The Darjeeling Limited

20th July 2010

It's known as the "Champagne" of teas and the delicate flavour and exquisite floral aroma make Darjeeling the ultimate afternoon tea.

Britain loves it for it’s thin-bodied, light coloured liquor. The tea even made its way to Hollywood, in the form of the title of Wes Anderson’s quirky film recounting the tale of three brothers travelling across India by train.

Darjeeling’s history

Tea was first grown in the Darjeeling district in 1841 when a civil servant serving in the Indian Medical Service, Dr Campbell, was transferred to the region in 1939. Campbell began an experimental planting programme that resulted in the government establishing a handful of tea nurseries that soon started to produce tea commercially.

Now, Darjeeling produces approximately 10,000 tonnes of tea a year from approximately 90 tea gardens in the region, which take up approximately 18000 hectares of land. Each estate produces a distinctive flavoured tea with special characteristics and tea menus often contain single estate teas (using tea from one garden alone) for the best, purest flavour.

Why is Darjeeling so delicious?

Unlike most other Indian teas, Darjeeling plants comprise a variety of small-leaved Chinese bushes (other Indian tea comes from the large leaved Assam plant) and the tea gets its unique taste from the area in which it’s grown. In the same way that terroir influences wine’s flavour, the steep terrain in the West Bengal region of North-East India has a magical mix of components where climate, altitude and soil combine to create the perfect tea. As part of the Himalyan foothills, the steep mountain terrain (at altitudes of up to 7000ft) means the tea bushes get 50inches of rain per year, essential for good growth. Mixed with bouts of glorious sunshine and humidity due to the mountainous mists and rich soil the tea pickers only pluck the best leaves, ensuring you have the tastiest tea in your cup. The exclusivity – only 10million kg of Darjeeling is produced annually – also plays a part in Darjeeling’s prestigious reputation. The yield may sound like a lot but in tea terms it’s relatively low, proving the growers favour quality over quantity.

Technically the tea is often created by a hard withering process, which makes many Darjeelings an oolong, rather than a black tea, as the oxidation process is often incomplete. Tassophiles may also wish to search out some of the green and a few rare white Darjeeling teas on the market.

Darjeeling throughout the year

You’ll have probably noticed phrases such as “1st Flush” on tea menus and in shops, but what does it mean? Different grades of Darjeeling are picked throughout the year. The tea bushes lie dormant during Winter then, in March and April, tender new grey-green leaves appear and are picked to create 1st Flush teas. Plucked after the spring rains, these teas have a gentle flavour, light coloured liquor, floral aroma and mild astringency. This is also known as the Easter or Spring Flush and is considered the finest leaves, commanding high prices at auction.

Next? The 2nd flush. From May the succulent Summer leaves result in a delicious tea, made from purplish bloomed leaves and a sprinkling of silver tipped buds. These teas have amber coloured liquor, a mellower, fruitier, more full-bodied taste than the 1st Flush and Darjeeling’s renowned muscatel flavour becomes more pronounced. Sometimes this is described as the Summer Flush.

Harvests during the rainy monsoon season (these are called Monsoon Teas) result in stronger, darker teas, perfect for inclusion in breakfast blends and Masala Chai.

Finally, the Autumnal flush. After the rainy season, these teas produce a full bodied, darker Darjeeling with a more robust flavour and less spiciness than earlier flushes. The liquor is light copper in colour with a sweet, fresh scent and sparkling character.

As well as 1st or 2nd flush teas, you may spot a series of confusing letters appearing after Darjeeling. When the teas are sold, they’re graded by size and quality. The grades fall into four basic groups: whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings, and dust. If you’re not sure which is which, here’s our glossary:

Whole Leaf

The tea contains lots of tips. It’s long and wiry in appearance and the liquor is light in colour.
SFTGFOP: Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.
FTGFOP: Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.
TGFOP: Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe.

These are followed by Broken Leaf teas, which consist of smaller leaves or broken pieces of leaf.
FTGBOP: Fine Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe.
TGBOP: Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe.
FBOP: Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe.
BOP: Broken Orange Pekoe.

Next up, Fannings consists of smaller-sized leaves than the Brokens.
GFOF: Golden Flowery Orange Fannings.
GOF: Golden Orange Fannings.

Finally, the smallest sized leaves are perfect for use in teabags.

But how do you know you’re drinking a cup of tea that comes all the way from Darjeeling? Look for the Darjeeling logo on your tea packets, caddies and bags. Introduced in 1983, the symbol protects the tea’s designated area of origin (as with Melton Mowbray pies and Stilton cheese in the UK) and means that the tea plantation has been certified by the Tea Board of India and your brew contains 100% pure Darjeeling which has been processed in the region too.

Images:
images.travelpod.com; travelblog.org; Bettysbypost.com; asianews.it; jingtea.com