Making Tea

There were tea estates everywhere in the Darjeeling region, last count was 84. Several of the bigger companies own or manage multiple estates, and sell under the brand name, with the highest quality teas coming from single estates, and lesser qualities blended from several sources.

The first estate we visited was Happy Valley. I was very skeptical, since it was just right in town, and I thought that it would be a totally overblown tourist trap. Turns out it was great- we got a tour of the factory from an employee who wasn’t supposed to let us take photos. He did anyway, but I had to stand in front of Andy, and watch out for the manager.

Next we went to this little house outside and a local lady did a tea info session, showed us how to make this tea the right way, and sold us a little tea under the table. The pluckers get free tea, and what they sell supplements their income. The regular wage is 62-70 INR per day, or less than $2. They can also get a bonus, depending on how much they pluck each day.

She also made us pose with her favorite stuffed animal while we were having tea, in the corner of the pic. Happy Valley tea isn’t supposed to be sold locally, since most of it is for export. HV is one of Harrod’s suppliers, I think the only one from this area.

Then we went into the garden and walked up and down the super steep hills where the ladies spend their days plucking away. Our guide pointed out a couple of really large pot plants behind some of the workers houses. When Andy asked if it was the workers’ he assured us it was not, and that it was coincidence that all this weed was growing right behind their house, and right beside their big garden.

We also visited Makiabari estate, which has a great reputation, and supplies Tazo tea. It is best known for being the first organic plantation in the area, and the first biodynamic as well. The workers are treated very well, with healthcare, education, etc, and are encouraged as stake-holders in the plantation to be very participatory in its operations. The owner, Mr. Rajah Banerjee is very hands-on, and has a very dynamic personality. He has written a book, and some French film-makers have even made a movie about him. Lonley Planet had a big write-up about him in our book, so we were surprised to meet him in person.

We happened to be here during the monsoon time, when no one else visits, and since I had emailed ahead and gotten his personal email, Mr. Banerjee himself invited us into his office for a cup of tea, and told us a little about his story. Banerjee asked that we be given a special estate tea tasting, which was really more of an educational tea info session, and very cool. We learned a lot, and tried some very nice teas, good enough that we could even taste the difference! It is a totally different experience being here off season, we really got a lot of hands-on attention everywhere.

The guy who arranged everything had also asked his mom to make us lunch, and we ate at their house, which was awesome. We had about 5 different home-made vegetarian dishes, desert from the sweet shop, and some fresh-squeezed lemonade! We really enjoyed all this, especially since it was a nice chance to sit down and get comfortable for a few minutes out of the rain.

Then it was back outside to walk to the gardens, mostly in the rain, which was not bad, but we didn’t have umbrellas like the pluckers, so we got pretty wet. Along with the umbrellas, the workers also secure their big baskets to their backs with a big padded cord that goes around their head. Andy made me pick tea for a few minutes, which wasn’t bad, but it would have taken me forever to fill up one of those baskets! I got maybe a handful in the time the pluckers can get about a kilo.

Both factories had tons of equipment, and most of it was pretty old, and original. I think one place had a big machine over 100 years old, and the other had one over 75 years. Still in use, everyday, processing a ridiculous amount of tea a year.

After the tea is brought in from the garden, it is put on this long drying trough, with cool air pushed up from underneath. The its sent to the rolling machine which rolls the leaves around on this super smooth glass roller until they are slightly rolled together, then its put in big trays to ferment, then dried with warm heat, then put into the sorting machine where its sorted by size. And then, there is crew of ladies who go over each bunch by hand with a large wicker tray, to make sure each batch is sorted correctly.