Kevin Gascoyne
The Elusive Sources of Darjeeling Fragrance
An Insider Treks Through the Famous High, Steep Gardens
The Champagne of teas, a marketing phrase so often used for Darjeeling’s First and Second Flush teas, is a bold claim of superiority. Growers in the tea gardens of this Himalayan district have reached and maintained a level of quality in black teas that remains unchallenged; at auction they fetch some of the highest prices in the world. And now Darjeeling growers also experiment with the white, green, and oolong processes of China, Japan, and Taiwan, with some excellent results. For myself, weaned on black tea with milk and sugar, the ethereal fragrances of a fresh Darjeeling are unbeatable.
One spring, I made a visit to Avongrove Tea Garden in Darjeeling. A rock-and-hole track cut steeply upward through the waist-level canopy of lime-colored tea leaves and led to the garden’s factory (where the leaves are withered, rolled, oxidized, dried and sorted). The vast garden in early April was in full production; each plant was plucked every five days or so. The air was thick with the sweet-edged fragrance of living foliage and the strong smell of tea from the withering troughs. Only when I began visiting tea gardens did I realize that tea has many of the aromas in the growing leaf as it does in the cup. The delicate leaves around me had some of those very distinct Darjeeling tea aromas that have fascinated me for years. I walked with Mr. Subba, a quiet, focused man who loves tea and the challenges of his work as manager of the garden. We chatted about the romantic theories that have been proposed over the years to explain the elusive flavor that Darjeeling’s tea industry depends upon. “The Nepalese people believe that Shiva, whose home is high on Mount Kachenjunga” — Mr. Subba pointed toward the peak hidden by a cloud — “blows a cool breeze through the gardens every morning and every night giving the plants their special quality.” He half smiled, showing a typical dry Nepalese sense of humor.
After Shiva, the first place to look for the source of this remarkable superiority in flavor is the plant itself. Tea is not native to Darjeeling. Most theories about tea’s botanical origin focus on the Monsoon region of Southeast Asia where the Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, and Mekong rivers flow.
After the British arrived in Darjeeling in 1835, the now-legendary Dr. Campbell (whose first name seems to be lost to time), first British superintendent of the district, experimented with various crops in his own back garden at 2130 meters above sea level. He planted tea seeds and seedlings from Calcutta’s Botanical Gardens, distributed by the Governor General of India, who was promoting the possibility of tea culture in India. Most of the original plants were China tea (Camellia sinensis var.sinensis) taken from China. The rest of the Darjeeling plants were the larger-leafed Assam variety (Camellia sinensis var. assamica), developed by C.A. Bruce, who with his brother Robert spent years combing the jungles of northeast India looking for wild tea plants to send back to the nurseries in Calcutta and in the low tea-growing region of Assam, which gave the Assam variety its name. A few years of hot dispute ensued as to whether the China or Assam variety was more viable under Indian growing conditions. In Darjeeling, Dr. Campbell’s China and Assam variety plants both displayed healthy leaves, blossoms, and seeds, so both were planted in the new gardens that sprang up around the district. Much of the forest was cleared and planted. In experimental plantations in Upper Assam, the Assam Tea Company employed Chinese growers to teach tea cultivation to native Assamese workers. That knowledge in turn reached Darjeeling. Despite the short growing season and the steep, difficult terrain, Darjeeling became a major producer for the English market, and its teas rapidly acquired a reputation for extraordinary taste and aroma.
Over the last 150 years, Darjeeling has amassed its own diverse collection of subtly different tea plants, which are known in the trade as “jats.” Many Darjeeling tea gardens retain sections of original plantings from the 1860s and earlier. (Some gardens refer to their teas from old stock plants as “vintage” or ‘heritage’.) As the plants reach the end of their productive lives of 120 to 150 years, replanting becomes a concern. To meet the need for large numbers of new plants, India’s Tea Research Association, in Jorhat, Assam, raises and distributes saplings produced from cuttings of roughly 20 different clones that were selected from the original plants after careful observation. The clones are chosen for high yield, endurance, and the all-important full flavored leaf. (A few gardens go to the trouble of selecting their own clones from their own bushes.) In other regions, other clones have been selected and cultivated to suit those conditions. The teas from clones are, logically, referred to as “clonal.” At least half of my favorite Darjeelings come from young clonal stock.
Darjeeling’s gardens are often located on the steep sides of mountains or river valleys with frequent cloud cover and short hours of intense sunshine. The district’s high altitude in the foothills of the Himalayas is often mentioned as a natural advantage. “High Grown” is associated with superior flavor; several gardens in the region claim to have the highest plants. As well, the best teas are said to come from the top of a Darjeeling garden, and it has been observed that Darjeeling plants lose many of their Darjeeling characteristics if they are moved to the plain directly below. The teas closest in flavor to Darjeeling come from the garden of Temi in Sikkim and from gardens just over the border from Darjeeling in Nepal. Those two areas are the closest in distance and altitude to Darjeeling. The plants of Sikkim and Nepal usually come from the Darjeeling clones. Other High Grown teas suggest the importance of altitude. The exquisite Oolongs of Taiwan are an example, and, although most of the flavor is far from that of a Darjeeling, there are some parallels in the high-end aromatics. The High Growns of Ceylon and Kenya continue the argument in favor of high altitude being responsible for the most refined and aromatic teas. Rarefied air and a stunning view can’t be totally responsible; the areas have specific climatic conditions in common.
Some years ago, after taking an overnight train south from Darjeeling, I discussed flavor in the Calcutta office of my good friend Mr. S.K.Changoiwala, who then owned the Darjeeling garden of Avongrove, where I began my story, as well as owning the prize tea gardens of Gopaldharas and Rohini. His understanding of the tea plant and its manipulation are responsible for some of the famous Avongrove white teas. Having trained in his youth as an engineer, Mr. C. took a very technical approach. For years he mulled over the question of what creates Darjeeling flavor, and he came up with an attractive theory that he was initially reluctant to reveal or put his name to. He believes that unfavorable conditions may be the secret to favorable results. He calls this his “Stress Theory.”
“The difficult environment of the foothills is necessary for the Darjeeling flavor characteristics,” he said to me. “Thus the High Growns, at the extremities, have the best flavors.” During his long years in tea, he experimented with different ways to capture the “magic.” He studied the reactions of the plants in his gardens to different forms of stress. In “plucking stress,” the plants are plucked more frequently than usual. “The clearer spring skies of First Flush bring ultra-violet stress.” He went on, “And when it is too dry that is when the flavors are at their best,” adding that “in autumn, when growth is free, plenty of rain and cloudy skies, there is less flavor.” The healing of the tea leaf’s mechanical structure after frostbite slows growth and, provided that the damage is reparable, again enhances the flavor.
For a tree native to tropical forests, high altitude certainly presents a challenge. It has often been noted that other food crops, such as olives, vines, and coffee, exhibit enhanced flavor when grown at the limits of their natural environments, provided, of course, that the plants aren’t actually unhealthy. The sophisticated compound flavors and vibrant aromatics of Darjeeling teas clearly result in part from their struggle and hardship in the Himalayas. ●
From issue 58
