Two Leaves and a Bud in the Cup of Tea Wisdom, Passage 1. nguptatravelscrapbook.blogspot.com. Posted on 30/09/2021

Blog number 37.  Two Leaves and a Bud in the Cup of Tea Wisdom. Passage 1, posted on 30/09/2021

A typical High tea decor

Below are a few famous tea quotes known.

• If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you."– William Ewart Gladstone.
• "Tea is always a good idea" tea is liquid wisdom". Unknown
• "Wouldn't it be dreadful to live in a country where they didn't drink tea"? Noel Coward.

A formal tea ritual, in Buenos Aires, circa 2007

I love drinking tea, mainly formal tea, with all the fuss, rituals and pampering attached to it. And I love reading books. Nothing pairs better with a cup of tea than a good book. Old fashioned, enjoyable, printed on a paper, put on a shelf, read in a bath, books! Some beautiful and fascinating books about tea contain a wealth of information on tea cultivation, its commercialisation and people's love affair with tea. I have three of the following books on my bookshelves that I have referred to while writing this exclusive blog. These books are:

• The True History of Tea by Victor H Mair 
• Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties by Francois Marchand et al
• Chai: The Experience Of Indian tea By Rekha Sarin and Rajan Kapoor.

As above

Darjeeling, a former holiday resort for English colonial settlers, is the ideal Indian destination for tea lovers. Drinking tea in the land of spices like India is phenomenal because the smack of the concoction blends with the surrounding aromas, accompanied by the colours and noises that cover every Indian city. Darjeeling tea is one of the best black teas globally and is often chosen by numerous impostors who try to pass products for this unprecedented quality. No wonder Darjeeling tea is known as the Champagne of Teas. 

Tea plantations in Darjeeling, The placard displaying 'Let me live, Don't destroy me'.

Darjeeling teas are high altitude teas cultivated on plantations situated between 400m and 2,500m above sea level, in the foothills of the Himalayas, famous for the cooler climate. The English started the first plantation in 1856. The quality of the teas and the success they enjoyed encouraged the accelerated start-up of other plantations in the regions of Assam and Nilgiri. The growth of the Darjeeling tea industry was rapid, with nearly more than 90 plantations outlay today. Few dreams can be better than walking through tea plantations before visiting the tea houses scattered across the city to taste countless teas until your tongue cannot tell which one is the best. 

A world of tea drinkers.

The tea leaf ( Camellia Sinensis) has made quite an impact worldwide. It has become the second most common drink in the world after water. It is the tea that has become the planet's real hero or heroine. Tea unites the world. Tea is the word spoken without even thinking further. Let us have tea! That phrase sets in the whole custom of preparing and serving the tea on an individual basis. That leaves you with delighted friends and relatives around you. But with few going on with ever unsatisfied grudge, the tea served to them was below their expectations! It's drunk to bring the people together, calm us down, prepare us, soothe us, sort out the mutual differences, celebrate a reunion, mark an occasion, and so on.

How did I decide to write a blog on tea?

While going through my old and antiquated travel photos, I realised that I have visited several tea plantations worldwide and have savoured the teas there, soaking in the distinctive local tea cultures. I then started counting the countries where I have made special efforts to go and experience their tea cultures. I could recollect that some of these countries were India (obviously), Sri Lanka, Tibet, China, Japan, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Turkey, Morocco and the UK. I had a lucky chance to dress locally in a few places before visiting the tea plantations to pick teas, usually on a tourist agenda. I did what the locals did. Tea testing was always the highlight of the holidays, where it was part of the holiday itinerary.

I then recognised tea is far too explicit a topic to digest in one blog. So then, I have put together some of this tea wisdom along with significant commercial and industrial matters about the tea industry that I obtained from my research on Google and Wikipedia generally. 

Tea culture in India is a whole new gambit, a madness, a fulfilled art, almost equivalent to religion, adopted by riches and the poor alike. The only possible madness matched to tea is the sport of cricket in India. I intend to write a separate blog on the mad tea culture of India, which I have half prepared spontaneously. Tea is mainly grown in Asia, Africa, South America, and the Black and Caspian Seas. The four biggest tea-producing countries today are India, China, Sri Lanka and Kenya. Together they represent 75% of world production.

I did not know about the Nemesis of Tea.

The world over, tea has its name synonymous with the country one is in! It seems that in those countries where tea arrived by ship, the words for tea begin with the letter "T". For example, the' ( French), Te' ( Spanish) and tee' ( German). While those countries where it arrived overland, they used the words beginning with 'Tch' or 'Ch'; chai ( India), chay ( Russia), Cha ( Mandarin) and Cay in Turkey. 

Bollywood's long-lasting affair with Tea plantations in India.

Tea Plantation locations in India

Since my childhood, I have gawked at the lush green tea plantations ( famously called Chai Bagaans ) shown in many famous Bollywood films. The leading casting pair is presented romancing and gyrating their bodies in the narrow alleys between the tea bushes in rapidly costume changing song sequences. We Indians are all too familiar with many of these classical and memorable Hindi Songs filmed amidst world-famous Chai Bagaans ( tea Plantations) of Darjeeling ( North-East India) or Nilgiri Mountains in Ooty, Southern India. I had such a keen desire to visit one such region sooner than later in my life. I first heeded to these tea plantations in Darjeeling back in 1980, travelling over from London. I had another chance to revisit the same region in 2005 while visiting Sikkim in northeast India. I was not quite prepared for the sight that welcomed me while visiting tea plantations in Darjeeling. 

Tea pickers in Darjeeling Chai Bagaans

I started my day at six o clock in the morning from my hotel, walking through the moist tea bushes brustling against my clothes. It was nearly five hundred hectares planted with lush green tea bushes with strange freshness in the crisp air; its smell was pleasantly unique. While walking around, following a narrow trail treading along the delicate bushes, I could see the rays of sun painting the skyline- as if someone was switching on the lights. Slowly! The chilled air and dewdrops on the bushes- it was a different feeling altogether.

Amidst the Chai Bagaans in Darjeeling

The sprinklers were on, cutting into the sun rays while splashing water all around. Yes, it added to the drama and was a wonderful experience. I noticed a group of women, roughly around fifty, dressed in colourful saris with long, cylindrical baskets on their backs, held with a belt over their heads, walking towards tea plantations, chattering and sounding happy. Smiling, they looked a little surprised as they walked past me, obviously someone from outside their world. In an instant, I realised that the tea garden is an entirely different world in itself. As I walked around and observed, I noticed how they pluck 'two leaves and a bud delicately and with such care, throwing it into their overhanging basket. The scene was straight out of one of the many Bollywood scenes where these tea pickers are filmed in the background of the main Hindi song belonging to the film. The fantastic scenes in front of me could be an ideal spot for any painter's colour pellet and canvass: the blue skies, luxurious young vegetations and picturesque tea pickers.

 Hotel Elgin, Darjeeling

As I moved around further into the plantation, I spotted a school for kids. But further on, the tea garden was not the only spot visited by me. The whole area belonged to tea plantation workers with added schools, churches, temples, and hospitals. 

Tea serving in Darjeeling hotel

This tea garden is everything for them- their home! The estate provides them facilities in return for the love, dedication, hard work, and care they put in to produce our single-origin chai. The experience was real. The three biggest tea growing regions in India are Darjeeling, Assam ( often people have hard these two names) and Nilgiri mountains( less commonly heard of).

History of tea.

As the second most drunk beverage globally, tea has been around for three millennia to establish its global fame. The tea has gone through revolutions, wars, political upheavals, the silk route adaptations and plays no small part in the social history of many tea-related countries where it became popular. 

How did it all start?

Tea being a legendary drink, the story must start with a legend, and indeed it does so!

A famous legendary tale goes back to 2737BCE, the leaves from a Camellia Sinensis bush accidentally fell into a cup of boiling water belonging to a Chinese Emperor, Shen Nung. The resulting brew was overtly impressive to become a staple in Chinese culture and remained so for the coming millennia. Over these centuries, cultivation of and trading in tea grew, as did its importance in Chinese culture, witnessed by the numerous ceremonies associated with its preparation and consumption. By the 8th century CE, tea was transported to Japan by visiting Buddhist travellers and monks. Hence Japan became another influential ceremonial tea culture. 

Chinese tea plantation locations.

The European fascination with tea didn't start until the early17th century, when Portuguese traders began bringing tea from Asia, later becoming the beverage of choice in court circles. But history suggests that the Dutch were the first to start importing tea in commercial quantities ( in 1606) from Java. But In England, tea arrived a bit later ( in 1658) from Chinese traders. In those times in the UK, tea was available to only riches and aristocrats, as it was an expensive commodity due to long times and distances. Tea started to make an impression in England when King Charles II gave the monopoly for trading to the East India Company over the following centuries. The East India Company, with its vast fortunes and unlimited trading dimensions, led to enormous publicity of tea globally. That was the turning point for the commercialisation of tea. 

A Chinese tea picker

The East India Company started importing Chinese tea into their colonies in exchange for opium, making tea and opium a reason for many Asian wars. This drove the depreciation of tea imports from China. Still, East India Company had far too much control over the Indian Subcontinent. The company employed a local workforce for new and extensive tea plantations and trading in India and Sri Lanka, with acres and acres of land planted with tea. Enterprising Scots and English officers primarily managed the business of tea. It is a British leftover legacy existing in the tea estates of Assam, Darjeeling, Southern India ( Nilgiri mountains) and Sri Lanka, owing to the pioneering vision, hard work and tenacity of these early planters. As a result, India and tea began their steamy and robust everlasting relationship. At the same time, ever-increasing global tea consumption and increased availability meant that tea was now drunk not only by the aristocracy but by the commoners as a whole.

The arrival of tea bags on the global front. 

Global tea consumption continued to grow throughout the 20th century, with major companies like Lipton, Bookebond, Tetley and PG tea etc., developing tea brands and selling tea in tea shops. Teabags came in front of us back in 1908 thru the USA, making tea all the more popular and a firm favourite as tea making became less fussy. After a hesitant start in the UK, the Brits started using tea bags in the 1970s, introduced by the Tetley tea company. Teabags have now been used the world over, simply more convenient to use. 

Tea in the 21st century.

Some 4700 odd years later, after discovering tea leaves, tea continues to play a significant and exciting role in the world and worldly societies and cultures, despite the challenging rivals of coffee, beer, wine and soft drinks, to name a few. 

More tea in Botswana.

More and more people enjoy the delights of tea, be it hot, cold, iced, or in a cocktail or even in cooking. Herbal teas, or herbal infusions, are getting equally superpowered in the hands of the consumers. And how about attending a tea bar nowadays where you can do networking over a cuppa?

What is the chemistry of our beloved tea?

The mother plant or bush of tea is named Camellia Sinensis plant, a subtropical evergreen bush related to Camellia, which is found as a flowering plant in the gardens of the cooler climate zones, and trendy plant to grow in ericaceous ( acidic) soil. Tea leaves contain Polyphenols ( bag daddy), amino acids, alkaloids, enzymes, pigments, carbohydrates, minerals and volatiles. We don't need to know what is in the precarious tea leave as long as our cuppa is deliciously made, but please read the following few lines if you want to know. A surprise to me was that tea does not contain Tannic acid! Tannin is an old fashioned term for the polyphenols in black tea. The name was coined because it was noted that tea could stain the objects brown in a way similar to the way Tannic acid tans leather. 

Enjoying the delicate tea in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.

There are two sub-varieties of these tea bushes: C Sinensis var ( In china) and Camellia Assamica ( found in India). Other varieties are produced thru the fermentation and drying of tea leaves by various processes and in various steps and modifications. Generally, tea character is a foundation based on the quality of soil; altitude grew at, rain, heat, and exposure of bushes to the sunlight etc. Just like vines. I learned from a tea expert that the tea gets lighter in colour as the altitude grows higher. True, isn't it? You can see that Srilankan or Kenyan tea is much darker than Darjeeling or Assam tea, which is darker than Chinese or Japanese tea!

Enjoying Matcha tea( Japanese) in Tokyo, circa 2003

Tea grows best in regions that enjoy a warm, humid climate, with moderate rainfall; typically, that's the region between The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Tea bushes like well-drained and acidic soil. Given the climatic conditions, tea would grow best from sea levels to altitudes as high as ( and even above) 2500 meters ( 8000 feet) above the sea level. Not a surprise, hence that I have observed tea plantations just off the coast roads in Sri Lanka at sea level and in Munnar in India, which claims to be the highest tea plantation above sea level ( 2480 M or 8150 Feet).

Munnar tea plantations

The Journey of a tea leaf.

One of the most exciting tea facts is that all tea comes from the same plant. The transformation journey from the green leaf to the tea in our cup is all to the tea experts laying down the various processes in tea factories worldwide. The majority of the tea is still plucked by hand, making tea plucking a very crucial beginning of the tea leave journey. The plucker would pluck two leaves and a bud( a ground-rule, not to be broken or altered), the pluckers moving their hands on the top of tea bushes like mowing a lawn! These plucked leaves are collected in a custom-made basket that the plucker holds over the back, strapping in the front on the forehead. 

Along with friends, all dressed as tea pickers in Sri Lanka

The tea pickers clad in multi-coloured saris in a tea plantation are world-famous and iconic pictures anyone would like to treasure. A skilled plucker can collect anywhere up to 30 to 35 kg of tea leaves in a day, enough to produce 6-7 kg of processed and dry tea leaves. 

From here starts the laborious and time-consuming steps towards tea processing. These steps include withering, rolling, fermenting, and then drying tea leaves. The last process( drying) aims to reduce the moisture below 2 %, which stops the fermenting process and stabilises the tea's taste. The bulk of the tea then gets graded and sorted out, followed by packing, labelling, and exporting.

processing of tea leaves

I was lucky to have visited a few of the tea factories over the years in various countries, a tour which essentially is incorporated in the holiday highlight. Most tea factories are fundamental, especially in Assam, Darjeeling, Kangra ( Himachal Pradesh), Munnar, and Sri Lanka. My research showed that currently, the top tea producers in the world are India ( 2000 MT, metric Tonnes), China( 1500MT), Sri Lanka ( 600 MT), followed by Kenya, Turkey, Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, Argentina, Japan( 100 MT), Thailand, Nepal( 30 MT) etc. 

The oxidation process of black tea

What are the various tea types?

If my readers want to know more about tea, dealing in-depth, please follow on reading. It is interesting.

So there are five whistle-stop tea types: White, Oolong, Green, Black, and Pu-reh, followed by herbal infusions like rooibos, chamomile, peppermint, yerba mate etc.

White and herbal teas

White tea has almost nothing done to it, mainly originating in the Fujian province of China. The most popular white teas are Silver Needle and White Peony. I tasted the Silver needle tea in China ( Chengdu) in a tea tasting session and frankly did not like it as I do not have such sophisticated taste buds! The tea cultivar is slightly different here, tea leaves being collected in early spring, leaves are not cut or allowed to oxidise, traditionally dried in the sun.

Green Tea. While Green tea is now grown all over the world, China and Japan remain the top producers. Part of what makes green tea unique is its complexity in processing. The primary heating process with withered tea leaves to stop the oxidation makes green tea. Green tea is steamed to halt the oxidation and keep the leaves green and fresh looking. Heating removes the moisture from the leaves, ready for rolling, twisting and drying. 

Oolong Tea.  Also called Wulong tea, it is a style of manufacturing originating from China and Taiwan. Traditionally Oolong tea is described as between Black and Green tea. It is a combination of the flavour of green tea and the strength of Black tea. I love the Oolong team now and then for its delicate, mild dainty and fresher taste. It is claimed to have Zen-like qualities with a calming nature.

Darjeeling tea. A black tea but coming in a separate category is very highly-priced, being reserved for export from India. Named The Champagne of the Tea, Darjeeling is sold in two ways: 

• As a "blend": a mixture from different plantations, with the generic name of "Darjeeling".
• As in original tea chests for the rarest and finest teas, which are then correctly traced: plantation name, grade and batch number.

Final packing and tagging of tea

Black tea is mainly grown in India, Sri Lanka, China, Africa and Argentina. In the world of Black tea, the production process is fast; the factory may be automated for fermentation and drying techniques leaving tea leaves aromatic and full of flavour. The birth of black tea in China is very mysterious. No one knows exactly what led the Chinese to oxidise tea after producing only green tea for centuries. One legend says that black tea was the accidental result of a cargo of green tea having oxidised during an overly long sea crossing. Having arrived at its destination, its recipients greatly appreciated the tea, who then ordered some more.

Pu-erh tea. It is one of the oldest forms of Chinese tea, tracking it back to the tang dynasty. The tea takes its name from the town of Pu-erh in Yunan province, tea tasting earthy, solid and smooth. It is claimed to harmonise the mind, dispels fatigue, prevents drowsiness, refreshes the body and clears the mind of evil thoughts!

Pots and Vessels are used to brew and drink tea.

One can drink tea out of mugs, cups, glasses, saucers and disposable earthen pots. The sizes of these utensils could be small, medium or large, in various shapes and contours, being long, round and long round both together. 

Tea in earthen pots

Tea in glasses

These gadgets could be cheaply obtained or priced extremely high, the top quality being the Bone china cups. Tea can be drunk, iced, cold or piping hot, with more milk or without milk, or with just a drop of milk, with sugar or without sugar or then with honey or jaggery ( raw sugar). 

I have tried Tibetan tea made with Yak milk, topped with Yak butter which tasted yuk! ( only to me, not to others in my group). 

How to make infused tea 

Tea can be prepared with spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamons, cloves, nutmeg, basil etc. Nowadays, modern teas are herbal infusion teas like liquorice, chamomile, rooibos, honeybush, lemongrass, peppermint, and rose tea. Etc Green tea is another fashionable and popular tea variety offered and accepted by health fanatics worldwide. Learning to make the tea is like a rite of passage when you only can make the best and perfect tea for yourself. Well, in most of the cases, the other contenders here could be your Mum or your spouse. There are ceremonies the world over to celebrate the making of our favourite drink.

Diverse and the most inexplicable job of a tea taster.

A typical tea taster, Pic from Chronicle Live 

Tea tasting is as professional as any wine tasting in this era of tea consuming and selling. Developing a palate for teas is a bit of an endurance test, tasting hundreds of cups of kinds of teas over and over again. After taking a spoonful of brewed tea to be tasted, one swills the tea around in the mouth, appreciating the opening up of the taste layers. 

Tea tasting in Sri Lanka

These impressions of the teas then lead to classify the teas as good, bad or great. As a part of the job of a tea taster, one needs to travel to various exotic tea plantations or tea estates locations to develop networking and business relationships, to take part in tea auctions, leading to mass buying of teas as needed for a brand or a country. During the tasting session, the tea is also judged for its colour, brightness, and clarity of the brew. 

Infused Coca tea in Peru

How to brew a perfect cuppa?

A demonstration of how to brew tea

After reading the whole blog on the chronicles of tea, shall we now brew a delicious cuppa?

A  tea samovar fitted in a Russian train. 

Oh yes, what sort of vessel do we use for tea brewing and tea drinking? Tea is far from "one size fits all product". Tea is drunk across the world in so many different vessels and ways on numerous different occasions. Not surprisingly, there are many vessels like bone china cups, clear glasses, ceramic or metal mugs, Turkish tea glasses, Samovars, bombilla, or the ultimate disposable, climate-friendly clay pots ( so trendy in India). Similarly, the size and shape and material of tea being vessels is a minefield. 

Turkish tea glasses.

Ground and essential rules to brew a cuppa.

• Use freshly drawn water ( do not use preboiled water from the kettle). Freshly drawn water has a shot of oxygen that makes the tea taste delicious lost in repeated boiling of water.
• Heat the water to the correct temperature depending on the tea you are brewing. For black tea and herbal infusions, one needs to boiling water to 100C. Green, white, and oolong tea leaves will get scorched at 100C, taking away the delicate flavours. These teas do better at 80c, but how do we know these temperatures in daily life? Well, use a thermometer or switch off the kettle just before its click, indicating that water has boiled.
• Only use quality tea. 
• Use the right amount of water, i.e. use one teaspoon full of tea or one teabag per person to an average mug of tea of 300 ml.

• Brew the tea for three minutes. That's the time taken for the tea leaves to infuse and release their flavours into the hot water.

• Warm the pot or the cup or the mug before making tea. There is no point in adding boiling water into a cold teapot or alike. 

• Milk or no milk. Black tea and rooibos tea taste good with a dash of milk. Herbals, green and white, and oolong tea taste best without milk.
• If tea is brewed in a pot, pour cold milk into the cup first, then add the brewed tea. If you are brewing tea in a mug, remove the tea leaves or tea bag before adding the milk.

• Enjoy the yummy tea after cooling off a little bit once it has been poured into the vessel of your choice.

I hope my readers enjoy browsing my blog as much as I have enjoyed composing it. Please feel free to add your invaluable remarks in the comment section etc. Your crucial comments are a boost to me.