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INDIA 2009
GREAT TEAS FROM A DIFFICULT SPRING
First news from the Darjeeling hills this year was of warm weather and political unrest. Warm seemed to be a positive change after a couple of cold, wet and troublesome First Flushes. But by mid March it seemed apparent that no rain was coming and very little tea was growing.
Arriving in Kolkata the initial reports of 40%-50% harvests, most of the companies had invoices DJ10 and below instead of the usual DJ 20s and 30s they would usually have produced by then. Quality was also suffering seriously, very few good teas. With reduced quantities I was naturally expecting prices that would correspond to this scarcity. By the end of my visit I would say that overall quality was at about 6 out of 10. Prices were up a little but part of this was also due to fluctuations in the exchange rates. Darjeeling has not seen a drought of this scale since 1999. Overall the mood in the industry was a little worried but accepting and philosophical.
Aside from the immediate financial problems that low quantity and low quality present, the complications will continue. The plants all started going into banjhi (dormancy) earlier than usual so that the Second Flush will be offset with the Summer rains. Many sections of plants scorched by the drought will require expensive replanting.
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SNOWVIEW / KUMAI The garden of Kumai is the eastern most of the region 4 hours drive from Darjeeling. The border of Bhutan is over the valley only one km away. A large part of the garden is actually in the plains the rest on the first slopes of the foothills as they rise up to become the Himalayas. The elevation ranges from 300-1500m, from the top of the garden the view is spectacular West Bengal stretches out so far that you can see the curvature of the Earth. Kumai was taken over by Tea Promoters (Singell, Samabeong etc.) 3 years ago. I have been tasting their teas for the last few years in Kol. and this year the quality of their DJ4 and DJ5 wasn’t bad and overall quality remarkably improved. First steps when they took over were to apply all their organic practices to the garden and their Fair Trade practice to the workers who number around 900, mostly Nepali origin but around 13% indigenous. The factory was converted from CTC to full orthodox. The garden was extremely dry from the drought many plants dead or dying, maintenance foliage dark and scorched with a small flush struggling through on the plucking table. With 60% assam-hybrid plants the long-term plan is to gradually in-fill and replace with china clones. SAMABEONG A couple of hours drive North West and vertically up from Kumai I popped in at Samabeong for a few hours. The mist was thick and as usual they were a couple of weeks behind the rest of the region with barely enough leaf for a single invoice. So far only their china sections had flushed and they were still waiting for the precious clonals. I tasted 6 “ghannis” (small unsorted batches). All were tasty but not yet the Clonal magic that I wait for every year. Even the china sections of this garden share that very unique Samabeong signature. RISHEEHAT One hour from Darjeeling town the Risheehat garden was established by Scots back in the 1893. The name means, “Seat of the Sage” in Hindi. It must be one of the steepest gardens in the whole region with a large altitude differential. 90% old china plants, they have been turning out some very good quality over the last few years. The whole place has a feeling of well established, and organised about it. The factory is clean and well kept and the garden will receive its organic certification at the end of this year. They had around 25 teas to show me mostly very solid classic chinas and a couple of flowery clonals, one of which I bought: the remarkable DJ-22. Their production was down around 50 % because of the drought but the garden, which backs on to one of the cloudiest ridges in the region, looked relatively healthy (after some I had seen). There was still scorching and leaf damage in some sections but plenty of fresh bud. SUNGMA Across the valley from Gopaldhara is the old garden of Sungma, managed by Mr.Jah one of Darjeeling’s most respected senior planters. Originally planted in 1863 it still contains 80% of the original china planting with a growing 15% clonal and 5%assam-hybrid population. Over the last 3 years Sungma has been consistently producing high quality teas. I tasted their first 30 invoices and all were very respectable, a high percentage was top quality. Slightly amber liquors, smooth textures and strong aromatics. The garden was behind schedule but not as scorched as many, again the established/ well-organised feeling of sister-garden Risheehat. GOPALDHARA On arrival in the Gopaldhara garden at river level in the bottom of the valley, the first thing was to visit the new factory. It has been built over the last 3 years and, having seen the chaos of construction, I have even more respect for Mr.Panjika the jolly manager who continues to seduce us with the Wonder Tea. This year the factory was in the final stages of completion and looking good with a few innovative features that could be interesting but have yet to be tested. GARDEN PRACTICE As with all industries of farming and cultivation, each garden manager has a slightly different approach. Asking about the measures to be taken for drought I heard all sorts of stories- often conflicting. From severe pruning to no pruning, different chemicals or natural infusions that should, or should never, be applied and so on, the variation is impressive. It serves as a good illustration as to how there are many ways to grow tea even within the same region. A new practice this year, adopted very quickly by many gardens under the recommendation of the TRA, is vermiculture. Many planters have built long shade-covered worm-tanks to breed worms for the gardens. Despite the difficult conditions and the overall low quality of this year’s First Flush I managed to put together a very diverse and surprisingly high-quality selection of teas. Thanks to all my good friends and contacts in India that pulled out their best leaves for me. |
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