Darjeeling, in West Bengal, India, is an exceptionally beautiful part of the world. Sitting at the foot of the Himalayas, it is a region covered in rolling hills thick with lush vegetation, and dramatic, towering mountains for a backdrop. The stunning geography is just one of the reasons it’s famous, however – while Darjeeling's hill stations are a recognisable sight, it’s the tea leaves grown here that really put the area on the map.
Darjeeling’s climate is unlike any other tea-producing region in the world. The cooler, drier atmosphere effects how the tea plants grow and how they’re processed, resulting in the unique, delicate and floral flavour that’s made Darjeeling tea so highly prized. But it’s not just the location that’s responsible for this very special tea; the plants themselves are derived from Chinese varieties brought over by the British around 150 years ago, which makes them different from all the other tea gardens in India.
150 years might sound like a long time, but compared to China – where tea has been produced and appreciated for thousands of years – the teas of Darjeeling are relatively new. The fact that it’s so quickly become one of the most revered varieties of tea in the world is testament to the people who grow, pick and produce it. But what exactly is it that makes Darjeeling tea some of the best in the world? It comes down to a number of factors: altitude, climate and the skill of the people who make it.
While the region is at the foot of the Himalayas, it’s still high up in the clouds – some tea estates are over 2,000 metres above sea level. This means in the winter months temperatures are lower than normal, which causes the tea plants to lay dormant until spring (when new growth occurs). This is why tea grown in Darjeeling differs from leaves in other regions; the cooler winter weather means the flavours in the leaf accumulate more slowly than anywhere else.
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A journey through Darjeeling and its world-class tea gardens