Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World's Greatest Tea

by Jeff Koehler

Overview

Darjeeling's tea bushes run across a mythical landscape steeped with the religious, the sacred, and the picturesque. Planted at high elevation in the heart of the Eastern Himalayas, in an area of northern India bound by Nepal to the west, Bhutan to the east, and Sikkim to the north, the linear rows of brilliant green, waist-high shrubs that coat the steep slopes and valleys around this Victorian "hill town" produce only a fraction of the world's tea, and less than one percent of India's total. Yet the tea from that limited crop, with its characteristic bright, amber-colored brew and muscatel flavors—delicate and flowery, hinting of apricots and peaches—is generally considered the best in the world.

This is the story of how Darjeeling tea began, was key to the largest tea industry on the globe under Imperial British rule, and came to produce the highest-quality tea leaves anywhere in the world. It is a story rich in history, intrigue and empire, full of adventurers and unlikely successes in culture, mythology and religions, ecology and terroir, all set with a backdrop of the looming Himalayas and drenching monsoons. The story is ripe with the imprint of the Raj as well as the contemporary clout of "voodoo farmers" getting world record prices for their fine teas—and all of it beginning with one of the most audacious acts of corporate smuggling in history.

But it is also the story of how the industry spiraled into decline by the end of the twentieth century, and how this edenic spot in the high Himalayas seethes with union unrest and a violent independence struggle. It is also a front-line fight against the devastating effects of climate change and decades of harming farming practices, a fight that is being fought in some tea gardens—and, astonishingly, won—using radical methods.

Jeff Koehler has written a fascinating chronicle of India and its most sought-after tea. Blending history, politics, and reportage together, along with a collection of recipes that tea-drinkers will love, Darjeeling is an indispensable volume for fans of micro-history and tea fanatics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620405123
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/12/2015
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	1,242,025
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Jeff Koehler is a writer, traveler, and cook, and author of books and articles on food and culture including Spain: Recipes and Traditions, named one of 2013's top cookbooks by the New York Times; Morocco: A Culinary Journey with Recipes; and La Paella: Deliciously Authentic Rice Dishes from Spain's Mediterranean Coast. His work has appeared in Saveur, Food & Wine, NPR.org, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Afar, Tin House, and Best Food Writing 2010. He lives in Barcelona.

Table of Contents

Two Leaves and a Bud 1

First Flush 9

1 Into the Hills 11

2 Journey from the East 17

3 The Company 25

4 An Indian Tea Industry 36

5 China Leaf 50

Second Flush 59

6 Darjeeling 61

7 Terroir to Teacup 73

8 A Decision for the Mouth to Make 86

9 Knocking Down 94

Monsoon Flush 105

10 The Raj in the Hills Above 109

11 Nostalgia 121

12 Planters and Pluckers 128

13 Midnight's Planters 141

14 Crises 152

Autumn Flush 167

15 Positive Winds 171

16 Soil 183

17 Celestial Influences 197

18 Initiatives 209

19 Back down the Hill 223

Recipes 231

Author's Note and Acknowledgments 251

Notes 255

Bibliography 267

Index 279

Editorial Reviews

There is no leaf unturned in Barcelona-based food journalist Koehler's (Spain: Recipes and Traditions, 2013, etc.) exposition on the growing of Darjeeling tea . . . A thorough account that tracks the growing and processing of this fine tea against the wider changes in today's India.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The author's friendly writing style and obvious passion for the subject makes the book an entertaining read.” —Library Journal

“When he writes about the tea itself . . . how the pickers skillfully pluck the leaves and toss them into a basket, how the tea smells as it's being dried, the daily taste tests at each estate — his prose is both sensory and balletic.” —Chicago Tribune

“This exhaustively researched and eminently readable book will delight foodies, history buffs and armchair travelers alike.” —Seattle Times

"It is not just about Darjeeling, though; and not even just about tea. It is also about the history of colonial and post-colonial India . . . As for the rest, it is a book teeming with characters and interest. Koehler, described as ‘writer, photographer, traveller and cook,’ has the polymath’s curiosity for everything, as well as the writer’s ability to listen to and retell a good story . . . A richly digressive book." —Guardian

From the Publisher

03/15/2015
Darjeeling tea grows in the eponymous region of India on private estates. Owing to the composition of the soil, Darjeeling's characteristic flavors cannot be replicated elsewhere, which has led to high demand on the international market. Koehler (Morocco: A Culinary Journey; Spain: Recipes and Traditions) chronicles the history of the tea through interviews with key players in the tea industry as well as observations of the tea manufacturing process. Starting with a concise history of the Darjeeling region from the British colonial period to the present, the author explores the distinct character and aspects of Darjeeling tea, noting that the growing and production methods have not changed much since their inception. He includes stories of prominent voices such as planters, workers, and sellers. Additionally, new trends in tea farming and current crises facing the industry, including labor shortages, climate change, and political strife are briefly outlined. The author's friendly writing style and obvious passion for the subject makes the book an entertaining read. A handful of recipes from the region are also included. VERDICT Highly recommended for history buffs and tea enthusiasts.—Rebekah Kati, Durham, NC

Library Journal

2015-01-21
From seed to auction, a detailed look at the growing, selling and drinking of India's "champagne of tea."There is no leaf unturned in Barcelona-based food journalist Koehler's (Spain: Recipes and Traditions, 2013, etc.) exposition on the growing of Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is cultivated only in 87 tea estates along a slender spine of land in northeast India. It is an "orthodox" black tea, meaning it is unmixed—withered, rolled, fermented and fired in the traditional method by hand. Since there is so little of it—it takes 22,000 handpicked shoots to produce one kilo of Darjeeling—in comparison to green or other kinds of tea, the prices it fetches at auction are enormous. Koehler explores the history of chai (Hindi for tea), from the beginnings in China to the surprisingly late (19th-century) experimentation by the British to figure out if tea shoots brought from China would grow in northern India. At that time, the East India Company moved into the steep, misty hills of Darjeeling, and the first British tea estates prospered. Koehler chronicles his visits to the oldest select tea estates, such as Makaibari, Castleton and Ambootia, noting how he began to understand what makes this tea so singular: the ideal climate and terroir and the "human element"—i.e., the need to be plucked by hand. Women do the plucking and get paid so little that absenteeism runs 30 percent. In a deeply researched work organized by the tea's growing season, from "first flush" through "monsoon flush" through "autumn flush," Koehler explores the initiative by some of the estates to go organic. Yet the combined crises of labor unrest, climate change and a political threat of independence from West Bengal spell a serious threat to the vulnerable Darjeeling tea. A thorough account that tracks the growing and processing of this fine tea against the wider changes in today's India.

Kirkus Review

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