I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
parts of India.

What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.

Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
helpful.

I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.

Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.

Phyll
-------------------------------------------------
http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com
www.tching.com
www.winexiles.com
-------------------------------------------------

PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.

It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.

Phyll > writes:

> [...]
>
> I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,

I'm not sure this is true any more. It's my impression that the
Indian tea industry's importance to the national economy is declining
fast.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On May 31, 9:16 pm, Phyll > wrote:
> I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
> information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
> parts of India.
>
> What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
> Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
> the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
> the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
> from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
> How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
> the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.
>
> Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
> helpful.
>
> I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
> there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
> among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
> moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.
>
> Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Phyll
> -------------------------------------------------http://phyllsheng.blogspot.comwww.tching.comwww.winexiles .com
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
> blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
> within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
> designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
> proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
> is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.
>
> It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
> of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
> pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.

Not on point, but banyan means that it's grown in an environment that
is cliff-like, but not an actual cliff, whereas zhengyan tea is
(allegedly) grown on real cliffs. There is a picture in the book
"Wuyi Cha" by Chi Zongxian a/k/a Teaparker that shows a cliff field in
contrast with a banyan field. The banyan field is basically a steep
hill. Zhoucha is tea that is grown on flat riverbanks next to (zhou)
the cliffs. So zhengyan cha is real cliff tea, banyan cha is half-
cliff tea, and zhoucha is riverbank tea. I would think that in the
context of pu'er, zhengshan means something more like tea that was
grown on the actual mountain, ie. Yiwu Zhengshan is from the mountain
whereas plain old Yiwu could be from anywhere in the village.

On Jun 1, 7:39 am, Alex > wrote:
> On May 31, 9:16 pm, Phyll > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
> > information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
> > parts of India.
>
> > What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
> > Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
> > the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
> > the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
> > from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
> > How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
> > the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.
>
> > Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
> > helpful.
>
> > I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
> > there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
> > among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
> > moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.
>
> > Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> > Phyll
> > -------------------------------------------------http://phyllsheng.blogspot.comwww.tching.comwww.winexiles .com
> > -------------------------------------------------
>
> > PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
> > blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
> > within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
> > designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
> > proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
> > is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.
>
> > It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
> > of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
> > pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.
>
> Not on point, but banyan means that it's grown in an environment that
> is cliff-like, but not an actual cliff, whereas zhengyan tea is
> (allegedly) grown on real cliffs. There is a picture in the book
> "Wuyi Cha" by Chi Zongxian a/k/a Teaparker that shows a cliff field in
> contrast with a banyan field. The banyan field is basically a steep
> hill. Zhoucha is tea that is grown on flat riverbanks next to (zhou)
> the cliffs. So zhengyan cha is real cliff tea, banyan cha is half-
> cliff tea, and zhoucha is riverbank tea. I would think that in the
> context of pu'er, zhengshan means something more like tea that was
> grown on the actual mountain, ie. Yiwu Zhengshan is from the mountain
> whereas plain old Yiwu could be from anywhere in the village.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks for the info, Alex.

Lew, yes, I know where you are going with your comment.

I hope there is someone out here who can shed some light into this
issue. I understand that my questions are quite direct and may be
seen as an attempt to get "undesireable" facts. Trust me when I say
that I don't expect the facts to be one way or the other. I am just
thirsty for this kind of information...which I think as consumers we
have the right to know.

hello !

Rules are pretty simple and clear:

In India - mainly for Darjeeling teas -

If we call a tea single estate - it is 100% manufacured from that
partiucular tea gardens leaf.

When a garden buys leaf from other plantations and manufacturers it in
their own factory - normally they do not mark it as their brand - they
go on to create a seperate brand identiy specifying to the buyers that
the particular brand carries tea from bought tea leaves and not its
own tea garden leaves.

If blending is done then the tea cannot be said that it hails from a
single estate - it becomes a blended tea.

For a Darjeeling tea to remain as pure Darjeeling tea - it can be
blended with only teas from the certified Darjeeling area - (from 86
tea estates producing approximately 10 million kilos in one year).

I hope i have been able to explain clearly - if not please feel free
to ask for clarifications.

Thanks
Ankit Lochan
www.indusfoundation.com


On Jun 1, 6:16 am, Phyll > wrote:
> I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
> information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
> parts of India.
>
> What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
> Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
> the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
> the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
> from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
> How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
> the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.
>
> Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
> helpful.
>
> I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
> there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
> among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
> moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.
>
> Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Phyll
> -------------------------------------------------http://phyllsheng.blogspot.comwww.tching.comwww.winexiles .com
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
> blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
> within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
> designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
> proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
> is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.
>
> It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
> of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
> pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.

Phyll wrote:

> I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
> information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
> parts of India.
>
> What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
> Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
> the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
> the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
> from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
> How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
> the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.
>
> Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
> helpful.
>
> I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
> there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
> among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
> moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.
>
> Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Phyll
> -------------------------------------------------
> http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com
> www.tching.com
> www.winexiles.com
> -------------------------------------------------
>
> PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
> blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
> within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
> designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
> proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
> is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.
>
> It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
> of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
> pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.

Hi Phyll,
Ankit's answer is probably the best answer you can get on this subject
regarding single estate teas. I believe the tea estates have a
reputation at stake and it's easily ruined with lower grade leaves.
The same thing, though, isn't quite true for blended Darjeeling teas.
These are somewhat "anonymous" as to their origin and therefore often
blended with various amounts of other leaves (statistics indicate that
about four times more Darjeeling is sold than harvested).
But Darjeeling has recently been granted the status of geographical
indication (GI) (see
http://www.telegraphindia.com/104110...ry_3959015.asp
for example) and I'm curious whether this helps with the problem of
fakes.

Jo
--

On Jun 2, 1:18 pm, "Jo" > wrote:
> Phyll wrote:
> > I have never come across -- nor have I been able to find - any solid
> > information on the blending rules of tea from Darjeeling and other
> > parts of India.
>
> > What I am trying to ask is, if a tea is being labeled as, say,
> > Makaibari Estate, does it mean that all the leaves are harvested from
> > the estate's tea farms surrounding the property? Can an estate blend
> > the leaves with those that they buy from other co-ops (negociants)
> > from different areas inside or outside, say, Darjeeling appellation?
> > How many percent of the tea leaves in question must come from within
> > the Darjeeling region? Etc. Etc. Etc.
>
> > Anything at all to shed some light into this issue would be very
> > helpful.
>
> > I suppose that since tea is an important driver of economy in India,
> > there must be some rules on blending that is enforced or self-policed
> > among tea growers and trade associations. I am speculating at the
> > moment...but this is what I'm trying to find out.
>
> > Your insight is appreciated. Thanks.
>
> > Phyll
> > -------------------------------------------------
> >http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com
> >www.tching.com
> >www.winexiles.com
> > -------------------------------------------------
>
> > PS: On the other hand, my limited understanding of the Chinese
> > blending rule is that: a tea given the designation "zheng" comes from
> > within a specified area. For example, a Wuyi tea with "Zheng Yen"
> > designation comes within the "scenic district" of the Wuyi mountain
> > proper. "Zhou-Cha" is outside of the Zheng Yen, and lastly "Ban yen"
> > is half-way between the Zheng Yen and the Zhou Cha areas.
>
> > It's more unclear with Yunnanese pu'er, however. Probably inclusion
> > of small percentage of leaves from a famous district is enough for a
> > pu'er producer to claim that the ENTIRE tea is from that famous area.
>
> Hi Phyll,
> Ankit's answer is probably the best answer you can get on this subject
> regarding single estate teas. I believe the tea estates have a
> reputation at stake and it's easily ruined with lower grade leaves.
> The same thing, though, isn't quite true for blended Darjeeling teas.
> These are somewhat "anonymous" as to their origin and therefore often
> blended with various amounts of other leaves (statistics indicate that
> about four times more Darjeeling is sold than harvested).
> But Darjeeling has recently been granted the status of geographical
> indication (GI) (seehttp://www.telegraphindia.com/1041103/asp/frontpage/story_3959015.asp
> for example) and I'm curious whether this helps with the problem of
> fakes.
>
> Jo
> --- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thank you, Ankit and Jo, for the excellent information! Sorry that
this "thank you" came rather late...I haven't visited RFDT in a few
days.

Having read your comments, I can not help but wish that the Chinese
tea industry (pu'er and other producer-marketed tea excepted) is
identified by estates or producers, too, instead of by the vendors.
As it is, I don't think vendors have the ability to perpetually
guarantee consistency of a product...buying contracts change,
severance of business relationship with middlemen happens, etc. but
the vendor brand remains the same! I mean, I want to be able to get
that Wuyi Da Hong Pao produced by XYZ year after year, and able to get
it from multiple vendors, and not just from vendor ABC that is located
in Malaysia or New Zealand, for example (I'm in the USA). That's me
speaking as an ordinary, every day consumer, though.

Do you (or anyone here) have any opinion on this? I'm sure that my
comment has a lot to do with my lack of understanding on the workings,
the bureaucracy, or whatever complicated reasonings or methods the
Chinese oolong tea trade is conducted in. I understand I alone can
not move mountains.

Phyll