India – Page 15 – Discovering Tea

Tea tastings

12 March 2013

At the moment I’m tasting between 50 and 100 different teas a day.
I try them in series of about 10 or 12. When you taste so many teas at the same time, you spit them out, for obvious reasons. Most importantly, you taste each tea twice, and in a different order, so you’re not influenced by the qualities or flaws of the previous tea.
This is because when you taste several batches in a row, you have a tendency to pick out what is different about them rather than their similarities, and if I didn’t taste each one twice, I could miss out on some wonderful teas.

Waiting for Darjeeling teas

1 March 2013

Some time in the next two weeks I should receive the first of a large number of samples from Darjeeling. During the first few days I get just a handful, but as the month goes by, the harvesting intensifies. In March and April, I sometimes taste more than 100 teas in a single day.
This picture is of a plucker who has not yet slung her basket on her back. Like me, she is impatient for the season to start.

News from Darjeeling

26 February 2013

This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting Abhishek Bagaria, the owner of Phuguri Tea Estate, Orange Valley Tea Estate and Millikthong Tea Estate. He hopes to be able to go ahead with the harvesting on his various plantations in the next couple of weeks.
After a cold, dry winter, the weather conditions are now favourable. We must now just hope that the political tensions which have reignited over the thorny issue of autonomy for the Darjeeling region will not lead to strikes and road blocks.
There are still hurdles to overcome before we can enjoy these Darjeeling teas – but they will be worth the effort!

In Darjeeling, the spring harvest is approaching

19 February 2013

In a few weeks’ time, the spring tea harvest (first flush) will begin in Darjeeling. The weather is a decisive factor in determining the timing of the harvest, and Darjeeling fans will be as happy as I am to learn that it has finally just rained there, after a long period of dryness.
Anil Jha, the planter at Sungma, has just informed me that on the night of 16 February, between 18 and 32 millimetres of rain fell in the region.

The different marriages of tea

15 January 2013

I hear that there is much talk of marriage at the moment in France, and the opportunity has arisen for me to tell you what I think of it.
If there is one marriage I cannot recommend, it is tea with a slice of lemon. The effect of the acidity alters the tannins and the aromas, and the result is not particularly harmonious.
On the other hand, if we look at practices around the world, tea is open to many marriages: with mint leaves in Morocco, cardamom pods in Afghanistan, rancid yak butter in Tibet, jasmine flowers in China, a drop of milk in Britain, and with a little of all the spices in India.
Vive la différence – and vive l’harmonie!

Best wishes for 2013

8 January 2013

In India, the gesture of putting your hands together is a very polite way of saying hello. As we start 2013, I also bring my hands together to welcome in another year, and hope that yours will be full of life and happiness.

Setting off for a new year

31 December 2012

I invite you to join me aboard the Darjeeling Limited. The steam engine belches out swirls of white smoke, its whistle echoes around the valley, and in a few moments it will set off in the direction of 2013.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Happy Christmas

24 December 2012

I don’t have reindeer or a sleigh to offer you from the countries I travel around so frequently. However, in terms of a sack, I do have something for you.
I wish you much happiness, and some lovely surprises beneath the tree.

Taking a break on the tea plantations

18 December 2012

On the tea plantations, the midday meal is a proper break.
Here, in Darjeeling, everyone gets their food out from their bag and sits down to eat, outdoors and in good spirits. The recycled cola bottles contain… tea!

During the oxidation stage, experience is everything

11 December 2012

During the oxidation process the tea leaves change colour, from green to brown. This only applies to black teas, of course.
Experience is everything when it comes to knowing when to end this stage. The factory manager must assess the colour of the leaves and their aroma, to decide if the tea has oxidised enough and it is time to dry it.