Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Bad news from Darjeeling, the "queen of hills".
After the entire management left the "Chung Tung/Chon Tong" estate on
January 13th, see the story:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/106011...ry_5718394.asp

Babu Ram Dewan, 62, ex-worker in the estate, writer and social activist
for the poor workers hung himself from the ceiling of one of the
gardens weighing sheds. In his suicide note he accused the proprietor
of the garden for his death.

Tomorrow, Sunday, the whole valley will be on total strike - one more
time.

Karsten / Darjeeling

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Where does the $ go? To the middlemen?

We are paying good money for Darjeelings here.

Is the demand in India/world low?

Is the price too low? Quantity of production too low?

It is sad to see the Darjeeling industry in financial turmoil. It can't be
good for the product if the producers are going bankrupt.

--
Aloke
----
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> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Bad news from Darjeeling, the "queen of hills".
> After the entire management left the "Chung Tung/Chon Tong" estate on
> January 13th, see the story:
> http://www.telegraphindia.com/106011...ry_5718394.asp
>
> Babu Ram Dewan, 62, ex-worker in the estate, writer and social activist
> for the poor workers hung himself from the ceiling of one of the
> gardens weighing sheds. In his suicide note he accused the proprietor
> of the garden for his death.
>
> Tomorrow, Sunday, the whole valley will be on total strike - one more
> time.
>
> Karsten / Darjeeling
>

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Aloke Prasad schrieb:

> Where does the $ go? To the middlemen?

Mostly to European companies who buy ridiculously cheap and sell at
enormous high prices (and who press for cheaper and cheaper tea, and
therefore les and less quality as long as the name Darjeeling is a
guaranteed good sell - and as long as the stupid customers go along).

If you produce good orthodox teas with a traditional and solid quality
and struggle with preventing your heritage you're of the market quite
quickly. Only the absolute top tea estates with a small amount of real
high quality teas (which can be sold to incredible prices to tea
lovers) and of course all those estates who changes to cheap mass
pruduction teas, esp. for the so calles 'campaign teas', survive.


Dieter

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

It's always seemed to me that the price of something so tasty as
Darjeeling tea has been suspiciously low.

I think the appelation needs to do some serious marketing to
differentiate itself better in the broad population.

Yes, I'm saying I want suasion to increase intangible desire and
tangible demand causing the price to go UP. Because the alternative is
that the gardens go to the monkeys and the weeds.

Don't blame or punish the workers. When you see proprietors offering
to cut pay 50% and fire large chunks of the workforce in any business
with well-developed labor division, you're looking at lazy proprietors.

Any idea that tea or Darjeeling tea is losing out to "competition" is
ludicrous. Coffee isn't tea, and other tea isn't Darjeeling tea.

--Blair

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Sidman wrote:
> Methinks a cup of second flush Assam from the Moran/Sonari area is as
> good as tea can get.

Throw me an estate name or three and I'll hunt some down.

--Blair

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> Don't blame or punish the workers. When you see proprietors offering
> to cut pay 50% and fire large chunks of the workforce in any business
> with well-developed labor division, you're looking at lazy proprietors

Exactly. Just let me add that now with the first flush coming up
smaller farmers sell their plucked green leaves for an average 20-25
Rupies/kg (~30-65 US cent) to the larger estates where they are
manufactured and finally sold as "single estate" tea. Now guess what
the workers see of that money. It's usually around 1 US$ and less for a
full working day and of course only during the plucking seasons. Some
of the gardens (Makhaibari) provide school education and medical care
for their workers and families but the majority of the workers don't
see too much of that. I'm not even mentioning the issue of pesticides
and their related health hazards here. You'd really have to visit one
of those villages next to the estates and see the poverty and pesticide
related health hazards among the workers and their families to believe
it.
One more excerpt from Baburam Dewan's suicide note:
"What kind of justice is this that a single man can push 6500 men to
the brink of starvation?",
Note that he was just mentioning one of 83 estates in Darjeeling with a
total workforce of about 50000 people.

As Dieter mentioned before this kind of justice is supported by a
market - greedy proprietors, brokers and vendors and finally
uncritical, "stupid" customers - who mostly don't give a xxx on the
backgrounds of the stuff they're consuming.

Back to the lazy (or whatever) proprietors let me mention just one
example (out of many): the "Happy Valley" estate, right below
Darjeeling Bazaar. A beautiful garden with wonderful plants, own
factory and optimal road connections. Their tea ? Just another sad
story from the "queen of hills" ... to be continued.

Karsten / Darjeeling

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

@ Blair:
How about Halmari - they're good.
One way to find out the really good gardens is to check out their
average prices achieved over the year. The records can be accessed at
this web site - http://www.assamteaxchange.com. This is the official
website of the GTAC [ Guwahati Tea Auction Centre] and they record all
the teas sold through the Auction System in Guwahati. The Auction
system brings together buyers from all over the world to bid on teas on
offer - it's a clear indicator of a tea garden's quality vis-a-vis
other gardens. For exmaple - an estate averaging Rs 100 [Halmari] will
be considered to be making superior quality tea to an estate averaging
Rs 60 [lots of them]. Another factor to look for while comparing
gardens is to look at the quantum of teas sold. Let us take the example
of an estate averaging Rs 100 but having sold only 10000 kgs, and an
estate averaging Rs 90 but having sold 200000 kgs. It's quite obvious
that there has to be some minimum quantity sold level to make a fairer
comparison. We generally only compare estates having sold 150000 kgs or
more in the GTAC. This then ensures that there is a 'consistency'
parameter attached to the findings.
Another thing which most people may not know is that most of the really
good estates [Rs 80 average or higher in 2005-06] do not sell their
produce in retail form. Blenders and packeteers buy their produce in
the Auctions, blend them and then sells this blend to the end consumer.
Without doubt, the quality of the blend is not superior to any top
estate's tea in stand-alone form. Some of these estates are now
realizing this, and to optimize profits as well as bring to the
consumer better quality tea are now getting into direct retail
themselves. If you're lucky enough to ever taste some good estate's tea
- unblended and factory fresh, you'll never want to drink those
Unilever/Tetley/Brook Bond/Earl Grey packets again. They dont hold a
candle to even a medium-good estate's tea in it's unblended form.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

NOTE:
To check average price, one usually takes all tea sold from sale 14
[which starts in April] to sale 13 [ end March next year].

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

RE 'Lazy' proprietors and' well-developed' labor divisions.
A few years ago, in a tea estate called Sapoi in Assam, a few hundred
workers surrounded two of the estate's executive officer's
[Manager/Asst Manager]bungalows. The Manager/Asst.Managers were inside
with their wives and family, including small children. They finally
came out to reason with the workers, who promptly caught them, doused
kerosene on them, and burnt them alive, also occasionally hacking at
them with daos and other sharp instruments and they burnt. This
happened in full view of the Managers/Asst Managers wives and kids.
The actual reason - The Manager and his staff has caught a few of their
workers illegally tapping into the electricity lines [electricity
theft]. When they were cautioned, some of them incited the others and
this incident happened.

Lets talk about worker benefits now. The tea garden workers today are
far, far better off then their neighbouring village folk. They are
guaranteed quarters, medical benefits, ration, and a whole host of
other welfare, which the poor village folk can only dream of. Apart
from this, their wages are not linked to productivity. A worker who
goes and plucks even 1 kg of leaf in a day [as against the stipulated
21 kgs] is still guaranteed a minimum amout of around Rs 45, not
including benefits. In the recent wage negotiation that happenned, when
the matter of productivity linked wages was broached, it was rejected
out of hand by the workers union. A pertininent question worth asking
then is - does a business [and it is a business] retain all its workers
even if it means it results in low productivity and losses, or is it a
better idea to lay off some workers for the greather common good?

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

"Sidman" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>@ Blair:
> How about Halmari - they're good.
> One way to find out the really good gardens is to check out their
> average prices achieved over the year. The records can be accessed at
> this web site - http://www.assamteaxchange.com. This is the official
> website of the GTAC [ Guwahati Tea Auction Centre] and they record all
> the teas sold through the Auction System in Guwahati. The Auction
> system brings together buyers from all over the world to bid on teas on
> offer - it's a clear indicator of a tea garden's quality vis-a-vis
> other gardens.

Are Darjeeling teas handled at this exchange?

--
Aloke
----
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Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

The Darjeeling Teas mostly go to the Kolkata [ Calcutta ] exchange. I
do not think the Kolkata exchange has an online site, but you can go to
the following broker sites and check their kolkata sale catalogues -
both sold and on offer. The sites are -
http://www.jthomas-india.com
http://www.carrittmoran.com
Go to the catalogue page and click on relevant link.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

thanks for all that valuable information, Sidman!
a few questions though:
http://www.jthomas-india.com/main/estatesrch.asp
> what's the difference between valuation and price ? Is it the price/kg in Rupees ? It seems so low !
> what's the meaning of the "K" in KGFOP ?

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

thanks for all that valuable information, Sidman!
a few questions though:
What's the difference between valuation and price ? Is it the price/kg
in Rupees ? It seems so low !
What's the meaning of the "K" in KGFOP ?

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

What does that tell us?

Michael

DING.................

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

>Mostly to European companies who buy ridiculously cheap and sell at
>enormous high prices (and who press for cheaper and cheaper tea, and
>therefore les and less quality as long as the name Darjeeling is a
>guaranteed good sell - and as long as the stupid customers go along).

The same thing can be said about Chinese teas. The top teas here,
nobody ever gets to try them because they usually go straight to
Beijing.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Kevin -
I don't know what the 'K' stands for in KGFOP.
The standard sizing of grades [CTC] are as follows :
BPS 8-10
BOP 10-12
BP 12-18
PF/OF 18-24
PD 24-30
D 30-on
The numbers denote the mesh size, or the number of openings per inch.
Smaller numbered meshes, therefore, have larger openings, and
consequently catch bigger tea granules.
Now, although the Indian Tea manufacturers by and large follow this
system of gradation, there are by no means bound to follow it exactly
to the last inch. So we have one estate manufacturing size 12-18 grades
and calling it a BP, another estate marking the same size as a BOPS
['s' for small], while yet another estate makes a size 14-18 and calls
it a BP also.
Since this grading system is not binding on the manufacturers, the end
produce - the graded tea can, and does vary from estate to eatate in
terms of size.

The valuation of a lot [ usually a lot denotes one invoice of between
20-40 bags] is done by a team of tea tasters who, after sampling the
tea, mark it for it's cup quality, appearance, and infusion. A Halmari
valued at Rs 140 means that the tea broker has assigned a value of that
amount/per kg to that lot. As against this, the price is the actual
price realized for the same lot in open auction. Invariably, teas sell
at a discount to their valuations. Earlier, teas sold Rs 5 up or down
of their valuations were then considered to have been fairly/accurately
valued. In these modern times, the difference is valuation and price
sometimes exceed Rs 20-30. What this says for the system of valuations
today is obviously not very complimentary.

As for prices being low, thats always been the story. Like I wrote
before, a top quality estate will be happy with a Rs 100 [very happy
indeed!] average for the season. In the auctions only a handful of
estates manage to do this. The fact that the end consumer in India buys
tea in retail form at a markup of Rs 50 or more seems to suggest that
that packeteers also keep a reasonably healthy margin for themselves.
Once the teas leave indian shores, the mark-ups become phenomenal. It
is more likely [NOTE - more likely ] that a tea bought by a packeteer
at Rs 80 in the auctions will finally be sold to someone in the UK or
the States at 10-20 times it's original purchase value.

It'll be nice if a packeteer [ or someone who knows about it] can help
us here by trying to determine what the cost of retail packing and
selling is really like. Maybe then I'll join that battle.

Michael:
The Darjeeling area manufacturers a total of approximately 10 million
kgs of Darjeeling tea a year. However, every year more than 30 million
of 'Darjeeling' teas are sold all over the world. The picture is clear
- there is widespead adulteration going on, in the sense that a lot of
orthodox teas from other areas are being packaged as Darjeeling and
sold. The vast majority of the tea drinking public cannot distinguish
between an authentic Darjeeling and a copy so that's the loophole then.
Many packeteers also go the middle route - they buy 10 kgs of
Darjeeling tea, mix it with, say 40 kgs of some other area orthodox,
and sell it as Darjeeling. In this case also, it escapes thr palate of
all but the most discerning of tea drinkers.
The Indian Government has now mandated that all packets have to carry
the official Darjeeling tea logo [if it's not carrying it - it's
definitely a copy or a mix] and also the contents have to be 100%
Darjeeling. I hope this helps in reducing the adulteration of
Darjeeling tea.
As far as the Assam VS Darjeeling tea argument goes, I suppose it
ultimately boils down to one's personal choice. Assam teas can never
have the flavour of Darjeeling, and Darjeeling teas can never have the
strength of liqour of an Assam. My personal way of drinking, apart from
that one extremely vicious cup in the morning, is to mix an Assam [
Banamalie] with a Darjeeling [Makaibari] in equal ratio. It gives me a
very pleasing combination - the best of both world, if you want to
phrase it that way then.
On a technical level - you have to appreciate that to maintain a
consistent good quality, it is easier to do so if you are manufacturing
50000 kgs as against 500000 kgs. Apart from this, in terms of the teas
themselves - I find Darjeeling [standalone] quite quite thin in liquor,
and although the flavour is great, my bet is the younger plantations
coming up in Sikkim, as well as some Orthodox assams can, and will,
give Darjeelings a run for their money. What I'm saying is this - there
are now a few orthodox making assam estates [eg. mokalbarrie ] who
fetch equally fancy prices like the Darjeelings for their STG's and so
on, and the quality of their produce is easily comparable to a top
Darjeeling. Darjeeling teas have big advantage though- savvier
marketing [ and as anyone will tell you, savvy marketing is more than
half the game won nowadays!]. Darjeeling teas however, can never, even
if they try, reach anywhere close to the same fullness of cup and body
that Assam teas are known for.
Regards
Sid.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Michael,
There's a whole world of orthodox tea on offer. Darjeeling is just one
of them. Whether you want to follow the crowd, or make your own path is
up to you. Both ways are fine.
I'd be glad if you could name some Bangladeshi whole leaf for me to
pick up - maybe you've tried some yourself then? Ofcourse, I assume
that you know that Bangladeshi tea is certainly not of the same quality
as Assam Tea, and that compared to it, Darjeeling whole leaf is more
preferred.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Karsten -
I was in Darjeeling three months ago, and I came across some packets of
Castleton being sold without the Darjeeling logo. When I enquired about
it, the shopkeeper told me the teas were genuine and never mind the
logo - he guaranteed it was the real mc-coy. The shop, being as it,
situated on the Mall [along the stables way] has some other darjeelings
on offer too - but I backed out because I couldn't find a logo.
I guess Nathmulls is the safest shop.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Sidman wrote:
snip
> The shop, being as it,
> situated on the Mall [along the stables way] has some other darjeelings
> on offer too - but I backed out because I couldn't find a logo.

Well, you'll even find authentic Castletons down in the Chowk bazaar
(the black market), of course without the logo, but for example my old
pal Mr.R sells the real McCoy (I know it from the guy he gets his teas
from). Concerning the shops on the mall (between Chworasta and the
stables) I'm not too sure about those guys (I know them for years ;-).
Come back the next day and they tell you it's Makhaibari or something
else that sound nice. Same for the guys down on the main road.

> I guess Nathmulls is the safest shop.
Not necessarily so, there are quite a few around here. The Castletons
you can find at Nathmulls are certainly authentic, but how about the
invoice ? Though Castleton is one of my favoured estates for seconds,
the name alone doesn't make it for me, too many folks just go for names
and some of the vendors know how to handle that, buying the cheapest
drinkable invoices they can get their hands on.
Opposed to China, where in most shops you can sample the teas you are
interested in, there is no such thing in Darjeeling.
Should you come back to Darjeeling take your time, shop around for free
samples, make notes, get back to the hotel and steep away before you
buy anything.

Cheers,
Karsten / Darjeeling (off to my room and a pot of 2005 Thurbo FF,
snatched from a consignement that'll be given to the King of B... <big
g>).

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

"Should you come back to Darjeeling take your time, shop around for
free
samples, make notes, get back to the hotel and steep away before you
buy anything"
Well, I spent 12 years in Darjeeling, and I can swear that the best
cups of tea I ever drank were in a small, broken down shack you come
across just after passing the YMCA hostels on the Jalapahar Road. When
I asked them what the tea was, they just smiled and said - 'oh a bit of
this and that really'. I found that to be the best advice I'd ever
received in 'the best cup of tea' category.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Thats pretty weldone Sid. Tea is a touchy drink, while preparing and
drinking one has to be in a mentally elevated condition. Be it
Darjeeling or Assam, be an artist in preparing and drinking tea. I
personally would like an early morning Daj with no milk and rest of the
day strong Assam with milk, but in days of cocktails it would be great
to try out CHAI-TEA, I believe its the way American are taking.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

I used to visit one of the shacks opposite the horse stables next to
the chowrasta for a cup of tea before the didi was rotated out of
business. She used to mix some pretty cheap CTC Assam with a broken DJ
from the local market which resulted in a fairly strong but wonderful
brew. She showed me where to get those teas, how to prepare them her
way, but I never got it right myself, sniff ...

Karsten / Darjeeling

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

There was another 'didi's' shop near the school I studied in [in Darj]
- we called it Jord's and she served you tea that was as strong as roxy
in the morning! Her idea of a blend was two spoons Terai, one pinch
Darjeeling and chasing with Chungh. Ofcourse, we loved her for her
chasers more than anything else.

AC -
I agree with you - tea is a very touchy drink, and tea drinkers
touchier still about their favorite blends and what-have-you. I have
decided that I am going to manufacture, for a day, a single line of CTC
where I will not worry too much about the appearance [so it will be
nice and brownish then], but instead concentrate on a 70% wither to go
with a long ferment. That I'll pack and keep for personal consumption.
Remember the days when you didnt care about appearance as long as the
cup was fully brisk, and creamed down in 10 secs flat?

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Sidman wrote:
> Her idea of a blend was two spoons Terai, one pinch
> Darjeeling and chasing with Chungh. Ofcourse, we loved her for her
> chasers more than anything else.

Sidman, do you mean "chang", the local all-purpose medicine (made from
fermented millet) ?
This afternoon my friend Pema returned from Sikkim with a "Tongba"
(bamboo mug with straw) and some 5 kg of homemade Chang for me. He
probably prepares the most dangerous chang I ever had in Sikkim, I
usually swallow a handful of Aspirins, Vitamin B & C and a bottle of
"Liv(er) 52" before I dive into it.
Mighty tasty stuff though.

Karsten / Darjeeling

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Karsten -
Yes, I meant Chang. The best I ever had was in the Hot Stimulating Cafe
down Hooker Road [the road leading from the Mall to the Gymkhana club,
LC, Governor's House..]. I was staying at The Mayfair but the hot chang
in hollow bamboo was so good I kept going everyday like it was a
powerful addiction [which is was]. The Cafe had a pretty good decent
collection of music too!!
Well - the Assam season has started too. We had our first day of
plucking here in the Estates and got a few thousand kgs of green leaf
for the first day effort. If you are interested in a first flush Assam
CTC brew Karsten, let me know - I'll send you some samples and we can
exchange notes. I'll leave you to decide the quality but I'm guessing
it's going to be be better than last year, simply because we have noted
that this year, the DS sections are coming into leaf quicker than the
UP sections which are really not doing as well - I suspect the lack of
rain in December and January caused this.

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Aloha Sidman,

> Yes, I meant Chang. The best I ever had was in the Hot Stimulating Cafe
> down Hooker Road [the road leading from the Mall to the Gymkhana club,
> LC, Governor's House..].

Bling, that rang my bell - the one and only hot stimulating cafe in
Darjeeling. I go there twice a week, but rather for the chai, a pipe
and the music (Hendrix, Dylan, The Who and the rest). BTW: Kiran is
still hanging around ;-)

> Well - the Assam season has started too. We had our first day of
> plucking here in the Estates and got a few thousand kgs of green leaf
> for the first day effort.

I guess you're pretty lucky planters these days, I'm just back from one
of our village projects and again the same sad story, no flush, just
some of the buds have awakened, most of the plants look like they have
been freshly pruned. These days some of the estates over here produce
their teas in the range of around 5-10 kg (sic!) - a rather depressing
sight.

> If you are interested in a first flush Assam CTC brew Karsten, let me know

Yessss. Let's swap some samples. As soon as I get my hands on some
decent DJ FFs I'll send you some samples from here. I'll drop you a
line later on.

Cheers,
Karsten / Darjeeling

Notes from the hills - The dark side of tea
 

Michael wrote:
> I don't know "didi's," I know "bidis." Are they still around?
Hehehe, "didi" means big or elder sister, used for all girls or ladies
older than you.
And yes, bidis are still around, gazillons of different brands. Also my
beloved Burmese and Tamil cheroots - yum.

Best,
Karsten / Darjeeling