When you know what the climate is like here in Assam, you realise this woman must be brave to work outside. Throughout my stay in the Jorhat region, the temperature varied between 35° and 38°C, while the humidity came close to 100%.
Whatever the temperature, she rarely removes her wide-brimmed hat: it protects her from the powerful rays of the sun and also from the frequent and torrential downpours that can come at a moment’s notice.
The tea plant enjoys humidity, but it hates having water sitting around its roots. How awkward! To keep its feet dry when the ground is flat, like here in Assam, drains are dug into the soil.
Switching locations from the plains to the peaks, I want to tell you about the mountain blocking my view right now. It marks the start of Nagaland, the sparsely populated region that borders Assam. The Nagas are a friendly people, but due to one of their ancient customs, thankfully now abandoned, they are sometimes known as “Head Cutters”.
Among the enemies of the tea plant, the inchworm features in prime position. With a ferocious appetite, it can munch its way through quite a few leaves in a short space of time. Getting rid of them isn’t easy, especially on organic plantations. Birds are the principle predators of this creature, whose name derives from its strange gait: it advances by taking calculated “steps”, measuring out each one with apparent expertise.
One day, when I was in Darjeeling, I was surprised to find that a plot on the North Tukvar plantation had been named after me. It was a new plot, mainly planted with the AV2 cultivar which I am particularly fond of.
This gesture from G. Somani, superintendant of North Tukvar and Puttabong, touched me greatly, and from time to time I return to “Delmas Bari”. The tea plants have grown, they look magnificent at the moment. The place has a unique charm about it. A small stand provides shade where you can enjoy a cup of tea and take in the incredible beauty and utter tranquillity of the surroundings. I feel quite at home there!
Assam tea plantations are unusual in that they produce “orthodox” tea, processed according to the traditional method, but they also produce “CTC” tea, which stands for “cut, turn, curl”. CTC tea has none of the qualities of a fine tea. It is produced by machines, which I have photographed for you. This tea doesn’t interest me much, and for good reason: one of its uses in the tea bag industry is to bring colour quickly to the cup and express strength.
Nonetheless, the process of making CTC tea is interesting: as it passes through the various machines, the leaf gradually gets smaller and smaller until it is just a tiny round ball.
The yield per hectare here in Assam is four times higher than in Darjeeling, and totals two tonnes a year. Each tea plant produces such a quantity of leaves that between March and November, the shoots on each bush are plucked at least once a week. A record! Yet this charming tea plucker on the Dufflating Tea Estate does not seem overwhelmed by the scale of the task; in fact she looks quite happy.
At the Amgoorie Tea Estate, tea is tasted both with and without milk. This is because some of the tea produced by this plantation is particularly full-bodied, and is appreciated by British consumers. So by lightening each cup with a cloud of milk, we are tasting the tea in the same way as the customer.
While adding milk is sacrilege for the finest teas, it is natural for more powerful brews. The milk reduces the astringency and sensation of bitterness.
The factory at the Amgoorie Tea Estate (Assam) has a remarkable size. It is the pride and joy of the planter there, Amar Nain, who designed it. The light, clean space make a change from the rather dilapidated, dimly lit buildings I often visit.
On the floor are pyramids of teas of different grades, waiting to be packed after a final quality check which is carried out by hand, leaf by leaf.
Assam is one of the regions in the world with the highest rainfall. So it’s no surprise that it’s so green here, from these tea plants growing so densely they look like a carpet, to the trees that shade them from the sun.
Despite the abundant rains, this region enjoys plenty of sunshine, which means the tea plants need protecting from the direct sunlight more than elsewhere. Hence the density of the trees.
For years, I dreamt of just one thing: to go to Assam and see the famous tea plantations. And here I am! The political situation has greatly improved, and it is now possible to travel around this state in the north-east of India, which is generously watered by torrential rains and by the Brahmaputra floods. Here, the tea fields adjoin the paddy fields. However, a slight difference in level separates them so that the water does not stagnate around the roots of the tea plants, but drains away into the paddy fields.
