by Jeff Koehler
Kanchenjunga, (1), (2)
Kapur, Sanjay, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10)
Katyal, Krishan, (1)
Kenya, (1)
Keventer’s, (1)
Kewark, Eliza, (1)
Khan Market, (1)
Kipling, Rudyard, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Kissa Yojoki (Eisai), (1)
Kolkata, (1), (2)
Kolkata auction, (1), (2), (3)
Kunga’s, (1)
Kurseong, (1), (2)
Kyd, Robert, (1)
Kyel Tea Estate, (1)
laborers, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
labor issues, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Lady Mary Wood (ship), (1)
Lama, Nayan, (1), (2)
Lancaster, James, (1)
land leases, (1)
land ownership, (1)
landslides, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Langham Hotel, (1)
Lebong & Minchu Tea Estate, (1)
leeches, (1)
Lepcha, Dennis, (1)
Lepchas, (1), (2), (3)
Lila, Muhammad, (1)
Lingia Tea Estate, (1)
Linnaeus, Carolus, (1)
Lin Zexu, (1)
liquor, (1)
Lloyd, George, (1), (2), (3)
London, (1), (2)
Luxmi Group, (1)
Lu Yü, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Lytton, Lord and Lady, (1)
Macao, (1)
Macaulay, Thomas Babington, (1)
Madras. See Chennai
Madras Club, (1)
Makaibari Joint Body (MBJB), (1)
Makaibari Tea Estate, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15)
malaria, (1), (2), (3)
Malaya, (1)
malnourishment, (1)
Malwa, (1)
Mandelli, Jerome, (1)
Mandelli, Louis, (1)
Mandelslo, Johan Albrecht de, (1)
Mann, Harold, (1)
Mantri, Satish, (1), (2)
manure, (1), (2), (3)
Manusmriti, (1)
Margaret’s Hope, (1), (2), (3)
Mariage Frères, (1), (2)
marigolds, (1)
Marx, Karl, (1)
Marybong Tea Estate, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
masala chai, (1)
masala omelet, (1)
matcha, (1)
Maugham, W. Somerset, (1), (2)
maximum residue limits (MLRs), (1)
mechanization, (1)
mercurous chloride, (1)
Merrick, Ronald, (1)
microclimates, (1)
milk, (1), (2), (3)
Mineral Springs Tea Estate, (1)
Mittal, Vikram, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
Mittal Stores, (1), (2)
momos, (1)
monsoon flush, (1), (2), (3)
monsoons, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
Monteviot Tea Estate, (1), (2)
Moondakotee Tea Estate, (1)
Moorhouse, Geoffrey, (1)
Moravian Church, (1)
Morris, Jan, (1), (2)
Moxham, Roy, (1)
Mudgal, B. N., (1)
Mughal Empire, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Mukherjee, Sandeep, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9)
Mukherjee, Sanjoy, (1), (2)
Mukherjee Road, (1)
mulching, (1), (2)
Mullootar Tea Estate, (1)
Mumbai (Bombay), (1), (2)
Mutiny, (1)
Myanmar (Burma), (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)
Nagaland, (1)
Nagri Tea Estate, (1)
Naipaul, V. S., (1)
Namring Tea Estate, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Napier, Robert, (1)
Napoleonic Wars, (1)
Nathmulls, (1), (2), (3), (4)
nature, (1)
Navigationi et Viaggi (Ramusio), (1)
Nehru, Jawaharlal, (1)
Neogi, Jay, (1), (2), (3)
Nepal, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Nepalese workers, (1)
Niebal, Elizabeth, (1)
Nilgiri, (1)
Nilhat House, (1), (2), (3), (4)
nitrogen, (1)
North America, (1)
nostalgia, (1)
Nurbong Tea Estate, (1)
Oaks, (1)
Obeetee, (1)
Observatory Hill, (1)
oil, (1), (2)
Okakura, Kakuzo, (1)
Old Mission Church, (1)
onion pakoras, (1)
oolong tea, (1), (2)
opium
addiction, (1)
production of, (1), (2)
trade, (1), (2)
Opium Wars, (1)
organic farming, (1), (2), (3)
orthodox black tea, (1), (2), (3)
Orwell, George, (1), (2), (3)
oxidization, (1)
Pakistan, (1)
pakoras, (1)
Pareek, Rajesh, (1), (2), (3)
Parker, Robert M., (1), (2)
passion-fruit chai, (1)
Patna, (1)
Paul, E. Jaiwant, (1)
peppercorns, (1)
Pepys, Samuel, (1)
pesticides, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
phosphorus, (1)
Pidding, Captain, (1)
pink gin, (1)
plague, (1)
planters, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Planters’ Club, (1), (2)
pluckers, (1), (2), (3), (4)
political instability, (1), (2), (3)
pollution, (1)
Pope, Alexander, (1)
porridge, (1)
The Portait of a Lady (James), (1)
potash, (1)
potassium, (1)
Pottinger, Henry, (1)
pound cake, (1)
poverty, (1)
Prakash, Husna-Tara, (1)
Pratt, James Norwood, (1)
Preparation 500, (1), (2)
Preparation 501, (1)
Preparation 502, (1)
Preparation 505, (1)
Presidents Tea, (1)
Prime, Ranchor, (1), (2)
profit margins, (1), (2), (3)
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), (1)
pu-erh tea, (1)
puri, (1)
Pussimbing, (1)
quality, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
quinine, (1), (2), (3)
race, (1)
rainfall, (1), (2), (3)
Rainforest Alliance, (1)
Raj-era system, (1)
Raju, Sanjith, (1)
Ramusio, Giovanni Battista, (1)
rations, (1)
recipes, (1)
Red Dragon (ship), (1)
reforesting, (1)
religion, (1)
Rington, (1)
Rinzai sect, (1)
Ritz of London’s afternoon tea scones, (1)
Rohini Road, (1), (2), (3)
Rohini Tea Estate, (1), (2)
rolling process, (1)
Ross, James Clark, (1)
Roxburgh, William, (1)
Royal Botanic Garden, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Royal Calcutta Golf Club, (1)
Royal Horticultural Society, (1)
Royal Navy, (1)
Russia, (1)
Sadiya, (1)
Saharanpur, (1)
Sale No. 28 of Darjeeling tea, (1)
Samler, Captain, (1)
San-cha Tea, (1)
sanitariums, (1), (2), (3)
Sannail, Hurry Mohun, (1)
Sarda, Girish, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8)
Sarda, Vijay, (1), (2)
Saria, Hrishikesh, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8)
Sarki, Indrey, (1), (2)
sati, (1)
scones, (1)
Scott, Paul, (1)
second flush tea, (1), (2)
Second Opium War, (1)
self-drinking tea, (
1)
Selimbong Tea Estate, (1)
Sengupta, Sujoy, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
separatist movements, (1), (2), (3)
Sepoydhoorah (Chamling) Tea Estate, (1)
sepoys, (1)
Seth, Kavi, (1)
Sévigné, Marquis de, (1)
Sharma, Sanjay, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16)
Shastri, Lal Bahadur, (1)
Shimla, (1)
Shiva, (1)
Siegert, Johann Gottlieb Benjamin, (1)
Sikkim, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Silesia, (1)
silicosis, (1)
Siliguri, (1), (2)
Siliguri Corridor, (1)
silver, (1), (2)
Silver Needle, (1), (2)
Silver Tips Imperial, (1), (2), (3)
Singapore, (1)
Singbulli Tea Garden, (1)
Singell, (1)
Singh, B. B., (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Siraj-ud-Daulah, (1)
Sivitar Tea Estate, (1)
Smith, Michael, (1)
Smith, Steven, (1), (2), (3)
snakes, (1)
soccer, (1)
soil, (1), (2)
soil erosion, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
South Korea, (1)
Soviet Union, (1)
spiced chicken cutlet, (1)
Spice Islands, (1)
spice trade, (1)
St. Andrew’s Kirk, (1)
Starbucks, (1)
Start, William, (1)
Stash Tea, (1)
Steiner, Rudolf, (1), (2), (3), (4)
St. John’s Church, (1)
Stölke, Joachim, (1)
Storl, Wolf, (1)
St. Paul’s Cathedral, (1)
St. Paul’s School, (1)
Suddeya, (1)
Suez Canal, (1)
sugar, (1)
Summer Palace, (1)
superintendents, (1)
Surat, (1)
sustainability, (1), (2), (3)
swadeshi, (1)
Tagore, Rabindranath, (1)
Tang Dynasty, (1)
tannin, (1), (2), (3)
tasting rooms, (1), (2)
tastings, (1), (2)
Tata, (1), (2), (3)
Tata Tea Gold, (1)
Tawadey, Kiran, (1)
taxes
on opium, (1)
on tea, (1), (2)
Tazo, (1)
tea
See also Darjeeling tea
Assam, (1)
auctions, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Chinese, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
exports, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
green, (1)
health benefits of, (1), (2), (3)
history of, (1)
Japanese, (1)
Nepalese, (1)
oolong, (1), (2)
organic, (1)
production of, (1)
pu-erh, (1)
sale of, (1)
tasting, (1)
terms for, (1)
Tibetan, (1)
trade, (1)
types of, (1), (2)
white, (1)
tea bags, (1)
tea bars, (1)
Tea Board of India, (1), (2), (3)
tea brokers, (1)
tea ceremony, (1)
Tea Committee, (1), (2), (3)
Tea Deva, (1)
tea estates, (1), (2), (3)
See also specific estates
during British Raj, (1)
decline of, (1)
ownership of, (1), (2)
planters, (1), (2), (3), (4)
pluckers, (1), (2), (3), (4)
post-independence, (1)
profit margins for, (1), (2), (3)
tea forests, (1)
tea industry
challenges for, (1)
in India, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
in Kenya, (1)
in Nepal, (1)
tea-marbled deviled eggs, (1)
tea planters. See planters
Telangana, (1)
television, (1)
Temi Tea Estate, (1)
temperance movement, (1)
temperature, (1)
Terai, (1), (2)
Tetley Tea, (1)
Thomas Marten & Company, (1)
See also J. Thomas & Co.
thukpa, (1)
Thurbo Tea Estate, (1), (2)
Tibet, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Tibetan tea, (1)
Tocklai Tea Research Institute, (1)
Tollygunge Club, (1)
tourism, (1)
trade
opium, (1), (2)
spice, (1)
tea, (1), (2)
transportation costs, (1)
Treaty of Nanking, (1), (2)
trees, (1)
Trocki, Carl, (1)
tropical diseases, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Tukvar Mission, (1)
Tukvar Tea Estate, (1), (2), (3)
Twain, Mark, (1), (2), (3)
Twinings & Co., (1)
Ukers, William, (1), (2)
Unilever, (1)
Upton Tea Importers, (1)
urbanization, (1)
Vasco da Gama, (1)
Vedas, (1)
vermicomposting, (1)
Victoria (queen), (1), (2), (3)
viticulture, (1)
wages, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Wallich, Nathaniel, (1)
Ward, Nathaniel, (1)
Wardian cases, (1), (2)
Watts, Alan, (1)
The Way of Zen (Watts), (1)
Wernicke, Andrew, (1)
West Bengal, (1), (2)
Western Europe, (1), (2), (3)
Whampoa, (1)
White, James, (1)
white tea, (1), (2)
Wilkins, Charles, (1)
William (prince), (1)
Windamere Hotel, (1), (2), (3)
Withecombe, J. R., (1)
withering stage, (1)
women
afternoon tea and, (1)
European, in India, (1)
pluckers, (1), (2)
Woolf, Leonard, (1)
worker absenteeism, (1), (2), (3)
workers/workforce, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)
World Trade Organization (WTO), (1)
Wright, Gillian, (1)
Writers’ Building, (1)
Yellow Mountain region, (1)
yellow tea, (1)
Yunnan, (1)
Zafar, Bahadur Shah, (1)
Zen Buddhism, (1), (2)
Zhou Dynasty, (1)
Plate Section
India produces about one billion kilograms of tea a year. Each of the country’s growing regions gives a different character to the final cup. (Gary Antonetti)
Darjeeling tea is produced on eighty-seven gardens that have a total of 19,500 hectares (48,000 acres) under tea. Recent harvests have yielded only around eight million kilos of finished tea. (Gary Antonetti)
The leaves, flowers, and seeds of Camellia sinensis—tea.
Darjeeling was originally established as a hill station retreat for East India Company employees to rest and recuperate in the cool mountain air. Mt. Kanchenjunga overlooks the city.
As governor-general of India, the controversial Lord William Bentinck formed the Tea Committee in 1834 and was instrumental in helping to establish India’s tea industry
In the 1840s, the great botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker spent three years in the Darjeeling hills, Sikkim, and Nepal identifying and collecting plants.
Early Darjeeling tea pluckers with a European overseer. (James Sinclair)
Established in 1868, Darjeeling’s Planters’ Club (on the right) was, until recently, the center of social life for tea planters. (Ratna Pradhan/DAS Studio)
Dr. Nathaniel Wallich was superintendent of the East India Company’s botanic garden in Calcutta for three decades and was at its he
lm when wild tea was found growing in Assam. Considered the Empire’s nursery, the garden was fundamental in developing a tea industry on the subcontinent. (Wellcome Library)
The Scottish plant hunter Robert Fortune added, by his own estimation, nearly twenty thousand Chinese tea plants to the young Indian industry, giving it the quality it desired. (© President and Fellows of Harvard College, Arnold Arboretum Archives)
Robert Fortune gradually perfected the technique for sending tea plants and seeds from China to India in glass Wardian cases.
The charismatic Rajah Banerjee tastes some of Makaibari Tea Estate’s iconic teas. His family owned Darjeeling’s most famous garden for more than 150 years. (Getty Images)
Winding up through tea estates, the road to Darjeeling from the plains is slow, steep, and scenic.
Ambootia Tea Estate, one of Darjeeling’s biodynamic gardens
Makaibari Tea Estate, just below Kurseong. On clear days, the view stretches down to the plains.
Sanjay Sharma inspects a field of young tea interwoven with blossoming marigolds on Glenburn Tea Estate.
Autumn on the Ging Tea Estate with the snow-capped Himalayas in the background
The view from Glenburn Tea Estate of Mt. Kanchenjunga. At 28,169 feet, it’s the world’s third-tallest peak behind Everest and K2.
High-end specialty teas like Glenburn Tea Estate’s Silver Needle have recently become an important part of many gardens’ portfolios. These are packed in traditional wooden chests to prevent breakage.
A classic Darjeeling pluck consists of just the tender first two leaves and a still-curled bud. It takes about twenty-two thousand of these to make a single kilogram of tea.
Tea pluckers working a section of Castleton Tea Estate during the first flush.
Plucking in Darjeeling is highly selective, can only be done by hand, and is made more challenging by the steep terrain. The average plucker produces under four hundred pounds of finished tea a year, less than a quarter of one in Assam.
After being weighed, freshly plucked tea leaves are withered overnight in long, narrow wooden troughs where they lose about two-thirds of their moisture. H. R. Chaudhary checks the leaves on Namring Tea Estate to see if they are ready to be rolled.
Rolling the withered leaves initiates the fermentation (or oxidation) process by rupturing the cells and releasing the natural juices of the leaves. When exposed to the air, they begin to oxidize, which acts as a catalyst for the characteristics associated with Darjeeling tea.
Once the leaves have been rolled, they are spread out on fermentation beds where they develop their pungency, strength, and aroma. Determining when the leaves have reached their peak and when the fermentation process needs to be immediately halted by firing them in a dryer is the most critical part of tea making.