Anyone for Tea? Happy Valley - Tea in Darjeeling

Happy Valley Tea plantation
The first stage of tea drying


The final packing: All the remains swept of the floor go into tea bags

Tea Plantations- Happy Valley

After a long walk down to the plantation we paid a guide to talk us through the tea making process from plucking, aeration, rolling, drying , sifting to bagging. We learned about the different grades and quality . White, black, green , exotic to the scraps used for tea bags. The guide emphasized that it is a crime to put milk and sugar is premium tea! It is like watering down wine.

The workers, women, depending on age and marital status are expected to pick a certain amount ( see photo of blackboard) and paid accordingly. Health benefits ,housing and meals are included in the ‘salary package’.
The next day we enjoyed some tea tasting at a local tea shop. The exotic most expensive tea was served in brandy glasses, had a stronger smell and was dark when compared to the premium .to make a comparison related to quality and service, you pay as little as 5 rupees for tea at street side stalls to 15-30 rupees at the food places , we paid over 200 rupees for 2 small pots of tea! Expensive by Darjeeling standards but only about $7.00 NZ