Indian tea

India is the second largest producer and supplier of tea in the world. & nbsp; Its share is more than a third of the black tea produced in the world. About 840,000 tons of tea leaf are harvested annually.

The most extensive tea plantations are in the northeast of the country, in the state of Assam. And especially fragrant and thin tea varieties grow on the steep slopes of the Himalayas. The most famous of these is Darjeeling, which is grown in the suburb of the same name in northern India.

An equally famous tea plantation is located in the Nilgiri Mountains in northwestern Kerala in the southern part of the country.

Tea bush yield

You can collect young tea shoots at least ka & shy; waiting 7-14 days, because it grows very quickly. Tea of the highest quality is usually obtained from the very first harvest, from the first tea shoots that appeared after its winter & laquo; hibernation & raquo;.

It is estimated that up to 70 kg of ready-made black tea can be obtained from one tea bush per year. Many breeding and agrotechnical studies are currently underway to increase tea productivity.

For example, the average annual harvest of Indian green tea from a bush in 1900 in Assam was about 180 kg, and in the late 1990s the average annual harvest from a bush in Assam was already from 450 to 680 kg.

 

Tea picking seasons

Allocate four tea collection periods Darjeeling :

• The first one starts in late February and runs until mid-April.
• Second & mdash; late May to early June.
• Third & mdash; run from July to September.
• Final charge & mdash; falls in October & ndash; November.

Harvesting of the Nilgiri variety lasts all year round, and the collected tea is processed in December-January.
Thanks to the two monsoons, tea bushes in South India grow very quickly and produce a rich harvest, therefore, harvesting takes place throughout the year.

But despite this, there are two large & laquo; flashefes & raquo; period:

• First & mdash; April to May, giving about 25% of the harvest;
• Second in September & mdash; December, when approximately 35-40% of the annual fee is collected.

The tea year in Assam is divided into three collection seasons.

Every 3-5 days during the picking season, plantations collect tea and divide it into lots according to quality, and the quality can vary dramatically.

The same item cannot be maintained year after year.

The first collection in Assam is in March-April. Usually lasts a month and a half and is not very large in volume.
Tea of the first collection is inferior in quality to tea of the second collection.

Most Assamese tea is collected between July and September. It is this tea of the second collection that enters the international market. It has excellent quality and is highly regarded, has a delicate spicy taste and floral aroma.

Tea & nbsp; FTGFOP is considered the most beautiful.

When the collection is delayed until December, then they talk about the third & laquo; winter & raquo; period.

Tea collection method

There are two main ways of harvesting: manual and machine.

As a rule, when collecting manually, without any machining and according to all the rules, two upper young leaves and buds are collected.

Without focusing on the effectiveness of this method and the general exploitation of young female organisms, one cannot but admit the fact that the best tea is harvested only by hand.

Work for girls is unenviable and, to put it mildly, difficult, even difficult. And to be honest, this is hard and exhausting work under the scorching Indian sun, which nevertheless requires delicate handling of delicate tea leaves, which is poorly capable of male fingers, which is why tea pickers are almost always only women.

In addition, in practice it has been proven that men are not capable of long monotonous boring work. Each specific variety requires its own carefully selected raw materials & mdash; for example, the youngest flushes or only the tenderest buds without open leaves.

The use of tea harvesting mechanisms significantly speeds up the time-consuming process of collecting tea, but negatively affects the quality of the product.

Firstly, the machine can cut old and roughened leaves, twigs, which makes the collection heterogeneous, tea is badly damaged and sometimes undergoes irreversible chemical changes.

Secondly, the machine cannot ensure the integrity of the tea leaf and, as a result, guarantee the quality of the entire process.

Therefore, the shoots collected by the machine go only to cheap varieties of tea.

As a rule, industrial tea collection is tied to the periods of the strongest vegetation, which is infrequent, and its time depends very much on the geographical location of the tea plantation.

For example, in the highland plantations of northern India (Darjeeling) of such seasons of active tea collection, tied to periods of active vegetation & mdash; about four:

Dardjeeling Tea

These are the rarest and most prestigious varieties of black tea.
They are sold & shy; divided into groups depending on the quality of the leaf:

• F.T.G.F.O.P.
• T.G.F.O.P.
• G.F.O.P.

Among the highest rated plantations are:

• Castleton;
• Bloomfield;
• Margaret’s Hope;
• Namring;
• Gielle.

Although it is quite difficult & mdash; distinguish one garden from another & mdash; yet each of them has a specific, only characteristic taste, and the taste of Darjeeling teas also depends on the season.

 

Traditionally, it is believed that the best teas are obtained only from the raw materials of the first harvest, od & shy; nak, this is not entirely true.

The differences between first and late harvests are most pronounced when collecting tea on the ordinary (often flat) plantations of India and Ceylon.

If we talk about varietal teas such as darjeeling, then the differences between crops are not so strong, and rather generate a variety of tastes and aromas.

Assam Tea

This is an excellent tea with a strong, malty taste. Dark-colored infusion. Assam's famous gardens are its pride. These are gardens like Thowra, Numalighur and Napuk.

Tea is very strong, so it is not easy for tea lovers to distinguish one such variety from dru & shy; gogo.

Nilgiri Tea

Perhaps the most delicate and relatively mild Indian tea.

Foodies around the world appreciate Nilgiri tea for its lightness, soft fruity taste and aroma with light citrus notes.

A fresh bouquet of Nilgiri flavour recalls the spring breeze and flowering spring meadows. The special mountain climate in which tea grows determines the unique characteristics of this drink.

Nilgiri differs from other varieties in the rich color of the infusion, bright aroma. Tea plantations are located on the slopes of the mountains in the monsoon rain zone. Most often this variety is used in various blends.

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Tea production is a universal process, despite the differences in volumes and technological solutions, which include standard steps for processing assembled tea leaf. For more information, see Tea Production .