man seems to think himself qualified to undertake the management of tea cultivation without having any knowledge of the subject.”

Fast forward to the present times. Is not the unchecked wilting of tea industry in Darjeeling, very small in size seen in the context of India making 1,365 million kg in 2022 but commanding an unrivalled reputation for quality, over the past many decades also largely due to poor estate management? What Fortune feared would befall tea industry in general so long in the past if gardens come to be managed by unschooled owners is proving right for gardens in the hills of Darjeeling. Tea being the principal source of revenue and livelihood for Darjeeling, the unchecked setback in its fortunes has been wreaking havoc on the local economy as it is also a cause of social unrest.

In more than one way, the past year would go down in the annals of the famed Darjeeling tea industry abroad as annus horribilis. Production of tea in the hills slid a worryingly around 9 per cent to about 6.3 million kg in 2023. The exact production fall will be known when December plucking and manufacture figures are available. In any case, the cold December when flushing of tea leaves don’t happen is a marginal month in terms of plucking. Quality of the hill origin beverage that begins to turn indifferent at the end of the second flush with the onset of monsoon turns even flatter during the year-end. December neither contributes of any significance to revenue nor to profits with harvesting limited to around 60,000 kg and quality not in line with the hill produce in preceding months. That tea does not find favour in the export market and is almost all sold locally.

The unique beverage of Darjeeling origin and of the first two flushes continues to enchant royalties from the United Kingdom to Japan and connoisseurs with deep pocket across the globe. Select ranges of first flush Darjeeling tea will fetch eye-popping prices from European and Japanese buyers in spite of their economies not having the best of times. But as is the long-time global experience, very high value products from Hermes bag to Bugatti and Rolls Royce cars to Patek Philippe and Berguet watches will do well through all economic seasons. People with astronomical income is spared tightening the belt when the general economy faces headwind. Some lines of Darjeeling first flush harvested in small quantities making them rare and highly coveted would fetch prices of around $300 a kg. The first flush beginning in February and finishing in April with new two leaves and a bud will leave a light, floral, fresh, brisk and astringent flavour in the brew. A divine experience for the few who can afford.

Incidentally, Darjeeling tea was the first among all commodities in India to have been accorded GI (Geographical Indication) status. Securing this recognition following multi-steps scrutiny became essential as large volumes of teas of other origins with some attributes of Darjeeling tea but not in any way comparable in quality with what is produced in the hills of north Bengal were sold in the market here and abroad as Darjeeling tea to the dismay of its makers. Such fakery not only did damage to the brand value of Darjeeling tea but also told on producer margins.

The Tea Board, the administering authority of GI, says the regulations apply to “87 tea gardens” whose harvested leaves have been “processed and manufactured in a factory located in the defined geographic area” and when such tea subject to review by tea tasters is found to have the “distinctive and naturally occurring organoleptic characteristics of taste, aroma and mouth feel, typical of tea cultivated, grown and produced in the region of Darjeeling, India.” The requirement that only 100 per cent Darjeeling tea is entitled to carry the Darjeeling logo has to a large extent succeeded in stamping out teas of other origins being masqueraded and sold as Darjeeling tea.

ALSO READ: Storm Brewing In Darjeeling Teacup

Even then in the domestic market, practically unrestricted arrival of tea from Nepal across the border continues to play spoilsport for Darjeeling tea, especially by way of depressing prices. While large imports from Nepal continue to cause distress to tea producers in Darjeeling, a very few gardens in the hills are in the black, unable to recover production cost, not to speak of earning profits, from auction and private sales. No wonder, as many as ten gardens in Darjeeling remained closed through 2023, knocking off around 1 million kg of production.

But the industry ills go well beyond that. Leave out a little over a dozen estates, the owners of other operational gardens are desperate to exit the business, only if they would find buyers. The figure of ₹200 a kg loss borne by Darjeeling gardens may be an overstatement by Indian Tea Association. The depth of the crisis is, however, not to be denied. For mitigation, the industry is seeking subvention from the state government on two counts – promotion of exports and transport subsidy. Even while West Bengal government’s financial health remains a subject of concern, it cannot but lend a patient hearing to Darjeeling planters, providing livelihood to nearly one lakh people with women engaged in plucking benefiting in a major way.

The unique climatic condition, cool bridge from the Himalayas wafting through the gardens in the hills, which are brushed by thick clouds, soft mountain rains and intensive sunshine help in making that adorable beverage. The rich organic reddish soil is also a deciding factor in making Darjeeling tea the ‘champagne among all teas.’ A planter of nearly five decade standing says the magical properties of Darjeeling brew has got much to do with estates being at high elevation of 600 to 2,000 metre above the sea level. The higher an estate is located in the hills, the better is the quality of its tea.

Whatever the mystique surrounding the tea grown in the southern slopes of the Himalayas covering an area of 17,500 hectares, the crisis surrounding the industry is worsening. Darjeeling tea continues to experience a downhill journey from the time when production would be over 10 million kg, with the withering of a good number of gardens and some experiencing ownership change. When committed planters of the kind of Rudra Chatterjee of Luxmi Tea or Ashok Lohia of Chamong Group will step into a weak estate, the working inevitably improves over time. Goodricke Group is also doing a good job in increasingly difficult circumstances. But all that is not enough to redeem plantation in Darjeeling hills wherefrom tea in 2023 auctions at Rs319.74 a kg sank to its lowest since 2015 when it was a distressingly low Rs285.71 a kg.

Not even a quarter of Darjeeling tea output is sold through auctions, allowing scientific price discovery. Whatever that is, fall in auction prices combined with geo-political crisis involving two raging conflicts involving Russia-Ukraine and Palestinians-Israelis ensured up to 20 per cent erosion in private sale prices over 2022. Calcutta Tea Traders Association secretary J Kalyana Sundaram would attribute the setback in auction and private sale prices to export demand squeeze and the continuing impact of imports of Nepal origin tea on domestic sale of Darjeeling tea. Annual exports of Darjeeling, made up of a very large portion of the first flush and a fairly good amount of second flush, are around 3 million kg.

Much to the concern of planters in Darjeeling, imports from Nepal had a humongous share of 17.36 million kg in total arrivals of 29.84 million kg here from all destinations in 2022. The industry has recommended to the central government some corrective steps to curb imports from Nepal. The more important of these are: fixing of a minimum import price for tea originating in the Himalayan neighbour and subject all imports to quality testing to ensure that foreign origin teas, Nepal and otherwise conform to standards of the Food Safety & Standard Authority of India (FSSAI). Whatever the industry may want, it will do well to remember that New Delhi will not be inclined to initiate any steps that may cause misunderstanding in Kathmandu.

Brewing Storm In Darjeeling Teacup

By Kunal Bose

Every season is marked by elaborate tasting of single malt whiskey produced in Scotland and wine made in France, California and several other countries before these are recommended for connoisseurs globally. Recommendations of sommeliers, with deep knowledge of what makes a tipple delightful, are something looked forward to with great expectation. In the case of tea, whose popularity as a non-alcoholic beverage is gaining growing traction beyond Asia and Europe in Americas, the value of the produce of a particular origin and the season it is made is left to be decided by tea tasters attached to broking houses and gardens. But at what prices particular lines of teas will be sold to traders are decided at auctions now conducted electronically at all six centres in India, including Calcutta, Guwahati and Cochin.

India, the world’s second largest producer of tea, next to China, made around 1,340 million kg in 2022, almost same as the previous year. The common wisdom is that auction is the best way to discover the right price of any product or commodity. Even then not more than 590.5m kg got sold through e-auction.

What about the tea grown in the hills of Darjeeling, which has Nepal to its west, Bhutan to the east and Sikkim and further up Tibet to the north? The origin of Darjeeling tea, which for all its distinctive qualities have earned the moniker ‘the fine wine of teas’ is traced to 1841 when an East India Company official Archibald Cambell planted Camellia sinensis in the hills in 1841. How does the Darjeeling brew acquire the golden or amber colour and the flavour of muscatel grapes?

This, according to agronomists, has got all to do with the gardens being located on high elevations on steep slopes providing good drainage for rain water, soil composition and the intermittent cloud and sunshine. The orthodox tea produced in the hills has much lower productivity compared with gardens in the plains of Assam, West Bengal and the south. No wonder, Darjeeling gardens smart under high cost of production, which more often than not is not recovered from sales realisation. From all this follows highly low or negative return on investment in Darjeeling tea plantations over many years resulting in sharp production fall and distress sale of many gardens.

The 87 tea gardens in the hills embedded with unique properties to produce a beverage unmatched anywhere else also paid dearly when in support of a separate Gorkhaland state and protest against perceived attempts to impose Bengali on the Nepali speaking majority, the permanent and casual plantation  workers, numbering more than 120,000, struck work for over three months in 2017. Not only an entire season of four crop cycles and prized exports were lost but all the gardens had to stare at unwieldy growth of bushes.

In fact it took many plantations as many as five years to return to normal operations. The decline of the industry over the past decade is palpable with tea output in the hills down to 6.5 million kg in 2022 from the decade earlier around 1 million kg. What, however, proved to be redeeming is the brand equity of Darjeeling tea in the world market has remained intact notwithstanding it being denied supply over many months.

For the uninitiated the distinctive flavours and colours of the brew will keep on changing with plucking periods (read flushes). Tea bushes in the hills go into hibernation during the winter. But coinciding with the arrival of spring and the leaves brought to life with winter rains – tender and very light green in appearance – the famed first flush is heralded which lasts till April end. Highly sought by royalties and discerning rich in Germany and Japan in particular, almost the entire production of first flush imparting a pleasant brisk flavour claiming very high value is exported.

ALSO READ: Stirring The Tea Typhoon

What is harvested between May and June will produce liquor “more round, mellow and with more colour (amber) with a slightly fruity flavour.” In this second flush, drinkers who know their tea will experience the distinguishing muscatel flavour. The second flush Darjeeling tea for all its qualities is too much sought in demanding export markets.

The summer third flush running from July to September finds the nature of liquor changing, becoming stronger yet retaining the brightness and overall character of Darjeeling hill grown tea. Liquor made from final fourth flush tea leaves harvested between October and November has a light “coppery tinge with a delicate character.” The third and final flush tea is marketed very largely within the country. Because of unrestrained exports of tea by Nepal across the border, which in many places remain porous, to India, taking advantage of nil import duty here under the free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries in operation since 2009, the already emasculated Darjeeling tea industry is now facing existential crisis.

While 87 estates in Darjeeling manage to make about 6.5 million kg of tea a year, which more often than not sells at auction at less than production cost, imports from Nepal jumped to 17.4m tonnes in 2022 from 9.2 million kg in the previous year. The problem arises because the cheap Nepalese tea is sold here masquerading as Darjeeling tea without the unsuspecting drinkers realising that they are being short changed. Nepalese tea being sold as Himalayan tea creates a confusion among Indian buyers since Darjeeling too is too part of that range. Let the tea originating in Nepal be sold only as tea from Nepal to end that confusion.  

Darjeeling planters will tell you that in many ways the growing condition in the two hilly regions are identical – high elevation of gardens, similar rainfall, alternating sunshine and mist and cool Himalayan breeze wafting through hill slopes. But then muscatel aroma and liquor colour of Darjeeling tea, which is the first Indian commodity to win geographical indication tag for protection of its purity, remain unmatched. Much of what makes Darjeeling tea, specially what comes in the first two flushes exotica will always remain unexplained. A nature’s gift bestowed on about 17,500 hectares in the hills of Darjeeling! A terroir special.

The hills on the other side in Nepal have, however, missed out on this benediction. Even then to be fair to the Nepalese tea industry, its orthodox variety made from tea leaves grown in Himalayan high altitudes following traditional methods is fairly good in quality and also has found favour with tea drinkers globally. But no way will it ever be seen as the fine wine among teas. Nepal sells the very major part of its top range of orthodox tea in India. This is not much of a bother for Indian industry officials. What, however, is of growing concern is the ever rising volume of low quality CTC (crush, tear and curl) tea gaining passage into India. Imports of large volumes of duty free cheap Nepalese tea, which either is marketed here as Darjeeling tea or is mixed with Indian brew have an adverse impact on Indian tea prices. Incidentally, India imported nearly 30 million kg of tea from over 20 countries last year in which the share of Nepal alone was about 17.5 million kg.

Smarting under escalating production cost and productivity fall, the industry here sees unrestricted tea imports from the neighbouring country will further compound its problems by way of compromising Darjeeling tea brand in the domestic market and lowering of prices. Planters here have concerns about traceability and pesticide compliance of Nepalese tea that is finding its way in India in growing quantities. Remember, most gardens in Darjeeling have migrated to growing organic tea with nil use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Chairman of Indian Tea Board Saurav Pahari will attribute such large occurrences of the neighbour’s tea here to “low prices and easy availability.” To contain the import surge, Pahari has told the Indian Customs to do a thorough job of checking licences of importers and clearance certificates issued by Tea Board. In the meantime, the industry here has proposed a raft of measures for New Delhi to consider for curbing of tea imports from Nepal. Among the recommended corrective steps are imposition of an import levy of 40 per cent as Indian tea invites in Nepal and restricting imports to only packet tea mentioning origin of product.

While there is force in the protection the industry is seeking, the Indian market has become the mainstay for tea producers in Nepal. Last year they sold well over half their production of 31 million kg here. No wonder then, the Indian Parliamentary standing committee on commerce recommending much stricter standards on certificates of origin for Nepalese tea imports and now the chorus of protests by Darjeeling tea planters against the beverage influx have rattled their counterparts across the border.

The over $40 million tea industry in Nepal provides employment to about 200,000 people. Nepalese planters find it infra dig to be told that they don’t make good tea. They also complain “constant Indian policy changes are making exports to the neighbour increasingly challenging.” Whatever harm imports may be doing to Darjeeling gardens, New Delhi will remain circumspect in dealing with Nepal, where China has strategic interest and will be out to make capital out of Indian discomfiture.

Tea Typhoon Is Brewing

By Pushpesh Pant

It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was tea that spawned the British Empire. To pay for Chinese tea, the British grew opium and exported it to China and till they started growing tea in India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), they depended on the Chinese produce using force to secure its supply.

The history of forestry tells a multi-layered tale of the growing requirement of wood for tea chests and railway sleepers. With the passage of time, Darjeeling became the Champagne of teas and teas from Assam, Ceylon carved a niche for themselves. Nilgiri, Kangra and Kumaon till recently were unknown except for the minuscule minority of tea aficionados.

Colonial rituals like High Tea, with the paraphernalia of Silver Service, fine bone porcelain translucent Chinaware were an integral part of life during the Raj. We in India forgot that the Asians have for centuries observed tea rites like the elaborate Tea Ceremony in Japan. Japanese prefer Chrysanthemum Tea while the Chinese sip Jasmine tea from small bowls throughout the multi-course meal. In the Valley of Kashmir hot cups of Kahwa prepared in a Samovar were relished at the end of the meal. Nun Chai and Pink Tea were paired with breakfast breads.

Then dawned the ugly age of CTC and Tea Bags that dealt a mortal blow to the gentle art of brewing a decent cup of tea. ‘Two Leaves and a Bud’ was recalled by students of Indo-Anglian Literature as a novel by Mulk Raj Anand.

The mystique of rare teas like White Tea, Yellow Tea, Green Tea, Black Tea and

Oolong has erased from memory once-beloved brands like Lopchu, Rangli Rangliot etc.

Tea-less teas like Tulsi Teas and herbal teas have also blurred boundaries.

Then came Floral Tea infusions from Dilmah company in Sri Lanka and following in its footsteps

Rhododendron and Roselle infusions produced in Panghut in Uttarakhand. It is the paring of teas with food that has highlighted the diversity of teas.

Decades back, if memory serves us right, it was Sanjay Kapoor who had opened Apki Pasand in Daryaganj to introduce the residents of Delhi to the joys of well-brewed tea. He had also launched his own blends labelled Swan Lake and Jade.

But he was a visionary far ahead of the time. It would be more than a generation for Chai to take on the wine snobs.

Those who pair teas with food use the same terminology as wine sommeliers -Body, Bouquet, Aroma, Flavour. They also tell us that different kinds of teas are either congruent or complementary. Don’t let the jargon deter you- it simply means that either the tea chosen enhances the taste of food or adds to its elements that enrich its inherent flavour. What the Indian Tea sommeliers agree upon is that pairing tea with Indian cuisines is far more challenging than pairing it with wester dishes as the spicing and flavour profile of Indian delicacies is far more complex.

Payalh Agarwwal was born and brought up in Munloong a small village near Darjiling and claims with an impish smile that she has more tea than blood flowing in her veins. In the same breath, she adds disarmingly that no one in seven generations in her family has had anything to do with tea.

She started as an undergraduate in the tea business and has pioneering work in tea pairing that is widely recognised and has helped us become an alum of IIMB. Everyone is born with a purpose in life and in her case teas have helped her realise what she was meant to do.

Fariyal was born in Bangladesh and wears many hats. She is a fantastic cook, outstanding baker, a gifted designer and now runs Planterie–a small gem-like tea boutique in the Capital’s Aurobindo Place trendy market catering to residents of Hauz Khas and SDA. Step into this tiny parlour and yield to the allure of wild teas and fascinating blends and infusions that blend tea with bhoot jholakiya chilli or time tested turmeric and ginger. The chique tea house beats the Chai Khana of yore.

Dipankar was a senior management executive in a multinational company when he decided to what’s heart called for. He left the metropolis to set up Beyonderie a company in a village near Guwahati that brings together produce from sister states in the northeast to enhance the seduction of exceptional teas that can be enjoyed by connoisseurs and also paired with Indian foods.

The storm brewing in the teacup is not confined to Metros. Rakesh Mishra in Allahabad has built a fairytale-like tea house to initiate his friends to the joys of legendary single-origin teal like Makai Bari. The words ‘second flush muscatel’ encountered by chance a couple of years ago fired his imagination and started him on this exhilarating journey.

The Tea Typhoon or, shall we say the surging Tea Tempest is not likely to subside soon. May its pairing with Indian food add another arrow to India’s soft power quiver.

The Cuppa From Darjeeling Hills

By Kunal Bose

Teas grown at some misty high altitude areas in Sri Lanka or Nepal may come somewhat close to the universally celebrated beverage produced in the hills of Darjeeling and these may be selling in the world market as the ‘real’ hoodwinking the unsuspecting drinkers. Connoisseurs will, however, spit all that is fake. For a variety of reasons from climate change resulting in less rains and spells of drought to serious political turmoil in 2017 leading to suspension of plantation work in crucial months to steady migration of potential young plantation workers to the plains to escape from lowly paid garden jobs to city lights, production of fabled Darjeeling tea was down to about 6.20 million kg in 2021, the lowest in a long time from over 10 million kg annually through the 1990s.

Even while the eponymously named tea has always constituted a very small portion of India’s total yearly tea production of over 1.3 billion kg, there were times when over 40 million kg of tea a year was globally sold as Darjeeling brew. As members of Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) and Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA) will bitterly complain unprincipled blenders and packers from both within and outside the country would mix large portions of teas of other origins with some Darjeeling tea and then pass it off as Darjeeling to unsuspicious buyers.

Fearing the erosion of brand equity of Darjeeling tea, which for its special attributes of muscatel flavour and light translucent colour of liquor has earned the moniker champagne of all teas, the Tea Board and industry long worked together to get for the tea grown in Darjeeling hills the Geographical Indication (GI) tag under World Trade Organisation to weed out counterfeit product sold as original, particularly in European markets.

This proved to be a long arduous campaign, for the mighty blenders and packers with links to MNCs took the stand that Darjeeling was only a “type of tea” and therefore, they were free to blend tea from Darjeeling hills with what was plucked in Sri Lankan hills or any other places. Darjeeling tea winning the GI tag in 2005, however, turned the hare-brained argument of packers and blenders got turned on its head. The mischief of misspelling blended tea as Darjeeling tea in European markets continued till September 2012 when the EU took the decision that only the packets containing 100 per cent tea sourced to Darjeeling hills having got the protected GI status could be sold as Darjeeling tea.

But what it is that lends Darjeeling tea the uniqueness putting it on a pedestal much higher than teas of any other origin? According to experts, drinking Darjeeling tea of light golden liquor is pure bliss because the crop grown in a high elevation of 150 metres to 2,100 metres on a unique kind of soil has the benefit of cool damp climate, Himalayan breeze touching hill slopes and constant mist that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Some will say some Taiwanese Oolongs come close to Darjeeling brew. But only ‘close.’ Moreover, under insistence of importers in Europe and Japan, the majority of Darjeeling gardens are totally transformed into making only organic tea with no traces of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The changeover no doubt has left an impact on production volume. But the demanding agro practice has improved soil fertility as planting of shade trees is helping in preservation of top soil.

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Along with production fall in Darjeeling hills, exports of premium tea from the region have shrunk alarmingly by nearly 25 per cent in the past two years. DTA chairman BK Saria regrets the “huge lack of global awareness” of GI of tea grown in Darjeeling hills even after all these years. To correct the situation, he is recommending an appropriately large promotional campaign, coordinated by the government represented by the Tea Board and industry in the EU, Japan and Russia in particular. Such promotion work should also be carried out in the US where more and more people are taking to drinking tea and are appreciative of a good cuppa.  There is no reason why larger quantities of orthodox Darjeeling tea will not find bigger custom in these countries, if supported by marketing and promotional push.

What is also of major concern is large quantities of low cost tea originating in neighbouring Nepal finding their way into India duty free facilitated by trade agreement. Large quantities of Nepalese orthodox tea brought into India and sold in the market here as Darjeeling tea are having a deleterious effect on what is harvested in the hills of northern most district of West Bengal. Low priced Nepalese tea has depressed the prices of Darjeeling tea as it has hijacked a share of the latter’s domestic market. No wonder, imports have strained the finances of the high cost Darjeeling tea growers. Imports playing havoc have happened to the distress of Darjeeling growers at a time when because of Covid-19, domestic demand for the relatively expensive beverage in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore sank. People there in upper echelons have for the time being dispensed with afternoon tea drinking get-together.

India is also the destination for growing imports of large volumes of CTC (crush, tear, curl) tea. In the three years to March 2020, Indian tea imports were 60.35 million kg of which 36.92 million kg was retained within the country and the balance re-exported.  Further, in the first eight months up to August 2021, tea imports into the country were up a hefty 34 per cent on a year-on-year basis, causing prices to fall. It is not, therefore, a day too soon that the Tea Board, which oversees the industry’s working woke up to the damage that cheap tea imports were doing to the local industry and trade.

What also is compromising Indian reputation of a quality tea producer and exporter is low quality teas from Nepal and Kenya on their arrival here are being marketed abroad as Indian beverage. The Board has threatened to cancel licences of importers if they are found to be bringing in cheap teas into the country. The move is triggered by compulsion to ensure that no other teas, imported or otherwise must be blended with the three lines of Indian teas – Darjeeling, Assam orthodox and Kangra and Nilgiris orthodox – for which geographical indication has been secured.

For the middling Darjeeling tea one may be paying around ₹1,000 a kg. But from time to time, some exclusive Darjeeling lines will find foreign buyers for over $1,500 a kg. Such teas come from either late first flush or the second flush. Growers of high quality tea in Darjeeling hills are quite picky about plucking only the best of two leaves and a bud from each plant. This helps in generating good flavour. The follow up withering, rolling and fermentation of leaves are also done with great care to create the unique beverage. Darjeeling tea is harvested and produced in four flashes: First flush is from March first week to May first week when the tea is greenish and the liquor is mild with floral aroma. The second flush running from third week of May to third week of June yields a more mature crop by way of flavour and liquor with a pronounced muscatel flavour. The rain crop coming between July and September is in bulk with hardly any distinguishing character. The fourth flush lasting from September end to mid-November yields strong liquor and also a distinct aroma.