On Oct 24, 1:06 am, Michael Plant wrote:
Curiously, once upon a time, Darjeelings were produced much darker than they are now, or so they say. The greener style is a rather modern development since so many people in North America and Europe want them that way. I'd say they are more analogous to Oolongs since they are subjected to a certain amount of oxidation. But, they are so distinct that they deserve a category of their own. That's my opinion.

N. Oxidation is limited by using a very hard wither (dries the leaves
out). Biological systems need water in which to react - low water =
little oxidation. Very hard wither can be done at high elevation and
low humidity (thus early season flushes and tops of mountains are
conducive). Cannot be achieved in wet - hence "Rains Darjeelings" and
"Autumnal Darjeelings" have the black tea character that they used to
have before hard withering became the norm (in the 1950's).

M I'm told that 10 times more "Darjeeling" is sold than produced.
Most likely true.

N. Most likely untrue. Unfortunately the comprehensive International
Tea Committee "Green Book" of tea statistics does not show Darjeeling
as a separate producing area and neither does next best source F O
Licht's "World Tea Markets Monthly" (curious - but the Indians have
always been coy about Darjeeling production) however it is generally
agreed that current production is between 10,000 and 11,500 tonnes
annually. Ten times this amount means selling at least 100,000 tonnes
of "faux Darjeeling" - around 7% of all the tea exported for world
trade whereas Darjeeling is virtually absent from sale in the really
big tea drinking countries. In the days when tea statistics were my
job it was reckoned that the dilution was around 2 to 3x at most.

M The customer will always be supplied.

N. Correct. Darjeeling is mostly cut/diluted/blended with the very
similar orthodox teas from Nepal - grown on the other side of the same
mountains, and made by tea makers trained in Darjeeling. Nepali
orthodoxes can be very good but "the customer" in his ignorance
prefers an expensive bad Darjeeling to a good inexpensive Nepali - as
ever brand loyalty overcomes sensory discrimination. Hence the use of
the Nepal grown teas (just a mule trek away) for cutting the
Darjeelings. To be fair to the Darjeeling producers I should point
out that most of this adulteration occurs in Calcutta rather than in
Darjeeling itself.

It is worth noting that Darjeeling tea marks 'Darjeeling' and
'Darjeeling logo' are now legally protected for Geographical
Identity. In order to protect as GI, the Tea Board of India
registered the marks in various countries, including the United
States, Canada, Japan, Egypt, and the United Kingdom and some other
European countries, as a trade mark/CTM. UK Trade Registry granted
registration of the word 'Darjeeling' as of 30 March 1998 under the UK
Trade Marks Act 1994. The United States has also accepted the
application of the Tea Board for the registration of 'Darjeeling' as a
CTM in October 2002. Misuse is monitored by Compumark and policed by
Tea Board of India.

Nigel at Teacraft