Refreshing Cold Tea Infusions – Updated with New Flavours

Inspired by one of our customers, I thought I would write a quick post to show how easy it is to make fantastic cold tea infusions using whole leaf teas.

First choose the tea you’d like to use, from previous experience we’d recommend Mango tea, Lychee Red, Jasmine Silver Needle, Ali Shan Oolong tea, Jade Sword Green tea

Use a large glass, pitcher, teapot, tea-iere or plastic bottle for on the go.

Add roughly double the  amount of tea as you would for a normal infusion when using hot water, 3-5g (1-2 teaspoons) per cup. Next add cold water and refrigerate overnight, or longer for a stronger taste.

In the morning you’ll have a refreshing infusion, perfect if you want a cup of tea but don’t fancy a hot drink. The above example is currently in the fridge. Unfortunately I don’t have a “here’s one I made earlier” photo to add today so I’ll add one tomorrow – looking forward to it already

Posted by: David

India Travelogue Part 4 – Okayti Estate, Darjeeling

Posted by: David

14th April

Next on the Darjeeling tour was a visit to Okayti Estate, a three hour drive from Goomtee. The Darjeeling area, bordering Nepal, is populated predominantly by Gorkhas of ethnic Nepali background. On the way, we passed through many villages, each plastered with flags which I didn’t recognise and slogans painted on walls. The Gorkhas have long been campaigning for a separate state from West Bengal, Gorkhaland, to be established in the Indian union so that they can control distribution of resources around the Darjeeling hills.

Okayti Estate Factory

Like Goomtee, Okayti Estate is renowned for top quality Darjeeling tea. Situated on the border with Nepal and ranging in elevation from 2700ft to 6800ft, it is a beautiful estate on steep and impeccably well tended hills. It was established in 1856, making it one of the oldest tea estates in Darjeeling.

Okayti Estate, Darjeeling

The estate employs 1000 permanent staff. All staff and dependants, totalling around 4000 people live on the estate, living almost entirely self sufficient lives. There are schools, hospitals, shops and markets located on the estate. Okayti Estate also boasts the oldest tea processing factory in Darjeeling, established in 1888, alongside one of the newest, established in 2004. The estate covers a total of 600 hectares, of which 550 acres are under plantation.

Okayti Estate, Darjeeling

Okayti Estate was originally known as Rangdoo Estate. The name Okayti orginates from the time when the most renowned tea gardens in India would send samples of their teas to Queen Victoria for first refusal. For a number of years, the Queen tasted tea from Rangdoo Estate and “gave it the ok”, indicating that she wanted to buy it. So Rangdoo Estate became known as the estate with the “OK Tea”. Now locals pronounce the name of the estate as “O kai tee”.

Okayti Tea Pickers

A huge range of teas is produced at Okayti, ranging from traditional first and second flush Darjeelings to white teas, green teas and even oolong teas. While I was visiting, first flush teas were being produced. At JING we are proud to stock three beautiful teas from Okayti, including two second flush black teas and a bright and refreshing white tea with delicious hints of muscatel.

After driving around the estate in a sturdy 4WD vehicle along some very steep roads, we visited the new factory for a quick tour and to taste a range of their very freshest first flush teas.

Okayti Tasting Table

The samples for tasting ranged from those produced 10 days previously to those produced on the day and day before I visited. 10 days after their production, the teas have reached maturity, the flavours are balanced and settled. Those manufactured on the day and day before I visited had a beautifully smooth, rounded and honeyed sweetness.These tastes were still present in the 10 day old sample, but had receded slightly, creating deliciously balanced tea which completely quenched my thirst.

The factory is located just metres from the border with Nepal, marked by a small river. Mainly just to be able to say I had done it, I had a quick walk over to Nepal, by crossing this bridge.

Nepal India Border - nice and relaxed

That afternoon I jumped in a taxi bound for New Jalpaiguri for the return train journey on the overnight Darjeeling Mail to Calcutta. It was a slightly hairy ride, as the light faded and it grew dark, it seemed that my driver, Dinesh, was actually a little short-sighted.

After a number of very near misses while trying to overtake slower vehicles, I managed to communicate that I wanted to arrive in NJP alive, rather than as a road traffic accident statistic. Luckily, we had picked up one of Dinesh’s friends on the way down the mountains. He was keen to drive so they switched places and we got to the train station with some time to spare.

After my experiences at Calcutta Sealdah station, it was quite a relief to be legitimately and safely installed on my first Indian train. I had however mistakenly thought that there would be a dining carriage on the train. Luckily, my compartment companions had brought some food along with them for their evening meal and were kind enough to share some of it with me.

We sat contentedly scoffing the food, a mixture of potato and cauliflower curries, with bread and rice, with our hands, as the train skipped across the countryside towards Calcutta.

The next morning we awoke in the outskirts of Calcutta, pulling slowly into the huge station along with many other local commuter trains, each with passengers clinging to the sides and leaning out of the gaps where doors used to be. Jumping down from the train, I readied myself for the attention I was bound to receive from local taxi drivers outside the station. I bagged myself a fairly good deal and we set out for the airport for my next flight to Coimbatore to visit the Nilgiris.

Next in the series – Part 5 – The Nilgiris

India Travelogue Part 3 – From Calcutta to the Darjeeling Estates

Posted by: David

12th April
Another early start, I rolled out of bed at 5.30 into a taxi for the airport for my flight to Calcutta, the base for my next trip to Goomtee and Okayti tea estates in Darjeeling. Landing in Calcutta, I was met by Ashok Kumar, the owner of Goomtee Estate in Darjeeling who had kindly arranged for me to check in to a hotel for the afternoon until my train – the Darjeeling Mail from Kolkata Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri, in the plains below Darjeeling that evening.

The first thing I noticed about Calcutta was the sheer number of bright yellow Austin taxis in the city. The city teemed with them, honking and swerving down chaotic traffic choked roads.

My experiences in Calcutta taxis are best forgotten -I had to keep my wits about me, but it did add to the adventure of the trip and helped me to sharpen my haggling techniques!

Nevertheless, that afternoon one driver did get me to New Market, a huge market block opposite Curzon park, interspersed by crumbling old buildings for a reasonable fee.

The market block was packed with locals buying provisions for the forthcoming Bengali New Year – Poyela Boishakh. As a driver foolishly tried to navigate his way along a packed pedestrian street, he ran over a poor person’s foot, causing a huge scene as a shouting, remonstrating crowd descended on the car, banging on the windows and at one point rocking the car en masse.

Eventually, local policemen arrived on the scene to clear and calm the situation. Needless to say, I didn’t photograph any of this, fearing that the overflowing anger of the locals might find an outlet in abusing me instead of the driver.

After seeing this, I ducked into the market buildings themselves to poke around the stores. News quickly spread that there was a foreigner wondering around the market and I was passed seamlessly from one hawker to another in an operation so smooth that it must have been honed on many a tourist.

I was passed from saree stalls to silk stalls, tea stalls to hat stalls and many more, enjoying the banter with the stallholders who on seeing that I was adamant that I was not going buy anything this early in my trip, were happy to pass me onto the next stallholder for his pitch.

I finally escaped the basement stalls and emerged into the street, where I was pounced on by another stallholder, obviously not part of the same clique, but equally persistent. Eventually, after much back and forth, we agreed that if I could take his photo, I would visit his stall, with no obligation to buy. Here he is below, if you’re ever in New Market in Calcutta, I’m sure he’ll find you. He sells imported Nepalese Buddhist statues and silks which are really very beautiful.

That evening, I arrived at the enormous Sealdah station, ready to board my train, the Darjeeling Mail. When the train arrived I found my carriage and looked for my name on the lists, stuck to the side of the carriage at each end. I couldn’t see my name anywhere, began to panic and tracked down the Ticket inspector. In the meantime, sensing that something was amiss, I put my luggage on the train, thinking that even if I didn’t have a bunk reserved, I could at least find somewhere on the huge train to spend the night, paying whatever was demanded of me on inspection.

Calcutta Sealdah Station

Once installed on the train, I thought that the ticket inspector would be reluctant to eject me. I thought wrong. On discovering that there was no confirmation of my booking on the train, the ticket inspector sent along two railway employees who unceremoniously turfed me and my luggage out of the train onto the platform. It looked like I wasn’t travelling to Darjeeling by train after all!

13th April
The next morning I boarded a flight to Bagdogra, the nearest airport to Darjeeling, hastily arranged the previous night on the hotel computer.

My first stop in the Darjeeling hills was Goomtee Estate. In a taxi, driven by an extremely smiley Mongolian, climbed into the misty hills, around winding hairpin bends and up extremely steep gradients. As we drove through the villages approaching Goomtee Estate, the driver was greeted by practically everyone we passed, he was obviously something of a local hero. Local schoolchildren even held out their hands for high fives as we passed, all smiling and giggling as they received a resounding slap from the driver as we scooted by.

Misty Darjeeling Tea Fields

The tea estates had begun only a few miles from the airport but it wasn’t until we had climbed to 4800ft that we reached Goomtee Estate, perched high on very steep slopes, with an incredible view. After dumping my luggage in the estate bungalow, I jogged down the hill to make the most of the remaining light of the day to take some photos of the lush green hills.

That evening I met the manager of Goomtee Estate who gave me a little background on the estate. Established in 1899, Goomtee Estate has been producing some of the finest Darjeeling teas ever since. He told me that despite a long and painful drought that had reduced the amount of leaf available for production significantly, the tea that is being produced this year is of a higher quality than last year’s.

Production of tea in Darjeeling involves long nights working in the factories, so I left my host to head down to the factory to oversee production. We agreed to meet up the next morning for a tour of the factory.

I went to bed that evening hoping for a clear, sunny day the next day and set my alarm for 5am to make sure that I was down in the fields for sunrise.

14th April
When I woke, the mist that had shrouded the mountains had cleared. I walked down to the fields below the bungalows and strolled around the gardens while the sun rose above the mountains in the distance.

Sunrise over Goomtee Estate

It was a stunning sight and it was great to be able to see the tea bushes in clear light. Even though the drought had clearly affected some plants, the vast majority of the bushes were a lush and vibrant green colour with very healthy leaf and bud sets. After a hectic few days since my arrival in India, it was a very peaceful start to the day.

Goomtee Tea Pickers

At 7am a steady procession of tea pickers with baskets on their backs passed me on their way to the fields requiring picking that day.

Pickers walking to the fields at Goomtee Estate

After they’d passed I wandered up to the factory for a quick tour. The factory was spotlessly clean and equipped with extremely well cared for antique tea production machines. Each year, all the machines are given a fresh coat of paint ready for a long season of almost constant use. In the next post, I’ll be going through the production process of Darjeeling teas.

Next in the series – Part 4– Okayti Estate, Darjeeling

India Travelogue Part 2 – The Gangetic Plains of Uttaranchal for Chamomile, Cornflowers and Lemongrass

Posted by: David

11th April
The next morning my alarm rang at 4.45am, ready for an extremely early start  – we had to get all the way back to Delhi in one day, as well as visit more producers on a different, longer route back to the city. We bumped along in the darkness before sunrise in silence, still wishing we were horizontal and in bed.

Sunrise in the Himalayas

Slowly, as we woke up, the sun woke up too and began to rise over the mountains giving views to which photos do not really do justice. The roads were practically empty so we were able to make very good progress. Even my guide, who suffered from carsickness and had to lie down on the backseat all the way up the mountains looked relatively serene and calm.

Sunrise in the Himalayas

On the way down the mountains we stopped off at Devprayag where the River Ganges begins properly with the meeting of the River Alaknanda and the River Bhagirathi. The scenery is spectacular, the calm brown water of the River Bhagirathi merges with the foaming blue water of the River Alakanda, forming the legend that is the Ganges which flows all the way from Devaprayag across the Gangetic plain into Bangladesh. Devprayag is an important pilgrimage destination for Hindus and the confluence of the two rivers is a sacred spot.

Confluence of the River Bhagirathi & River Alaknanda

On the way down the mountains we saw a salvage operation taking place of a crash in which a lorry had plunged off the side of the road, rolling down the mountainside about 300 meters. It was a very sobering sight and one which I think influenced the driving of our driver from thereon. After about 5 hours we were again at Dehradun, ready to see Chamomile, Lemongrass and Cornflower producers in neighboring towns. It was noticeably hotter in the plains than in the mountains, and the scenery, with the mountains in the background was very beautiful.

We use top quality cornflowers like those shown above for our Earl Grey black tea.

Cornflower Picker

We visited the home of one of our herbal producers, a really stunning place with a huge variety of herbs and flowers including thyme, cardamon, mint, onions, coriander, roses, flowers for garlands, cornflowers, chamomile and many more. He kindly took us to visit the larger fields of cornflowers, chamomile flowers and lemongrass where the majority of his crops are grown, all organically.

Even a small field like the one shown can produce a large volume of Chamomile flowers, with a good-sized group of pickers each able to pick more than 2kg each per day.

Chamomile Flowers

When the farm visits were over we piled back in the car for the long drive back to Delhi. As night fell, we were held up by traffic along roads so bumpy that one of the lenses popped out of my glasses. We finally arrived in Delhi at midnight, totally exhausted, having driven for about 15 hours that day.

Next in the series – Part 3 – From Calcutta to the Darjeeling Estates

India Travelogue – Part 1 – Delhi to the Himalayas to visit Peppermint Farms

Posted by: David

9th April
I set out from Delhi early in the morning having arrived the previous evening. It had been 15 years since I had last been in India so I was expecting to see that some big changes had taken place over that time.

We made our way out of Delhi in the rush hour traffic of a Friday morning through some of the busiest roads I’ve seen.  Delhi seemed to spread for miles and miles but eventually we emerged into the plains of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with a population of over 190 million. Looking out of the car window, the land was totally flat, as far the eye could see were fields of sugar cane, barley and rice. We were heading north-east, with the Himalayas as our target.

Occasionally we would pass through incredibly busy market towns, packed with roadside stalls selling a massive range of goods ranging from fruit and vegetables to household goods, bicycle parts, car parts, cement and steel tubing.  The driver expertly negotiated his way through these towns, avoiding swerving trucks, cars, taxis, cyclists, moped riders, rickshaws, mating cows, lost goats, pariah dogs and wandering pedestrians.

It is fair to say that during this drive I was almost speechless with culture shock and jetlag having only been in London the previous morning. On many occasions I found myself rubbing my eyes, not only to ward off jetlag but to check that I was actually seeing clearly. The sights, sounds and smells of these towns are seared into my memory and it will be a long time before I forget the experience.

Kulfi Stall

As we drove further into Uttar Pradesh, the roads became very bumpy and the traffic became congested with rattling vehicles of every kind pushing on to the city of Dehradun. It was very rare to see a vehicle that was not full to the brim with people and animals and I felt rather spoilt in the front seat of a comfortable car.

It was interesting to see the religious diversity of the state change as we drove further and further into the plains of the state. Hindu temples and shrines were ever present in the market towns, but I noticed that mosques and a very noticeable and devout Muslim population became much more common the further we drove from Delhi. Around 18% of the population of Uttar Pradesh follow Islam.

Finally, after an 8.5 hour drive we came to the end of Uttar Pradesh, passed through Saharanpur, a busy market city and crossed the border into Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal), arriving in Dehradun late in the evening.  By this point I was feeling exhausted, ready for cold beer, some food and a good sleep.

10th April
Another early start saw us climbing into the lush, forested foothills of the Himalayas on the outskirts of Dehradun before arriving in Rishikesh for a brief stopover to pick up our guide for the rest of the trip north into the Himalayas proper. Small monkeys lined the road into Rishikesh, obviously hopeful of some scraps of food from the many tourists who visit here from Delhi.

Construction of a large highway to replace the country roads was underway when we passed, so I’m sure it won’t be long before Rishikesh is even more firmly established as a tourist hotspot.

Rishikesh

After a quick bite to eat in an Iskon temple (home to Hare Krishna followers), we jumped back in the car to begin the full day’s drive. Rishikesh is a holy city for Hindus and is famous for its yoga ashrams and schools, on the outskirts of the town. We passed many of these as we drove out of the town along the banks of the Ganges to head into the hills.

Iskcon Temple, Rishikesh

Rishikesh is also the beginning of the Char Dam pilgrimage route for pilgrims heading towards Badrinath, the end of the route a few hundred kilometres further into the Himalayas. Dressed in simple robes and carrying their bedding and necessities, they walk the entire distance, relying on the generosity of the residents of the mountain villages and towns that they pass through on their way up.

It was impossible not to feel humbled by their devotion, the mountain roads are tough and treacherous and the sun was high in the sky, beating down on the pilgrims as they trudged up the mountains.

Rishikesh

The roads rapidly became very bumpy as we reached the banks of the River Ganges. In the Himalayan foothills, the river is ideal for whitewater rafting trips so the road was lined with rafting companies and guesthouses for intrepid foreign and native backpackers and weekenders from Delhi.  As we climbed, the road became increasingly treacherous, with sheer drops of hundreds of feet, just inches away from the edges of the cliff roads.

Himalaya Foothills - River Ganges

The driver clearly had pretensions of rally driving fame, as we screeched around terrifyingly sharp corners and overtook lorries and trucks blindly, honking the horn all the way. I clung to the handle above the window and hoped for the best. On a number of our descents, the smell of burning brake pads filled the car, a smell that I’ll forever associate with this trip.

The signs painted on the rock walls of the roads provided some light relief to this white-knuckle ride – a particular favourite was “No race, no rally, enjoy the beauty of the valley” and the much used “better late than never” which took on a much more ominous meaning than usual in these surroundings.

Treacherous Roads

As the hills became steeper, the scenery became more and more breathtaking, the towns on the banks of the river clung to the mountainsides, as if only a small nudge would cause them to topple down like dominoes into the rushing river below. We took occasional breaks to fill ourselves with roti breads, rice and dahl and to make sure that the driver was fully energised for the drive ahead with strong sugary coffee and tea.

Eventually, at 10,000ft we reached one of the farms where our peppermint leaves are grown and farmed, on the banks of the River Alaknanda. The growing season for peppermint is slightly later in the year, planting had only just begun in the nursery but I was able to see the fields where the plants are grown.

Peppermint

The peppermint is first planted in a nursery and then transplanted to a proper field until it reaches maturity.

Peppermint Transplant Fields

I was able to visit a local smallholder who grows and sells her peppermint to our supplier, who, after a sweaty stomp up the hill to reach her house, gave us rose petal squash, made from roses grown in her garden. It was delicious and extremely refreshing. After another 8 hour drive, it was nice to just pause and take in the beauty of the surroundings.

Peppermint Smallholder

That night we stayed in a guest house right next to the roaring river Alaknanda. After all the fresh air and driving, and with the river bubbling in the background I slept soundly, ready for a full day the next day.

Next in the series – Part 2 – Back to the plains for Chamomile, Cornflowers and Lemongrass.