Darjeeling Tea - Revisited

Qualities of Darjeeling Tea is not a chance or coincidence, but a plan that was secretly and meticulously executed.

Darjeeling tea derives its qualities with the confluence of many cultures.

Firstly, the aboriginal tribes referred as "semi barbarous" or animistic by general Lyod the first European to set foot on this hill tract(1839:IV), the British (1828, G. A Lyod & J. W Grant), the Nepalese (referred as migrants or labor forces for plantations), the Bengalis (traders) and lastly the Chinese because the tea culture along with the planting material was replicated in this hilly area.

It all began with the advent of the opium war-a political agenda for the British of having the need to plant tea in an environment which could be relatively similar to that of the mountainous regions of China. As tea was a high value luxury item during the reign of the Qing dynasty. Pre-defined places in China were scoured to source the finest seeds and transportation to Darjeeling was a secret that has been closely kept and shared only by few officials of the Governor General of Bengal, during the British era.

The history of the aborigines who lived in this area were completely wiped away. For examples the Lepcha tribe is almost extinct. The Limboo, the Rai and the tibeto sikkimese tribal leaders were bribed with vast portions of land and military support by the East India Company.

For example the gardens of Soureni and Sepoydhura was granted to a Dakman Rai. The Aloobarie garden the oldest plantation which nursed the rest of Darjeeling later was offered to the Ladenla family. It was at Alobarrie where nurseries were raised for the most prized seeds and later cuttings were taken from these plants.

Due to scarcity of these treasured seeds and urgency to achieve set targets of production Cambod & Assam varieties (jats) were planted on elevations less than 3000 feet above sea level and later grafted with cuttings from pure Chinese seed plants.

Some of the grafting projects failed completely but some paid off with good returns. This planting structure is prevalent in all the gardens of Darjeeling till date.

In 1847, the East India Company leased rights to plant tea commercially in Darjeeling. In 1850, Dr. Campbell reported that the population of Darjeeling district was only 10, 000 and more labor forces were required. Darjeeling was still only sparsely populated, so labor for the plantations was recruited from Nepal. The influx was so rapid that in 1869 Sir Joseph Hooker mentioned a population of 22, 000 (O'malley, 1907:35), by a rough census carried out in this areas.

Within a period of 25 years i. e in 1874, there were 113 tea gardens in Darjeeling planted approximately over 6, 000 hectares. Now we can imagine the pace at which these plantations were carried out. By the end of the 1970s, most of the gardens were bought or usurped from the British by Indians, who were usually already managing the estates themselves or were supplying various utilities.

Therefore Darjeeling tea is a masterpiece orchestra of many cultures brought together by destiny in a place where boundaries is a confused labyrinth of ridges and valleys that run below the Majectic Mt. Kanchenjunga. Darjeeling tea is born in the foothills of the Himalayas situated at up to 7, 000-ft-high elevations on steep slopes, which provide ideal drainage for the generous rainfall. The altitude, the soil and sunshine, the morning dew and passion of the Tea masters called Planters makes Darjeeling a unique brew often referred to as the "champagne of teas".

Darjeeling Tea is expensive and it is quite rare to find good Darjeeling teas, except for some specialty shops who offer a variety of quality loose leaf teas from all over the world.

Now you may want to know why it is expensive?

Firstly, most of the teas which are stocked by quality tea vendors are picks of the season when the shoots are extremely delicate and it takes a whole days work for 10-15 expert pickers to make one kilogram of Tea. Only picking from altitudes at a higher level produce best Teas. The average production of made tea per hectare of Best Darjeeling Tea would be less than 300 kilogram in a year.

The large antique orthodox machinery used to make these teas consume the same amount of power and fuel to produce a quantity of 1 to 50 kgs or 50 to 500 kgs of tea. Therefore making the cost of production very high. Secondly, most of these prized treasures are air flown all over the world as they come in small quantities. Lastly and the most important one is demand exceeds supply, there is always a good demand for the best teas.

Teadesigner

Sonam Paljor Lama
(Web ID-teadesigner)
A tea enthusiast and a Darjeeling Tea purveyor.
A Planter turned merchant who believes -Fresh Tea is Best Tea!
http://www.blog.freshdarjeelingtea.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sonam_Paljor_Lama