Tea Typhoon Is Brewing

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

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.

ALSO READ: Political Debates And Coffee Beans

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.