After months of bad news for Darjeeling tea aficionados (see my October post), some promising headlines:
(1) apparently the months-long closure of the tea gardens—resulting in an extended period of neglect—may be beneficial to the tea plants, and
(2) people who love Darjeeling Tea don’t scare away easily!
So How Is Neglect a Good Thing?
When leaves aren’t continually being plucked off, more of a plant’s resources can go into producing new leaves. This is why, in many areas, leaves are plucked from tea plants for only one annual harvest (Bolton 2017).
In Darjeeling, however, leaves and buds are plucked for most of the year, with each harvest season producing its own characteristic tea.
The plants are pruned in December to promote new growth, with those first leaves opening in March. These tender leaves constitute the first harvest of the year, or “first flush.” More mature leaves are plucked for the succeeding harvests, with four total flushes:
- First flush, early spring, most valued
- Second flush, June–July, highly regarded
- Monsoon flush, summer, lower quality
- Autumn flush, more similar to second-flush tea
In actuality, as World Tea News reports, leaves are plucked from the plants every few days—so with the gardens shut down for most of 2017, this
Resting results in healthier plants that are more resistant to disease and pests—and better-tasting tea (Bolton 2017).
So the (Tea) Glass Is Half Full Then?
Well, earlier reports opined that the neglected plants would be too stressed to produce good tea in 2018 (see my August post).
And because most of the Darjeeling gardens are organically grown, a year of neglect presumably meant that weeds and pests had a very good year. Meaning stress for the tea plants as they fought for resources and warded off invaders.
It remains to be seen which scenario will win out here.
Half Full or Half Empty, Many Hope That Darjeeling Remains in the Cup!
Some first-flush Darjeeling was still available in 2017, going to “those willing to pay the price,” and demand for premium orthodox teas remains high; in fact, much of the tea that would normally stay in the country is now headed to the United States as well as to Japan, the European Union, and Russia (Bolton 2017).
So, contrary to many expectations, many Darjeeling tea drinkers are remaining loyal to Darjeeling teas, which is encouraging to growers.
To use the cliche, time will tell. Hopefully, that telling will be on the side of Darjeeling.
Source: Bolton, D. “Darjeeling rebounds: What’s next,” World Tea News, December 26, 2017.
Tea pictured is available at TeaHaus.
Filed under: News & Issues Tagged: black tea, Darjeeling, India, tea growers, tea producers
