Fresh Cup Magazine

Tea Trek: Nepal
by Michelle D. Williams

Nepal's Tea Zone consists of five districts: Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar, Tehathum, and Dhankuta. Of these, Jhapa is the only tea-growing region situated in the lowland plains. All others are scattered over the hillsides at elevations up to 7000 feet, making for ideal tea-growing conditions. This tea is often referred to as the Himalayan Hill Orthodox Tea of Nepal.

   Tea is not native to Nepal, and exactly how it came to be planted in the country is a bit murky. One story claims that the Chinese Emperor, Mu Tsung, gave a gift of tea seeds to Nepal's prime minister Jung Bahadur Rana during a visit to China in the early 1860s. Upon his return to Nepal, he instructed colonel Gajraj Singha Thapa, the chief administrator of the eastern Ilam district and a close relative, to plant the first tea garden. Another story asserts that while on a tour of Darjeeling, Thapa was so impressed by the tea plantations of the area and so delighted by the steaming beverage he was given wherever he went that he set out to grow his own tea in the eastern Ilam regions. Whatever story you subscribe to, one fact is agreed upon: By the end of the 19th century, tea gardens were well on their way in Nepal.

   The first estates were Ilam and Soktim, both in the Ilam district, each occupying more than 100 acres. For decades, the tea plantations were owned by government officials and businessmen living in Kathmandu, and teas were produced primarily for domestic consumption. It wasn't until the late 1950s that there was even a road into the country. Everyone traveled by foot, and all of the tea that was exported had to be carried out of the country in baskets. The logistics of transporting tea made it very difficult for Nepal to find a place in the world tea market.

   According to David Lee Hoffman, owner of Silk Road Teas, an importer based in Lagunitas, Calif., many of Nepal's tea farms were created not to compete in the world market, but to augment the tea supply from Darjeeling. "Very often, producers would bring teas from Nepal into Darjeeling and sell them as Darjeeling teas," he says.

   Hoffman says that since the implementation of the Darjeeling logo program, this practice has virtually vanished from the open market. But while the people of Darjeeling are trying to protect their tea's integrity, nothing is 100 percent foolproof. "Money talks louder than philosophy," he says. "If there's a profit to be made and there's a scarcity of product, people are going to look to see what else is available." He adds that he doesn't mind too much, because Nepal's teas often share the same taste profile and aroma that you get from true Darjeelings. "I certainly can't taste the difference," he says. "I have had some excellent tea from Nepal."

   While many experts say there is little distinction between a Nepalese tea and a Darjeeling, Nepalese teas have not enjoyed the market popularity of Darjeelings. This is due in part to Nepal's extreme isolation and also to the lack of a marketing force behind the country's tea industry. For many years, most estate owners lived in Kathmandu, rather than on site where they could participate in the tea production and sales. Nepalese teas that were not sold to Darjeeling or used for blending had to be sent down to Calcutta for sale by an Indian broker. Without a strong representative from Nepal supervising the brokering process, Nepalese teas were largely ignored. This situation is slowly improving, with some of the tea now being brokered directly from Nepal. Still, because Nepalese teas have yet to develop a solid reputation, very few people in the world tea market are requesting them.

   Another problem that once clouded the quality of some Nepalese teas is that for many decades, Nepal's processing factories would bulk together all of the tea produced with no regard to the individual leaf. The Nepalese tea producers focused on quantity over quality, and they concentrated on developing a fancy leaf style rather than top-notch flavor characteristics.

   According to Mike Spillane, president of G.S. Haly Co., an importer in Redwood City, Calif., this attractive leaf style helped Nepalese tea producers sell more tea to Darjeeling. "They used the [Nepalese] tea because it was so attractive and neutral," he says. "Then they only had to add some Darjeeling, which had real character but wasn't all that good-looking. Then they would have a nice blend."

   Spillane says that today this practice of bulking the good teas with the more average has changed. Now factories carefully select better teas to create an overall higher-quality product. He explains that part of this shift in production practices came when Nepalese estates transitioned from government control to private ownership. According to Spillane, these new owners began to recognize that there were good teas coming in, but they were wasted by being blended with inferior teas. "In fact, this was a very bad year for Darjeeling, and I know that some Nepalese teas were better than the Darjeelings," he says. "Not on the high end, but some of the average Nepalese teas were better."

   Still, most tea producers in Nepal are determined to position their teas in the world market. According to Guranse Tea, an estate covering approximately 500 acres in the Dhankuta region, Nepal produces about six million kilograms of tea annually, from plantations covering about 25,000 acres. Himalayan orthodox tea is grown on about 10,000 acres that yield 0.6 million kilograms per year, while CTC tea, grown in the lowland Terai region, covers about 15,000 acres, with a production of 5.4 million kilograms. Most of the Himalayan orthodox tea is produced for export, while much of the CTC yield is consumed domestically.

   The climate and growing season for Nepal is basically identical to that of Darjeeling—ideal conditions for tea. The Himalayan foothill region produces early-morning sunshine, a blend of sun and clouds during the day, then sprinkles in the evening, with intervals of mist or fog. Temperatures remain in the 60- to 70-degree range during the picking season, while the winter months are colder.

   Just like Darjeeling, Nepal produces a first-flush, second-flush, summer-flush, and autumnal, with the first-flush harvest coming about 20 to 30 days later than that of Darjeeling. The majority of Nepal's tea is black. It has a characteristic delicate aroma, bright liquor, and subtle, slight fruity or muscatel flavor. Spillane notes that Nepalese teas are less green and astringent than Darjeelings. "Darjeelings tend to have a green overtone with a sharp point," he says. "You won't get that from Nepal." The country is beginning to produce a very small amount of green tea and virtually no oolongs at this point.

   According to Hoffman, tea is a "people's drink" in Nepal. Everyone drinks it, from the poorest farmer to the urban upper classes. The first thing Nepalis do when a guest arrives at their home is offer a cup of tea. Along the footpaths that meander through the hills, you will find small tea stalls every mile or two serving strong black tea with plenty of sweetener and, generally, buffalo's milk in little disposable terra cotta cups. The cups are expertly thrown on large stone slabs by potters at a rate of more than 10 cups a minute. In the Terai region, which is at a lower elevation and closer to India, cow's milk is used instead of buffalo's milk.

   Some of the nomadic people living in the northern regions of Nepal near Tibet typically drink yak butter tea, or tsamba as it is known in Tibet. This thick beverage is made from a very strong Tibetan pu-erh tea mixed with salt and yak's butter or yak's milk. According to Dawn Campbell, author of The Tea Book, another way of making tsamba is to mix yak's butter, flour and parched barley meal with the strong tea.

   Because yak's butter is a little hard to come by in the United States, Alicia Rambo, owner of Social Graces Tea Room in Easton, Penn., doesn't serve tsamba to her customers. But she has been offering a Golden Nepal black tea in her shop for about two years. "I got a sample and absolutely fell in love with it," she says. "I love pairing new teas with food, and the Golden Nepal went so well with carrot cake that it blew my mind. It was just as fabulous by itself."

   Rambo describes Nepalese teas as having sweet and nutty notes that complement spices like cinnamon and ginger. She says the teas' light liquors remind her of a first-flush Darjeeling. Rambo sells her Golden Nepal at $10.50 for a quarter pound. "For the price, I like the tea just as much [as a Darjeeling]," she says. "I've had $100-per-pound Darjeelings, and they're beautiful. I think real connoisseurs can enjoy that difference, but in my market—especially in my region—people won't buy a $100 tea."

   With such an appealing price-quality ratio and more receptions like Rambo's, Nepalese teas are sure to break into the world market. Various organizations, including the National Tea & Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), Nepal Tea Planters Association (NTPA), Nepal Tea Association (NTA), and Himalayan Orthodox Tea Producers Association, have sprung up over the past 15 years to help support this growing industry. All of these groups are involved in the development, promotion and marketing of Nepal's tea industry. They represent farmers, packers and exporters and work to implement policies concerning the tea industry.

   In 2000, the late King Briendra launched the National Tea Policy, which aims to increase the amount of acreage devoted to tea, develop employment opportunities within the impoverished country, create lending policies to stimulate the economy, open tea research and training centers, and continue to situate Nepal in the world market. In addition, Nepal hosted its first industry conference in April 2001, with government officials, tea entrepreneurs, investors, and tea delegates from around the world gathering to discuss the future of Nepal's tea industry.

   Enthusiasm for Nepal's tea is soaring among growers, buyers and connoisseurs, which should help the tea establish itself among the world's greatest varieties. Seems that such sublime tea is just another shining facet of the brilliant Himalayan gem that is Nepal.

Michelle D. Williams is a freelance writer and editor and frequent contributor to Fresh Cup Magazine. She lives in Portland, Oregon.