Category: We’ve Been There

We were drawn to Darjeeling by the promise of seeing undulating Himalayan hills that made lush and green with the world-famous tea. The tea grows in unbelievably beautiful surroundings with the magnificent mountain Kanchenjunga in the background.

Tea was brought to Darjeeling from China relatively recently – at the beginning of 19th century by the Scottish botanist, Robert Fortune. Though he wasn’t sure if planting the imported shrubs would actually work, they were ultimately successful and have flourished. The combination of moderate temperatures, the mountain mist, fertile soil and steep hills allowing good drainage of rain-water has created a world-renowned tea.

We had a few days in Darjeeling and spent one at the nearby Happy Valley Tea estate, about 20 minutes walk from the town centre via a narrow sandy path from the main road which veers suddenly downhill. The estate welcomes visitors; if you arrive early enough you can observe the stages of tea processing, but there is also a little exhibition at the entrance to the factory and a receptionist who is happy to show visitors around. One can even walk through the tea gardens and watch the workers pluck tea leaves.

Sadly we arrived at around 1pm so were just too late to see the tea being processed or to catch a glimpse of the female workers with baskets hung down from their heads plucking the top two leaves and bud from the tea branches; tea valleys are vast and the pickers were about one and a half hours away. However, when we stumbled across a little Happy Golden Cafe on the way down, a cheerful face popped out of the window and asked if we would like to learn something about tea. Well, yes… that’s what we were there for. Shyly, we entered the little living room, squeezing past a sleeping dog. Adjacent to the living room was a kitchenette that led to a small washroom. The living room was lavishly decorated with pictures of hindu gods, soft toys, postcards, cushions and artificial flowers. The windows were clad with patterned mesh curtains; on the table were five little display bowls with tea samples.

Kusum was the name of our hostess; Her bubbly personality made us lose our inhibitions almost immediately. She introduced herself as being retired, but still helping within the local community, and announced that she would make us a 5-second tea. Before that though, our quick introduction turned into a chat about our lives in the West and our enjoyment of the trip so far. Kusum confessed that she is Nepalese but she loved living in Darjeeling. Her description was more about the people than the place. She regretted that the wages of the tea pluckers are so low – only 90 Rupees per day – but said that they are not bitter about it. Kusum recounted how the local people are loving and helpful, supportive of others and amicable. On top of that, despite the low wages and lack of land, they have beautiful gardens. I have to admit I had noticed that before – almost each house is adoringly embellished with colourful plants, whether they sit in pots or simply in plastic bags.

Kusum went on to talk us through several tea varieties. In Darjeeling, tea is picked from March to November unlike other tea regions where tea is gathered all year round – one of the reasons why Darjeeling tea is unique. First flush tea, picked in mid-March to mid-April, is subtle but flavoursome. Second flush is for connoisseurs – rich and intense. Next is Monsoon flush – basically sold in supermarkets (no comment). And then is the Autumn Flush – not so bad, full of flavour and still fine to drink without milk. Now was the time to test us, not our taste buds yet but our olfactory sensors. Kusum instructed us to grab a handful of tea from the displayed bowls, make a fist and blow some air through the hole made by the thumb and the forefinger. That was supposed to provide a little humidity to release the fragrance. While we were doing that, Kusum went to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

We started blowing, sniffing and debating which tea was the best. These turned out to be very personalised choices but we still got it right. My husband identified second flush as he likes his tea full-bodied, while I managed to find myself a delicate First Flush. We passed the test! Now we could move to the kitchenette to watch Kusum make the 5-second tea. In fact it was a 3-second one. Kusum put some leaves into a well-worn sieve and ran the water through it to the pot. Literally three seconds. After pouring the brew into the cups, a beautiful golden sunny colour smiled at us. No milk, but since we had travelled from England, we got some biscuits to accompany the infusion. Blasphemy!

I never thought drinking tea could be so pleasurable. Of course, we bought some tea from Kusum, even though we had already done some tea shopping. We picked our choices, First Flush White Tea and First Flush Black Tea (otherwise known as “Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe”, or “Far Too Good For Ordinary People”) to be drunk without milk or sugar. Kusum took out her ancient manual scales and hung them on her thumb. On one plate of the scales she placed 400g weight, on the other a silver bag that she filled with tea. The tea plate went way down below the weight level – that’s for passing the tea test. Embellished with fresh tea leaves and a flower, Kusum handed us two lovely souvenirs that we will cherish for a long time.

Discover more about the history of Darjeeling in Jeff Koehler’s book Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea