Grüner Tee aus Darjeeling?

 

Ich habe mir einmal überlegt, warum ich in der Vergangenheit viel weniger schwarzen Tee als grünen Tee getrunken habe. Dafür fielen mir zwei wesentliche Gründe ein. Der erste hat sicherlich mit meinem Studium in Taiwan zu tun, denn da hatte ich mir angewöhnt, Oolung Tee, Jasmintee oder grünen Tee zu trinken. Aber es gab später auch noch einen weiteren Grund. Ich habe oftmals Tee aufgesetzt und dann kam mir eine Idee und dann ging ich dieser Idee nach, schlug irgendwo etwas nach und schnell waren da 10-20 Minuten vergangen, aber dann war der Tee nicht mehr trinkbar, jedenfalls der schwarze Tee. Das passiert einem mit grünen Tee eher nicht. Und ich halte nicht sehr viel vom Samowar-Tee, denn ähnlich hätte ich ja mit dem zu lange gezogenen Schwarztee auch noch umgehen können; oder ihn aufwärmen in einer Mikrowelle, die es aber in der Zeit, wo ich mich eher für grünen Tee entschieden hatte, noch nicht gab, jedenfalls nicht in unserer Familie oder in meinem Haushalt. Jetzt aber komme ich aus Darjeeling und den anderen Teegebieten im Himalaya zurück und habe auch Schwarztee mitgebracht, aber auch neue Erkenntnisse. Und die will ich hier einmal aufarbeiten.

Ich hatte bereits vor einigen Jahren einen grünen Tee aus Darjeeling getrunken und dachte eher, das wäre eine Kuriosität, obwohl er mir sehr gut geschmeckt hatte. Ich bin aber eines Besseren belehrt worden, der Tee in Darjeeling oder insgesamt der Hochlandregion ist einfach durch die klimatischen Bedingungen ein sehr guter Tee, der sich für alle möglichen Sorten eignet. Und ich habe diesmal gelernt, daß sich Assam und Darjeeling Tees bzw. Hochlandtees nicht nur in der Blattgröße und in der Zusammensetzung der phytochemischen Stoffe unterscheiden, sondern insbesondere unterscheiden sich die Verarbeitungsmethoden. Die sogenannte orthodoxe Herstellung des Darjeeling Tees liegt viel näher an der Herstellung von chinesischen Tees. Dies hatte ich ich Nepal erfahren, denn Nepal produziert einerseits orthodoxen Tee, der nach der in Darjeeling verwendete Methoden verarbeitet wird, bei der die Teeblätter gerollt werden (entweder von Hand oder maschinell), oder die in Assam verwendete Methode, die als Crush, Tear, Curl (CTC) bezeichnet wird [1].

Ich habe gerade die Passagen in der Bibel für Teekenner nachgelesen [2]. Bereits 1827 hat der damals bekannte Botaniker Dr. J. Forbes Roylc darauf gedrängt, aus China Teepflanzen in das Gebiet im nordwestlichen Himalaya zu bringen. Die Einführung von Tee in Indien hatte  Rückschläge eizustecken, so experimentierte der Chirurg Dr. Christie in den Nilgiri-Hügeln mit dem Anbau von Tee, Kaffee und Maulbeeren, aber er ist bald verstorben und mit ihm diese Experimente. 1838 kam der erste Tee aus Indien in Großbritannien an und es wurde über die über die Herstellung des schwarzen Tees berichtet, wie sie von Chinesen durchgeführt wurde, die extra dazu nach Suddeya in Assam geholt worden waren. In Darjeeling begannen die Teeprojekte in den 1850iger Jahren, William Ukers nennt explizit die Jahre 1856-1859. Über Darjeeling schwärmt er: „Darjeeling. – Der romantischste und interessantes Teedistrikt in ganz Indien, Darjeeling liegt eingezwängt zwischen Nepal, Sikkim, und Bhutan – drei verbotene Königreiche. Die Teegärten liegen praktisch alle direkt vor Ort in dem Teil des Bezirks, der westlich des Teesta Flusses liegt, ein Gebiet bestehend aus einem System von Gebirgskämmen und Ausläufern mit tiefen Tälern dazwischen.“

Ukers geht zu den Unterschieden der Verarbeitung ein, die schon beim Welken der Blätter vorhanden sind. Es handelt sich um die klimatischen Bedingungen, die sich von Assam zu Dooars und erst recht zum Hochland unterscheiden. Mir fehlt das Wissen, um zu entscheiden, in wie weit das unter heutigen Produktionsbedingungen noch so ist. Vielleicht ja. Aber ich will wieder zum Thema Grüntee zurückkehren.

Grüner Tee wurde auch in Europa vor dem schwarzen Tee getrunken. Und so wurde Schwarztee auch erst später produziert. In den 1930iger Jahren wurde nur noch „in Kangra, Travancore, Sylhet, Dehra Dun, Ranchi, Cachar, Nilgiris, Chittagong, Mysore, Almora, Malabar, Garhwal und Tinnevelly – benannt in der Reihenfolge der Menge – grüner Tee“ produziert. Da wurde Darjeeling nicht genannt!

Welche Hypothesen könnte man entwickeln, um zu erklären, warum in der Himalaya Region bzw. konkret in Darjeeling grüner Tee produziert wird?
Hypothese 1: Der gestiegene Bedarf nach polyphenolreichem, gesunden, grünen Tee im Westen ist Anreiz, diesen zu produzieren, da der Schwarztee der Region ein Begriff ist, aber weniger Catechine als Grüntee enthält.
Hypothese 2: Man hofft auf Exporte nach Ostasien.
Hypothese 3: Grüntee stellt ein hervorragendes Souvenir für Touristen aus z.B. China dar, weshalb man auch chinesische Schrift an Teeläden sehen kann.
Hypothese 4: Nicht in dem verharren, was man schon immer gemacht hat und sich weiter entwickeln, also die Produktpalette erweitern.

Wie dem auch sei, Grüntee aus Darjeeling bzw. auch aus Sikkim oder Nepal stellen eine Alternative dar.

Links und Anmerkungen:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/04/travelling-through-tea-estates-in.html
[2] William H. Ukers, All About Tea, 2 vol. (1935) – ich habe dieses Buch in den 1970iger Jahren einmal über die Fernleihe der UB Köln ausgeliehen. Mittlerweile ist es digitalisiert einsehbar: https://www.univie.ac.at/Geschichte/China-Bibliographie/blog/2018/03/22/ukers-all-about-tea/  

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Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (Toy Train)

I was a bit surprised to see the Toy Train in the itinerary of the trip, because I only had very vague memories of it or the regular train between Siliguri and Darjeeling that we saw along the road to  Darjeeling in 2000 in very bad light. I wasn't expecting much, but I got a lot in terms of views and driving pleasure.

The Darjeeling - Siliguri route has been extended to New Jalpaiguri and the route is a little under 90km but it overcomes more than 2000m of elevation gain (Ghoom on the route is some 200m higher than Darjeeling). The train takes 6.5-10 hours on this route. It is a narrow-gauge railway with a track width of 610 mm and this is called toy train in English, whereas the German word  Spielzeugeisenbahn would only be used for toys, but a toy that is no longer in demand.

Planning for the railway dates back to 1878. The plan was approved in 1879 and by 1881 the railway line was complete. The route runs mostly along the roadside of the Hill Cart Road, leads over 554 bridges, and has twelve stations - more information at [1].

"The railway has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999." "When the Darjeeling Railway was not continuously navigable for a long time, UNESCO threatened to withdraw the World Heritage Site if it was not repaired immediately."

The passenger trains between Darjeeling and Ghoom are pulled by steam locomotives, or the steam locomotive drives ahead and a diesel locomotive pushes the train from behind. Of the 34 locomotives originally built up to 1927, 12 were still available in 2005, but only a few of these are operational, the others are used as a spare parts store. But I could also see that spare parts are manufactured or repaired in their own workshop.

The inner-city route sometimes leads only a few centimeters past houses and market stalls. People constantly walk across the track and at times the rails cross the road, but the train runs slowly and the very loud horn is used extensively. The steam locomotive also spreads quite a lot of soot.

We arrived at the train station in Darjeeling much earlier than necessary for the start of the journey. And so we were able to see the hustle and bustle at the station, the shunting, the people and also the museum train. The steam locomotives are located across the street from the station and you can sometimes see how parts are repaired there or what material is available for repairs. Early on, one of the locomotives was put under steam. Every locomotive, including the diesel locomotives, blew their horns (felt as) all the time. The steam locomotives produce a lot of smoke and therefore a lot of soot. You couldn't do that at all in Germany, for example. With so much noise and dirt, there would already be a class action lawsuit by the population against the railway company. But it might be possible there because otherwise the world cultural heritage would be lost.

You drive very slowly on the route, which is also necessary because a lot of people cross the street and the train sometimes changes from the route on the left to the right side. The cars then have to stop, as does the bus service. In Ghoom there is also a museum dedicated to the railway. When you come back after the ride, there are very nice spots that are open where you can see the next train for yourself. It was very interesting how someone sat on the coal tender and handed down the coal to fire the engine.

Overall it was a worthwhile ride. It was a lot of fun. And you learned something about the past. About things that have become completely foreign to us today in trains that travel at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_Himalayan_Railway  

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Prayer Wheels and Prayer Flags

In the Himalaya region, prayer wheels and prayer flags are a common sight. Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal (Darjeeling), Bhutan, or Tibet. I've already written quite a lot about prayer flags [1]. The terms prayer wheels and prayer flags in Eglish (as well as in other languages like German) is misleading as there aren't prayers but rather mantras written on the flags or on slips of paper inside the wheels or drums to be send out into the world. The mantra most used is: Om mani padme hum, which might be translated as Om in the jewel of the lotus. Prayer flags and prayer wheels are used to spread mantras into all pervading space to promote the good will and compassion [2].

 
Is it very different to Europe? Yes and no. In rural areas you can see crosses being erected after some lucky occasion, but also to remind the passer-by to pray. There is such a field crucifix between the village I am living in (Diefenbach – pop. 70 and still growing) and the next village (Sistig) on a hillcock overlooking a landscape, which might also have attracted Hobbits. Whereas the prayer wheels and prayer flags send mantras into the surrounding world to all living beings, the cross is meant to reach humans only.

There are small, large and very large prayer wheels. The small ones have a handle, which the pilgrims turns. Prayer wheels are cylindrical wheels (Tibetan: འཁོར་ལོ།, Wylie: 'khor lo') on a spindle usually made from metal [4]. The mantra Om mani padme hum (and occasionally others) is written in Ranjana script or Tibetan script on the outside of the wheel. Inside there are many thousands (or in the case of larger prayer wheels even millions) of mantras, which are wrapped around the core of the cylinder. The pilgrim or practitioner usually spins the wheel clockwise, „as the direction in which the mantras are written is that of the movement of the sun across the sky“. Slightly larger prayer wheels as fixed around temples or monasteries, where the pilgrims circle clockwise and turn the wheels; this circumambulation is called kora (Tibetan: སྐོར་ར, Wylie: skor ra). If you visit Buddhist temples in the Himalaya region you should respect this custom; anything you visit, do it clockwise.
The very large prayer wheels (larger than humans) have separate rooms or are in the open under a roof, and can be set in motion by the pilgrims. Often you might see elderly people sitting next to these large prayer and constantly turning them. A bell sounds as soon as one round of the wheel is completed.

And there are prayer wheels, which are not turned by humans but by flowing water, wind, the heat of candles or butter lamps, and nowadays even electric light. The water will be a blessing to all living creatures in the water as well as the ones living in the fields that are watered by this stream.

Someone setting up prayer wheels or prayer flags wants of course to gain positive karma, but there is an altruistic motive as well -: to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom to all living beings.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Prayer Flags in Bhutan (recent blogpost) https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/04/pray-flags-in-bhutan.html and Prayer Flags (in Tibet) https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/08/prayer-flags.html and Maibaum und Gebetsfahnen (Maypole and prayer flags) Text in German https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2021/05/maibaum-und-gebetsfahnen.html  
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_wheel 
[3] Feldkruzifix Em Lengsche zwischen Sistig und Diefenbach
[Translation: Field crucifix Em Lengsche between Sistig and Diefenbach
Today we would write something like: “Anno 1694, October 20th, Pastor Meyer [with] Katharina (Katharein), his housewife, together with the honorary cantors of Sistig, had erected this cross to the glory of God and Mary. Amen."]
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2020/08/feldkruzifix-em-lengsche-zwischen.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_wheel

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Travelling through Tea Estates in Dooars, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Nepal

 

The titel „Travelling through Tea Estates in West Bengal, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Nepal“ isn't totally correct, but in all these districts or countries tea is a big topic and one might hear more about Dooars (or Assam by the way as it isn't out of the way) and Darjeeling than the rest. I have already written about a tea estate in Darjeeling [1] and have translated some fragments of this text, but the former blogpost had another intention, it is devoted to the topic of tea and I have written extensively about tea, more so on Chinese tea in German on my blog. This article however will be devoted to travelling through this region and tea.

You are hardly out of the airport in Bagdogra, a small town in West Bengal, and you drive through tea plantations. Bagdogra roughly has 25,000 inhabitants and belongs to the Dooars region. The airport (IXB) is the gateway to the hill stations like Gangtok, Kurseong, Darjeeling, or Kalimpong. Dooars is not to be confused with Assam. The Dooars tea growing area is located South of  Darjeeling and west of Assam. Tea processing is comparable to Darjeeling teas, but the teas of Dooars are stronger and more flavorful, on the other hand they are milder than Assam teas (and in Assam more tea is processed according to the CTC method). Due to the lower altitude first flush harvests in Dooars begin earlier than in Darjeeling or Sikkim. Later on my journey I passed even through larger platation – on the Sikkim to Bhutan stretch. Tea may be quite expensive, especially when it comes to Darjeeling teas, but Dooars might be an alternative – maybe Sikkim teas, too.

I visited the Happy Valley Tea Estate in Darjeeling, which is the closest one to the city center and also is very old, still producing tea. The state maintains a museum, where old equipment can be seen and where you can also taste the different types of tea. I later noticed that the plantation could be seen across town from my hotel.
Established in 1854, the core of Happy Valley is Darjeeling's second oldest tea plantation. It lies at an altitude of approximately 2,100 meters and covers over 177 hectares; more than 1500 employees are employed there. The tea bushes are up to 150 years old. The months of March to May are the most active time, because then most of the tea leaves are picked and processed [2].
The Englishman David Wilson called the tea garden "Wilson Tea Estate". In 1903 the estate was taken over by Tarapada Banerjee, an Indian aristocrat from Hooghly/Hugli (district in West Bengal state). In 1929 Banerjee bought the nearby Windsor Tea Estate and merged the two lands under the name of „Happy Valley Tea Estate“ [3].
In March 2007, S.K. Bansal's estate was taken over by the Ambootia Tea Group, which built a new factory and, in particular, switched to organic farming. The plantation has been open to the public again since 2008. At the time, Happy Valley's (hand-rolled) tea was trading at Harrods in the UK at US$75 per kg.

The specialization in black or green tea no longer exists. These modern plantations are able to produce all sorts, although I would like to give a foreshadowing: I liked the green tea the best. I tested all the sorts they had, but haven't been allowed to take pictures. But I show you one, which I've made in Gangtok (Sikkim) on a similar occasion. For more on the different teas, please refer to the footnote [4]. As teas of the Himalaya-Region might be very expensive, you have to choose well. No matter how expensive or exclusive the tea is, the most important thing about tea is -: enjoying its taste in peace.

As the sun is hot and the tea pickers have to spend hours in the open, I've seen some with umbrellas fixed to the baskets on their back. Even with conditions of the workers having improved, it still is hard labor and also this work is mentally straining.

Sikkim also has remarkable teas. They are also sold in Darjeeling. The region is equal in altitude and weather conditions and composition of the soil. Maybe these teas still are somewhat of an insider tip. But you will also have high end teas with high end prices – I've just seen Sikkim Temi First Flush („Passable tea for every day.“) at 219.00€ per 1kg [5].
In the pedestrian mall of Gangtok I saw various tea shops, visited some, but I was out in a downpour without proper protection and took refuge in a tea parlor to have a tea - wait and drink tea, which is the literal translation of the German idiom "Abwarten und Teetrinken" - just wait and see! In the wake of the downpour I returned to the hotel.

Darjeeling

Fresh leaves on the cut down tea plants

Tea plantation in the Dooars region

The trip ended in Nepal, in Kathmandu – I've never seen so many tea shops in my life and did not remember having seen so many shops 25 years before. Nepal produces tea, but in these shops they also sell teas from Darjeeling and Sikkim. Nepal pruduces orthodox tea, which uses the method used in Darjeeling in which the tea leaves are rolled (either by hand or machine) or the method used in Assam which is descriebd as crush, tear, curl (CTC) [6]. The tea leaves for orthodox teas are picked durng four flushes: First flush, Second flush, Monsoon flush, Autumn flush, the first begins in the fourth week of March and last ends at the end of November. I sampled some Nepali teas and they were tasty, but as I'm more used to drink green tea, you have to test for yourself. Straying from Darjeeling to Sikkim and Nepal is well worth the effort.

Let's close with a few words on Bhutanese tea. Bhutan has been the eminent reason for my trip. In Bhutan I have only seen herbal teas (better called herbal infusions) and no thea sinensis, but these teas exist in small quantities, produced by handwork. I found one the internet (it may be the only one!). Up till now they are more of an oddity, a collector might buy them, because they are rare on the market.
Bhutan Green Tea is an organic green tea, produced in Samdrupcholing [7], a small village near Trongsa, which I visited 23 years ago, but I don't recall having seen tea plants – I remember having seen hemp, hemp in huge quantities growing in the wild. Another source: „Amateurs of oddities will be served with this rare green tea from Bhutan. […]  In Samcholing village, 43 acres of land were dedicated to tea farming and a micro-factory was put in place to produce an average of 600 kg of fresh leaves each year. The only tea production in the country.“ [8] But who knows, what might evolve out of this modest beginning. Allow me to quote Mao Zedong: „A single spark can start a prairie fire“ (05.01.1930). Bhutan has a geography and topography similar to Darjeeling, so there might be a small scale tea industry in the future.

Kathmandu tea shops

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/04/happy-valley-teeplantage-in-darjeeling.html  
[2] https://darjeeling.gov.in/tourist-place/happy-valley-tea-estate/  
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Valley_Tea_Estate Interestingly, William H. Ukers makes no mention of this venture. William H. Ukers: All About Tea, 2 vol. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1935. https://china-bibliographie.univie.ac.at/2018/03/22/ukers-all-about-tea/  And the internet is silent about Tarapada Banerjee or one only "knows" that he was in 1903... (see above).
[4] White tea -: only the first, budding leaf is picked (the silver tip), steamed (to prevent any fermentation) and then dried.
Yellow tea -: I haven't seen it or can't remember it. In principle, it is even rarer than white tea because there is not so much demand, but it is also produced in Darjeeling. The process is more complicated as very little oxidation is allowed to take place. The tea leaves are stewed and then rolled in damp cloths to be dried a little later as white tea.
Green tea -: the top leaves are picked, the fermentation is stopped by heat (either steaming or roasting in a pan), then the tea is rolled and dried.
Oolong tea -: I also saw it in Sikkim. The tea leaves are shaken and slightly injured so that fermentation takes place, but must remain incomplete, i.e. it is broken off by rolling and drying. In my Sino affinity, however, I would prefer Oolong teas from Taiwan.
Black tea -: the tea leaves (two leaves and a bud) are rolled and allowed to oxidize completely (fermentation), then they are dried at very high temperatures. the different varieties result on the one hand from the time of picking (First Flush, Summer Tea, Monsoon Flush, Autumn Tea, also known as First Flush, In-betweens, Second Flush, Autumnals [4a]) and then from the grading in SFTGFOP1 (Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1st, highest grade), FTGFOP1 (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1st), TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe), FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe), OP (Orange Pekoe), P (Pekoe). The majority of Darjeeling teas are black teas.
[4a] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_(Tee)
[5] https://www.puretea.de/sikkim-temi-first-flush-biotee.html
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepali_tea
[7] https://tasteofbhutan.com/product/bhutan-green-tea-loose-tea/
[8] https://camellia-sinensis.com/en/bhutan-samcholing/6433  

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The Takin – National Animal of Bhutan

The takin is the national animal of Bhutan and therefore it is worth mentioning. I've seen it 23 years ago in the zoo of Thimphu and to my recollection the view wasn't better than the picture. I'm not sure, but I think this zoo is now the Motithang Takin Preserve, a wildlife reserve area for takin [1]. I didn't visit this reserve, but I've seen the takin in the zoo of Darjeeling (see bpictures below).

The takin comes close to goats or sheep (recent mitochondrial research), but is much bigger. According to Wikipedia it weighs 300–350 kg in males against 250–300 kg in females [2]. But another source says it weighs about 200 kg on the average [3]. The scientific name is Budorcas taxicolor and there are four subtypes. In Bhutan, takin live in bamboo forests at altitudes of 1,000 to 4,500 m. The takin is listed as „vulnerable“ on the IUCN Red List and considered „endangered“ in Tibet [4]. the main threats come from humans: deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation.

Legend has it that the takin has been created by Drukpa Kunley, also known as the devine madman [5], whom I'll introduce at another occasion. He then took the head of the goat and fixed it to the skeleton of a cow and then created the live takin [6].

Links an Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motithang_Takin_Preserve
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takin  
[3] https://www.nepalhighlandtreks.com/blog/takin-the-national-animal-of-bhutan.html  
[4] I've been to the Yarlung region and could not see that there is a habitat for these animals though there might be nearer the boarder to Bhutan. The area is overgrazed by domestic animals.
[5] For those, who cannot wait: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drukpa_Kunley
[6] One should not believe everything, printed or not. We could make a campfire in my garden, sit there, and I tell you, how I've met the yeti.

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Happy Valley Teeplantage in Darjeeling

 

Bei meiner aktuellen Reise in die Himalaya-Region konnte ich verschiedene Teeplantagen besuchen, besonders aber die Happy Valley Teeplantage in Darjeeling (Happy Valley Tea Estate), die am nächsten zur Stadtmitte liegt, bereits sehr alt ist, weiterhin Tee produziert und ein Museum unterhält, in dem alte Gerätschaften zu sehen sind und in dem man auch die verschiedenen Teesorten probieren kann. Später sah ich, daß man die Plantage auch vom Hotel quer über die Stadt sehen kann.

Der Kern von Happy Valley wurde 1854 gegründet und ist Darjeelings zweitälteste Teeplantage. Sie liegt auf einer Höhe von ca. 2.100 Metern und umfasst über 177 Hektar; mehr als 1500 Mitarbeiter sind dort beschäftigt. Die Teesträucher sind bis zu 150 Jahre alt. Die Monate März bis Mai sind die aktivste  Zeit. denn dann wird gepflückt und verarbeitet [1].

Der Engländer David Wilson hatte den Teegarten „Wilson Tea Estate“ genannt. 1903 wurde das Anwesen von Tarapada Banerjee, einem indischen Aristokraten aus Hooghly / Hugli (Distrikt im Bundesstaat Westbengalen), übernommen. 1929 kaufte Banerjee das nahe gelegene Windsor Tea Estate und fusionierte die beiden Ländereien unter dem Namen Happy Valley Tea Estate [2].

Im März 2007 wurde das Anwesen von S. K. Bansal von der Ambootia Tea Group übernommen, die eine neue Fabrik errichtete und insbesondere auf ökologischen Landbau umstellte. Seit 2008 ist die Plantage wieder für die Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Damals wurde der von Happy Valley hergestellte (handgerollte) Tee bei Harrods in Großbritannien zu 75 US$ pro kg gehandelt.

Die Spezialisierung auf Schwarz- oder Grüntee besteht nicht mehr. Man ist in diesen modernen Betrieben fähig, sämtliche Sorten zu produzieren, wobei ich vorgreifen möchte: mir hat der Grüntee am besten geschmeckt.

Weißer Tee -: dabei wird nur das erste, knospende Blatt gepflückt, gedämpft (um jegliche Fermentation zu verhindern) und dann getrocknet.
Gelber Tee -: habe ich nicht gesehen bzw. kann ich mich nicht dran erinnern. Ist prinzipiell noch seltener als weißer Tee, weil nicht so sehr nachgefragt, aber er wird auch in Darjeeling hergestellt. Der Prozess ist komplizierter, da nur sehr wenig Oxidation stattfinden darf. Die Teeblätter werden geschmort und dann in feuchte Tücher gerollt, um etwas später als Weißer Tee getrocknet zu werden.
Grüner Tee -: hierbei werden die obersten Blätter gepflückt, durch Hitze (entweder auch Dämpfen oder Rösten in der Pfanne) wird die Fermentation unterbunden, dann wird der Tee gerollt und getrocknet.
Oolong Tee -: habe ich auch in Sikkim gesehen. Die Teeblätter werden geschüttelt und leicht verletzt, so daß eine Fermentation stattfindet, die aber inkomplett bleiben muss, also abgebrochen wird durch Rollen und Trocknen. In meiner Sinoaffinität würde ich allerdings Oolong-Tees aus Taiwan vorziehen.
Schwarzer Tee [3] -: die Teeblätter (two leaves and a bud) werden gerollt und man läßt sie vollständig oxydieren (Fermantation), dann werden sie sehr heiß getrocknet. die unterschiedlichen Sorten ergeeben sich sich zum einen über den Zeitpunkt der Pflückung (First Flush, Summer Tea, Monsun Flush, Autumn Tea, auch bezeichnet als First Flush, In-betweens, Second Flush,  Autumnals [4]) und dann über die Gradierung in SFTGFOP1 (Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1., höchste Gradierung), FTGFOP1 (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1.), TGFOP (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe), FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe), OP (Orange Pekoe), P (Pekoe). Die größte Menge der Tees aus Darjeeling gehören dem Schwarztee an.

Wer nun einen besonders teuren Tee trinken will, könnte mit dem Tee von Darjeelings Makaibari Tea Estate für mehr als 185 US$ pro 100 g glücklich werden, für den Biotee von Happy Valley habe ich eine Quelle für 10,44€ pro 100 g entdeckt [6]. Aber egal, wie teuer oder exklusiv der Tee ist, das Wichtigste am Tee bleibt immer noch der Genuss in Ruhe.


Links und Anmerkungen:
[1] https://darjeeling.gov.in/tourist-place/happy-valley-tea-estate/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Valley_Tea_Estate Interessanterweise erwähnt William H.  Ukers diese Unternehmung nicht. William H. Ukers, All About Tea, 2 vol. New York, The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, 1935. https://china-bibliographie.univie.ac.at/2018/03/22/ukers-all-about-tea/  Und über Tarapada Banerjee schweigt das Internet bzw. man „weiß“ nur, daß er 1903 … (s.o.).
[3] Alice Schwarzer scheint keine Teetrinkerin zu sein, denn sonst hätte sie sicherlich einen Alice Schwarzer Tee kreiert. Was für Möglichkeiten liegen da -: besserer Lohn und Emanzipation der Teepflückerinnen.
[4] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling_(Tee)
[5] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/darjeelings-makaibari-becomes-most-expensive-tea-in-india/articleshow/41862405.cms
[6] https://www.osterlandsk.de/tee/schwarzer-tee?p=3

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