This is the third in a series of blogs from our Spring/Summer trip to Darjeeling : you can find the first two here : Blog 1 : 'A new side to Darjeeling : Tunglabong' and Blog 2 : 'The rise of a new generation : Burbung Busty'
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This blog finds us leaving Burbung Busty and heading down into the misty landscape of Poobong just below Ghoom. This is an area we were to revisit later in the trip but for now we were here to meet Ashweta who is not only a wonderful human and tea maker but also a partner of Rajiv who we met in our previous blog We know that Rajiv makes incredible black tea - Aswrita also makes black tea but also is a very skilled white and green tea maker. We arrived on the evening of a great celebration. The 50 year anniversary of Ashweta’s relatives - cake and tea all round - and what cake it was!
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We were fortunate to be able to stay in Ashweta’s home in the heart of the village and surrounded by beautiful forest.
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Sitting outside Ashweta’s house [drinking tea!] talk turned to her family history. The land owned by the villagers here borders the much larger, privately owned Poobong Tea Estate. Ashweta’s Great grandfather had been the manager at poobong [the area where Ashweta now grows tea had been the place that he had kept his cows] - her grandfather was a primary teacher. Perhaps he was the inspiration for Ashweta taking up a career in teaching herself - before the pandemic Ashweta had run a thriving private school in the village just behind her house. Alongside the teaching she was quietly building her tea expertise. Time to put the tea cup down and head out to see more for ourselves....
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Our walk started with a quick stop at the goats - a firm family favourite and present on every small farm we visited on each trip - before carrying on down some steep steps into the magical land of tea below. Most of the bushes planted here were planted in around 1987 by Ashweta’s grandfather. The top field we passed through was planted with Assam bushes but Ashwrita shared how the rest of the land is mainly chinery bushes - 'there may be less quantity but the quality is high' she shared. Talk turned to the smallholder farmers of Darjeeling 'There are around 800 smallholder farmers in Darjeeling, I work with around 25 of them' Ashweta continued. 'My aim is to encourage people to understand and think about quality when choosing which tea to drink - I don't intend to charge a high price but I want to be able to pay well and to pay the farmers straight away - many of the current pickers of green leaf have not been paid for 3 months -I don't want to operate on this type of credit system. Some farmers here grow leaf but they are not motivated to expand because the pay is so bad. If I pay better I hope to motivate them to grow if they desire'. We took a long walk around the village - through the tea, through the mist, encountering tea pickers along the way.
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'Of course the process for making all of our tea including our Green tea starts at picking' shared Ashweta 'currently we make all the types of tea from the same bushes but with the help of Rajah we will work towards separating cultivars and using them for specific teas. I am continually learning - learning from books and even more from being in the field with video calls with Rajiv, Rajah and other experts'. Ashweta continued 'I planted my own section of tea in 2004 and started plucking in 2007. All my plants were grown from seed not cuttings - I only planted the saplings when they were 12-15 inches tall'. As we walked on we talked about the care and attention that tea needs throughout the year 'you have to look after tea for 12 months of the year' Ashweta shared 'During the picking season I employ 2-4 pickers a day - these are ladies - in one day if I am plucking for black tea - 2 leaves and a bud - they can pluck 25kg - if the standard it one bud one leaf it will be 5-8kg - and if it is just one bud then it will be 1kg. I then have one lady and one man who help me with the weeding and cleaning of the tea area - every 10-15 days you have to weed - for a deeper prune the cuttings are left on the floor for 3 months and the sticks are removed - the sticks are best for compost or burning. There is always other work to be done - for example I plan to fill in the gaps between the bushes this year'.
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I have to confess that I find the mist in this part of Darjeeling quite challenging. Sometimes the mist will come in in the morning and 'sit' in the valley for the entire day. Over time however I started to see a magic in this unusual situation - when the mists are I found myself having the time and space for reflection - when they part and reveal the wonderful landscape it is a feast for the eyes. The magic of his land is something that Ashweta clearly feels too and as we walked we say a number of platforms dotted across the landscape - 'these are specially built meditation platforms' Ashweta explained 'pre pandemic [and hopefully again someday soon] groups came to garden to visit and spent time meditating. While they are here they also got to experience the amazing nature that exists in this ecosystem - its not just tea - there are many species of insects, birds and of course so many beautiful plants' We really could not imagine a better way to spend your days.....
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At this point the mists became a little thicker and the rain came in - time to retreat for tea. Walking on we found ourselves in a small tin building where black tea was being sorted by hand before enjoying a delicious port of first flush made using spring water heated over the fire.....
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These are the wonderful moments in a life of tea. Once the rain had subsided a little we headed over the the factory at the back of Ashweta’s house where she has, over the last years, been quietly honing her tea making skills. Passing through an ordinary door we entered the quite extraordinary small factory.
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Green leaf shone in the withering beds and baskets, a small roller stood proudly in the corner and on the opposite side - alongside a modern Chinese drier - sat the most unusual hand built wood burning drier - totally unique. These small factories - often at the back of houses or tucked away in villages - are special places and this was no exception. Ashweta explained how methods are adjusted for different tea types - for example for the firing black tea is fired at 120 green tea 80-90 and white tea at 80 in the drier. Green tea is manually steamed in another area - a process that Ashweta has perfected to deliver a delicate sweet taste.
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After another day or so walking the tea fields, eating delicious food and sharing views on life and tea it was time to say goodbye. Sitting with the family who all live and work here talk turned to the future - 'I want our tea life here to be sustainable' Ashweta shared - 'part of this is the set up you see here - tea and nature side by side - tea as one part of our livelihood and food system - sharing crops and animals with each other. The other part is economic - having no loans and investing whatever we earn into tea and our community' That sounds like a sweet cup of tea to us - why not try it for yourself
