Demand for the ‘champagne of teas’ has slumped as ageing bushes yield a lower quality product, prompting calls to revive the ‘symbol of Brand India’

https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/darjeeling-tea-future-india-07z9pgqwx

It was seen as the perfect terroir to grow the fragrant Camellia sinensis tea plant. Rolling hills at high altitude with cool winters and a rich soil.

Darjeeling, a key hill station in the foothills of the Himalayas, became a tea-producing centre during the 19th century, as the British Empire sought to challenge China’s tea monopoly.

After India gained independence from Britain in 1947, ownership passed into Indian hands.

For a time, life was good on the tea estates, home to huge colonial bungalows with Burma teak panelling and sprawling verandas where owners would sit and drink on a planter’s chair, looking out at the misty foothills of the Himalayas.

Now, though, the future is uncertain. Darjeeling, despite being a name known throughout the world and its status as the “champagne of teas”, faces several crises which threaten its reputation — and potentially thousands of jobs.

Production has plunged by 61 per cent over the past three decades.

Until recently Keshav Kant Mittal, the third generation of his family to run a well-known Delhi tea house, would buy 100 cases of Darjeeling every month because of its popularity.

Today he buys only half that amount because he cannot find the quality of Darjeeling he wants for his customers.

“I have to shop around from one tea garden to another to find good quality leaves,” he said.

“The tea bushes on the estates are very old and the leaf they produce is brittle which gives a coarse and bitter tea. Because of the poor quality, demand for Darjeeling has plummeted and people are switching to Assam and other teas.”

In an urgent appeal, the Indian Tea Association has asked the West Bengal government, the state where Darjeeling is located, for an injection of $11 million to prevent what it calls “irreversible decline”.

“At stake is not only the future of an industry but also the livelihoods of thousands of workers… and the preservation of a globally renowned symbol of Brand India,” the association said.

It is also calling for job support during lean periods for the 55,000 people who work on the estates, money to replace ageing tea bushes, modernising of tea leaf plucking and a minimum price.

The reasons for the decline are complex. Erratic weather caused by climate change has delayed the monsoon which starves the bushes during the growth months.

When the rain comes, there is too much of it. Flash floods and landslides have wiped out hectares of plantations.

Most of the bushes are well over 80 years old and give a poor yield, as Mittal confirms. Estate owners have not replaced them because it means waiting up to 12 years before the new bushes start giving a good yield.

Tea from Nepal, which offers a similar taste and costs far less to produce, has filled the Indian market, where unscrupulous distributors package and sell it as “Darjeeling”.

While the price has remained stagnant, the cost of wages, fuel and fertilizer have risen considerably.

Sadly, the delicate, subtle and sophisticated taste of Darjeeling is not honoured in its homeland. Around 60 per cent is exported, mainly to Japan and Europe.

The vast majority of Indians, to the horror of tea cognoscenti, prefer masala tea, a sugary, milky concoction made with cardamom and cloves and boiled furiously till thick.