Reminiscing Tea from Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

 

“Tea from Ceylon is the best.”

Last year, I wrote in German about a visit to the highlands of Sri Lanka and, in particular, about tea [1]. I would like to present this text in English before my report on a tea plantation and Ceylon tea. At the time, I was looking for a picture from Sri Lanka and came across some I had forgotten about, namely those I had taken in the tea-growing region of Nuwara Eliya. They aren't particularly good photos, as they were taken with a small-format camera without a focus mechanism. But these pictures did prompt me to reflect on that time, and then I decided to write about it. The trip took place around 1976/1977. I was traveling with a Sinhalese friend and a German friend who were looking for a cook in the highlands and found one; I remember a very delicious dish that was also very spicy (hot).

“Tea from Ceylon is the best.” [2] This is a matter for debate, especially with afficionados of Darjeeling tea. William H. Ukers, whose book we will discuss later, would never have made such a sweeping statement. Ceylon is now called Sri Lanka, and this name refers not just since the present day, but after the colonial period. However, in the 1970s, this was still such a new concept that I had to explain to many people in Germany what country Sri Lanka was. However, the old name, Ceylon tea, has persisted.

Nuwara Eliya (Sinhalese: නුවරඑළි and Tamil: நுவரெலியா) is a small town with approximately 25,000 inhabitants today, located in the highlands of Sri Lanka at an altitude of just under 2,000 meters [3]. Samuel Baker, discoverer of Lake Albert and the upper Nile, founded Nuwara Eliya in 1846 because the climate was ideal for a retreat for British officials and plantation owners in Ceylon. It was also known as "Little England." There, the British colonialists could indulge in their now somewhat eccentric pastimes, such as fox, deer, and elephant hunting, as well as polo, golf, and cricket. Nearby is Mount Piduruthalagala, at 2,524 meters the highest mountain in Sri Lanka, though it is now closed to the public. The city maintains its colonial-era architectural style. New buildings (hotels or other tourist facilities) are often constructed in this style. Many private owners still value their lawns and English-style houses. And hydrangeas!

The region is famous for its Orange Pekoe tea, one of the most prized teas in the world. In this cooler mountain region, the tea plant grows slowly, allowing for the development of a more refined aroma.

I recently read through William H. Ukers' book "All About Tea" [4] (again!). The tea industry in Ceylon dates back to 1839. As early as 1840-1842, tea plants were planted on the land of Sir Anthony Oliphant, Chief Justice, near Queens Cottage, Nuwara Eliya (Vol. 1, p. 177). The average temperature there is approximately 15-16°C, and the temperature variation between day and night is greater than on the coast; this is also a factor that influences the composition of a plant's constituents. "Nuwara Eliya escapes the extreme effects of the monsoons, but receives a liberal rainfall." (Vol. 1, p. 422).

Orange Pekoe is not a type of tea but a description of the leaf size in black tea (whole leaves of medium size), and otherwise refers to the unopened tea bud [5]. This doesn't tell us anything about the quality, but it's worth noting that a tea made from whole, medium-sized leaves differs significantly from broken tea leaves or even fannings and dust. Several words from the Chinese language Minnanyu (閩南語) are suggested as the etymology of the word Pekoe: either 白毫 (peh-ho) meaning "white hair" or "white down," or 白花 (peh-hoe) meaning "white flower." I'm inclined to believe the first option, which could refer to the white down on the young tea leaves.

How much does such a tea cost? It's difficult to say, but I'd estimate around €45-50/kg. Many teas on offer are blends, so let's just say you're on a case-by-case basis. Let your taste guide you.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Tea from Nuwara Eliya
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/09/tee-aus-nuwara-eliya.html
[2] This sentence appeared in an English textbook from the 1930s. Unfortunately, my father's textbook has not survived.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuwara_Eliya and https://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B6%B1%E0%B7%94%E0%B7%80%E0%B6%BB%E0%B6%91%E0%B7%85%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA as well as
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuwara_Eliya
[4] William H. Ukers: All About Tea, 2 volumes. New York 1935. I borrowed this book once in the 1970s through interlibrary loan at the University Library of Cologne. Anyone wanting to purchase the first edition: https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Tea-Ukers-William-H-Coffee-Trade/31072643437/bd for US$2,800.00. It may also be purchased more cheaply, e.g., as a reprint. And it is now available digitally: https://www.univie.ac.at/Geschichte/China-Bibliographie/blog/2018/03/22/ukers-all-about-tea/
[5] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Pekoe

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My Trip to Sri Lanka 2026 … Before the Details

 

Before I'll write about my trip to Sri Lanka in detail in my travelogue, primarily in English, I wanted to share something on my blog in German [1], which I translate here. Namely, what kind of trip it was and what the background was. I visited Sri Lanka three times between 1976 and 1978, and I absolutely loved it back then, but I never had the time to go back. The deciding factor this time was that I found a suitable tour operator, because there's a big risk with Sri Lanka that I either do all the culture or nothing at all, and then just lie on the beach on the tropical island, which is of course also lovely. I had already traveled with the operator „Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]“ on an adventure trip through Mongolia. Now Wolkenbote had been offering a trip to Sri Lanka. I accepted, and I haven't regretted it. It was a wonderful trip.

The tour operator has the prosaic name "Travel with Dr. Elvira Friedrich", but the website is much more interesting, and there the operator is called „Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]“. Regarding Wolkenbote, I'd like to quote here from the website of Dr. Elvira Friedrich [2], an Indologist. It's a one-woman operation.

The name Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Tamil: இலங்க) has now become established, although people still refer to it as in Ceylon tea [3]. I fondly remember my father, who liked to quote from an English textbook from the 1930s: "Tea from Ceylon is the best." In 1972, the name was changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka. The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in the 16th century and named the island Ceilao; the Dutch who followed renamed it Ceylon, a name that remained in use from 1796 to 1972. So, in the 1970s, I was still  close to the name Ceylon in the 1970s. I remember frequently having to explain what kind of country Sri Lanka actually was. The name Sri Lanka can be translated as "the sublime, radiant [island]". In 2027, there will also be a voyage with the Cloud Messenger [4].
 

Here's the rough route:
Diefenbach - Cologne - Frankfurt - CMB - Negombo - Colombo - Yapuhawu - Wilpattu - Mihintale - Anuradhapura - Polonnaruwa - Sigiriya - Dambulla - Kandy - Ella - Buduruwagala - Tissamahara - Kataragama - Bundala - Rekawa - Galle - CMB - Frankfurt - Cologne - Diefenbach

My brother Frank thinks that the trip from the Eifel region to Frankfurt and back would be the real adventure. I would change "adventure" to "uncertainty". Google AI writes: "Deutsche Bahn (DB) is known for its unreliability, especially in long-distance travel. Many trains are delayed or canceled, leading to frustration among passengers. The main cause of this unreliability lies in the dilapidated and overloaded rail network, as well as the numerous construction sites required for its renovation." And I once wrote about the feeling of being stranded after a trip [5].

I didn't meet my brother Lutz and my sister-in-law in Sri Lanka; we just missed each other in Galle (by an hour or two). However, I had run into them once by chance at Frankfurt Airport (in the security area) when they were returning from a trip and I was just starting my own. I'll tell you more about them later.

After a very short night (!), we arrived at the airport in Sri Lanka. I remembered the old airport, where you were greeted by a mixture of cinnamon and kerosene smells. This time it was different, because you went straight from the plane into the terminal building. Then we immediately continued on to Negombo, where we explored the town, the fish market, and of course, the boats typical to the Negombo area. After that, we went to Colombo and strolled through the old town. It was lovely and exactly what we needed to completely forget about jet lag. We stayed at the Galle Face Hotel, which still retains a touch of colonial atmosphere. A museum section commemorates the British royal family.

In Yapahuwa, we visited the rock fortress – it involves climbing quite a few stairs, but the view is worth it. From there, we continued past salt pans to a hotel near Wilpattu National Park, interestingly situated on a lagoon. We set off early the next day, as early morning wildlife viewing is recommended. After seeing elephants, birds, buffalos, and deer, we drove to Anuradhapura.
We stayed two nights in Anuradhapura and visited Mihintale, considered the "cradle of Buddhism". There, we also visited the foundations of an Ayurvedic hospital.

After seeing the 14-meter-high monumental Buddha statue from the 5th century AD, we arrived at Minneriya National Park. The ancient Lake Minneriya, built in the 3rd century AD, is also located there. with the Ekho Lake House situated right on its shores.

Onward to Polonnaruwa, for centuries the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom, only to be reclaimed by jungle until its rediscovery in 1890.

In Sigiriya, we encountered mass tourism, as tourists moved their way up the rock and steel stairs like a snake. Photographing the Cloud Maidens is no longer permitted; I'll have to check if I still have an old slide. From the rock, there's a beautiful view of the plain. There's still jungle there, and I'll tell you about the tourist who ignored the warnings and…

We also visited the cave temples of Dambulla (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The walls are covered from top to bottom with colorful depictions of the historical Buddha. From Aluvihara – where the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka/Tipitaka) was written down for the first time in the first century BCE [6] – we traveled to Kandy, where we stayed at the Queens Hotel. The hotel dates back to 1844 and is located opposite the Temple of the Tooth.

On our journey, we visited a rubber plantation and then, of course, a tea plantation. This was particularly important for me, as I want to write about tea again and I can use some of the photos as illustrations. I had previously had to resort to some 40-year-old pictures for my old tea articles. Then we arrived in Ella, where we climbed Little Adam's Peak and enjoyed the magnificent view of the valley from the hotel. Due to the damage caused by cyclone Diwah in early December 2025, the railway line from Nanu Oya to Ella was still closed, but the line between Badulla and Ella was open; I recommend traveling in that direction as well. It was a delightful journey.

On our way to Tissamahara, we visited rice paddies and sampled fresh mango and curd, a fermented milk product made from buffalo milk (a type of yogurt). In Budurawagala, we saw the reliefs carved into the rock in the 8th and 9th centuries. In Kataragama, the dagoba and a ceremony were on the agenda. I intend to dig out my old notes and scan some old photos for comparison.

We visited Yala National Park and the following day Bundula National Park, where we observed a variety of birds, as well as elephants, monitor lizards, crocodiles, and buffalo. Afterward, we experienced some beach life in Rekawa. We even spotted a few tortoises.

Finally, the end of the trip was approaching. We drove through Galle, where I missed my brother and sister-in-law. One of my fellow travelers was also at the Herder Gymnasium (high school) at the same time, but several grades below me. It was quite a coincidence that two people from Cologne met on a trip organized by a Hamburg tour operator. And, as I discovered when I got home, she and my brother had also graduated from the Herder Gymnasium (high school). We then traveled via Colombo, where we had dinner, to Bandaranaike Airport, and Sri Lankan Airlines flew us back to Germany via Pakistan and Afghanistan. Almost all other airlines were grounded because the war in Iran had started shortly before our trip to Colombo. If the map is to be believed, we practically plunged into the Caspian Sea and resurfaced from the Black Sea. But my brother Lutz and my sister-in-law are still in Sri Lanka, as they flew with Emirates. They extended their vacation and will return via Beijing.

Many thanks to Wolkenbote for a wonderful trip!

Links and Annotations:
[1] Meine Reise nach Sri Lanka 2026 … vor den Details
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2026/03/meine-reise-nach-sri-lanka-2026-vor-den.html 
[2] “Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]:
This is what the Indian poet Kalidasa called his lyrical work, which enjoyed extraordinary popularity. In this poem, a courtier exiled from his homeland commissions a cloud, which is traveling north with all its might, to comfort and greet his beloved who has been left behind. The cloud is to fly over the cities and countries, greeting the friends of the sorrowful man, who so longs to set out himself through the wondrous landscapes.”
https://www.wolkenbote.de/ 
[3] More about Sri Lanka here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka 
The English article is better for the various toponyms as not all are mentioned here on the blog.
[4] https://www.wolkenbote.de/reisen/sri-lanka-2027/ 
[5] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/07/strandungen.html 
Text in German
[6] Pali Canon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali_Canon 
(I've looked it up for this translation.)

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Grusinian or Better Georgian Tea

 

Recently I've written a blogpost on tea in German with the same title [1]. It is also an account on my recent travels through Georgia, so I tranlated and enhanced the German text into what follows.

Since I was travelling through Georgia, I read up on Georgian tea, which is not that easy [2]. Georgia used to be the fifth largest tea producer in the world, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. Older readers may still know the tea as Grusinian tea, which goes back to the Russian term (Грузинский чай), but it's better to say Georgian tea (in Georgian: ქართული ჩაი), which is pronounced "kartuli chai".

The German Wikipedia article has a paragraph about Georgian tea [3], in which we learn that tea has been grown in Georgia in its own hybrids since the middle of the 19th century, that this tea had gained popularity, and that during the Soviet Union up to 152,000 tonnes (new estimation) were produced annually. The market and cultivation collapsed with the downfall of the Soviet Union and again during the Caucasus War in 2008. The Georgian tea producer Gurieli is once again growing tea near Zugdidi, mainly for the Georgian market. Zugdidi (Georgian: ზუგდიდი) [4] is a small town in western Georgia, on the border with Abkhazia and is about 110 m above sea level. But that doesn't mean anything, because the altitude rises quickly to the east of the town, so it is difficult to judge the quality of the tea from Zugdidi's altitude.

There are two articles on Wikipedia in Russian and Georgian that are very different from each other and that I had translated in order to be able to evaluate them [5]. I have also evaluated commercial sites on the Internet [6]. In this context, I would like to point out the two articles about old tea tins from Georgia [7]. And I've found now, looking more into English articles one overview article by Paul Rimple on a commercial site called „culinary backstreets“: „Something Brewing: Georgia’s Tea Renaissance“ [8].

I have to choose from the extensive history of tea cultivation and there are four phases: the very early, when tea arrived in Georgia (19th century), the early 20th century, the Soviet era and the state of tea in Georgia today.
The first tea bushes were planted in 1809 in Mamiya V. Guriel's garden. The Guriel brand is now Georgia's leading tea producer. Miha Eristavi smuggled seeds from China and established the first tea plantation in Georgia's west in 1847, because the climate was favorable. In the second half of the 19th century, the construction of the railway line proved to be an important factor in the development of the tea regions. I had previously read similar thoughts about India and Ceylon [9].
At the end of the 19th century, Lao Jinzhao came to Georgia at the age of 23 and devoted himself to tea cultivation there. He came from a Chinese noble family, but I have not been able to find the correct Chinese spelling of his name; I've tried several combinations of Chinese characters, but could not find him mentioned in Chinese. Some of his personal items are on display in the Ajara Museum in Batumi [10]. In 1900, his tea won at the Paris World Exhibition.
There were already tea plantations at the beginning of the Soviet era, which were expanded in the 1930s. In the 1970s, two developments could be observed: in addition to the increase in the volume of Georgian tea production, there also was a progressive loss of quality. During the mechanical tea harvest, not only the upper, young leaves and tips were harvested, but also the lower, old and coarse leaves, and sometimes even twigs. In addition, harvesting also took place during wet weather, which of couse reduces the quality of the tea.
After independence, sales markets disappeared and many plantations became overgrown. In 1993-1995 and 2008, the wars led to a drastic reduction in tea production. Today, if you look carefully at the landscape, you drive past old plantations by bus or train; sorry no pictures, I've just checked the memory card for failed and uncopied pictures from the bus. A lot of infrastructure has been lost. The recultivation of the overgrown tea fields is hardly affordable for a farmer with a normal income. In addition to the economic consequences, there are also social consequences, because tea-growing culture was an essential part of life and identification in many villages.

Today, tea is being grown again in Georgia, mainly for domestic consumption, which has not yet been met, and little for export, from which the country's economy could benefit. Traditionally, more green tea was produced than black tea. There was also very little yellow tea. There are also organic teas, which are produced by at least one small company. Paul Rimple writes about „ an old Georgian technique, by using a wide-bottomed glass wine decanter for extraction control“ and serving the tea into wine glasses. Tea is widely served in glass instead of porcelain in Europe as well the Middle East including Turkey.

Georgia's black tea tastes mild and a little sour. „You gotta try it!“

Links and Annotations:
[1] Grusinischer oder besser georgischer Tee https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/10/grusinischer-oder-besser-georgischer-tee.html
[2] OK, you can make it easy for yourself, but then you won't learn much. And I'm not one of those people who make it too easy for themselves.
[3] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzer_Tee#Georgien The article is in German and is the section on Georgian tea, which the English article does not have.
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugdidi
[5] https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%A5%E1%83%90%E1%83%A0%E1%83%97%E1%83%A3%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98_%E1%83%A9%E1%83%90%E1%83%98 and https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D1%87%D0%B0%D0%B9
[6] https://www.georgia-insight.eu/georgien/kueche/tee and https://www.die-teeseite.de/tee-aus-georgien.php
[7] https://www.tea-terra.ru/2013/07/02/1766/#more-1766 and https://radion-gz-china.livejournal.com/256671.html
[8] https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/tbilisi/2018/something-brewing/ Published on February 06, 2018.
[9] William H. Ukers, All About Tea, 2 volumes. New York 1935. May now be viewed in digital form: https://www.univie.ac.at/Geschichte/China-Bibliographie/blog/2018/03/22/ukers-all-about-tea/
[10] https://ajaramuseums.ge/en/museums/brothers/Lao-Jin-Zhao-and-Georgian-tea and
https://ajaramuseums.ge/en/museums/brothers/Personal-belongings-of-Lao-Jinjao
PS: The first picture shows flowers on a tea bush in Batumi's Botanical Garden.
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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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Drinking Coffee and Tea in Jordan

 

You might have coffee or tea like you are used to in you home country or you choose to try the local way of preparing coffee and tea.

Coffee
Coffee (Al Qahwa) is prepared very much like Turkish coffee. It goes back to bedouin traditions. Usually it is boiled with cadamom seeds and the sugar is added afterwards but before pouring the coffee into cups. You will also find coffee boiled without sugar at touristic spots (ask for saddah - no sugar) [1]. Don't add milk – actually you won't be tempted in Jordan. And coffee to go is a no go in Jordan. It's something you do to relax, talk to others and therefore you drink it from small cups to be refilled.
Honoré de Balzac is an author well known for consuming lots of coffee. My contact in literature to the Turkish way of brewing coffee comes from reading Heimito von Doderer, an Austrian author [2]. When I've read „Die Strudlhofstiege“ I also used to brew coffee in this style; easy as in Cologne all you need you find in one of the Turkish supermarkets (my parents looked across the garden to the back part of one). In Vienna I specifiacally went to the Strudlhofstiege, but that's another story. So the coffee in Jordan evoked nice memories in literature. But I admit you can drink the coffee and be happy without any literary connotations.

Tea
Tea is boiled in the pot with sugar and herbs. There is sometimes mint added or thyme [3]. You might know the tea, which is brewed in the Maghreb region (Marocco, Algeria etc.), where they use green tea and mint and brew these together. In Jordan only black tea is used. In the traditional way it's served in glasses. To my surprise I found thyme in tea bags as an infusion like camomille, verbena or others.
But I liked best the tea, which had been prepared with a range of spices. Black tea and sugar are boiled and then cardamom, cinnamon (sticks) and sage are added. We sometimes drink sage as an infusion. This form of black tea was very tasty especially in the Wadi Rum after a sunrise in a hefty wind, much like depicted in the movie „The Martian“.

Take home messages
    * try to brew coffee or tea as mentioned
    * if you have the chance, visit Jordan (COVID won't last forever)

Links:
[1] https://wonderstourism.com/blog/coffee-in-jordan-art-and-culture/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimito_von_Doderer
[3] https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/jordan/articles/a-guide-to-ammans-tea-and-coffee-culture/

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The Earl Grey (148)

I happened to walk on the Frankfurter St. to Wiener Platz (Vienna Place) in Cologne as I do nearly every Saturday. To my surprise I’ve seen a sign, maybe an advertisement, for EARL GREY. As I had written on Earl Grey tea recently, I thought to investigate.

I’ve found out that there had been a French novel rock group that published an album about 5-6 years ago. One of the songs is “Heart of Glass”. Not a bad song, but Youtube doesn’t show too many clicks. I’ve found some pieces of information linking the group to San Miguel de Bernuy, but which is in Spain. As you see below the video had 148 likes and Wikipedia tells us: “San Miguel de Bernuy is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. As of 2016, the municipality has a population of 148.” Everything is linked together in this world.

I don’t know, what happened to the group. Maybe the name wasn’t too good as all information on the group is drowned in tea, so to say.

But there’s some other news. Last year there had been a German group of five also with the name EARL GREY, covering rock songs from the 70ies until now. They come from Recke in Westfalia, a town of about 11,000 inhabitants.

I’ll remember all this information, when I’ll sip my next Earl Grey tea. And hopefully next Saturday there won’t be any ad being glued to a light post.

Links:

https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-cup-of-earl-grey-tea.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgtLOKJZXFg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miguel_de_Bernuy

https://www.dorfgespraech-recke.de/download/576/ausgabe-54

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