“Tea is Happiness” – Arya Monk, leader of the founding monks of Arya Tea Estate
At the height of its empire, Darjeeling tea was fondly referred to by India’s British rulers as the “Imperial Cash Crop.” Unparalleled in flavor due to the rich terroir and idyllic weather conditions that the Northeastern foothills of the Himalayas provided, Darjeeling tea soon became a favorite of nobility, including kings and queens (a tradition that continued through to the late Queen Elizabeth II who only drank the most expensive Darjeeling). So successful was the endeavor that its patrons at the British East India Company called it their “Grand Imperial Project”.
So, it should come as no surprise that of the 87 tea estates that are operating today in Darjeeling District, all but two were founded by the British Empire. These non-colonial estates, which stand as exceptions to the “Grand Imperial Project” are Arya Tea Estate near Darjeeling town, and Giddaphahar Estate around two miles from the municipality of Kurseong in Darjeeling District.
In Part 1 of this series, we'll explore Arya Tea Estate. Look for Part 2 later this week.
Arya Tea Estate – Or Monks' Tea
Owned now by Ram Kishore Bansal, a former tea trader, Arya Tea Estate has a history that is steeped in spirituality (if you’ll excuse the pun).
Although most estates can trace their foundations to a particular year, this cannot precisely be done with Arya Estate, being the only plantation established by an indigenous people whose calendars are lost to time.
While Darjeeling, today, is dominated by Gorkha tribes who migrated in the 19th century from neighboring Nepal to work the tea plantations in Darjeeling, the area was once a part of the Tibetan Buddhist Kingdom of Sikkim, ruled by priest-kings known as The Choygals. Indeed, Darjeeling takes its name from the Tibetan language: It is a combination of the words ‘dorj’, which means thunderbolt, an allusion to the sudden thunderstorms and lightening that can hit the region, and ‘ling’, which means land. So, Darjeeling is ‘the land of the thunderbolt’.
Legend has it that a small group of monks, probably Lepchas who formed much of the Choygal’s kingdom, settled where the estate is now located. They had obtained tea seeds of the Chinese variety from their Buddhist brethren whose population had extended through China since the days of the Han Dynasty circa 250 BCE. This stands in stark contrast to the actions of the British and Russian Empires, whose agents were involved in clandestine smuggling operations to acquire the tea plants from China—this too, on penalty of death—all for cultivation within their imperial domains. Suffice to say, they were successful—but the monks managed it in their quintessentially gentle manner.
The monks who settled at Arya were experts in the practice of Ayurveda – ancient Indian medicine – and knew how to cultivate herbs. Buddhism, after all, was founded in India by a Himalayan king named Siddhartha, who renounced his birthright to pursue the path of enlightenment.
The wise old Lama who led the group of monks had found the soil at the garden to be rich and surmised that the high elevation, sharp inclines in the topography, and misty conditions might favor cultivation of tea. With winds sweeping in from the Bay of Bengal, the stretch of the Himalayas lining Darjeeling is the most humid part of the mountain range.
The venerable sage had his disciples plant the China seed at the settlement, and a promising tea garden emerged. They called it Sidrabong.
Tea was consumed as a tonic then. In fact, in his seminal work, The Book of Tea, the noted Asian scholar, Kakuzo Okakura, writes, “Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage.”
In a tale not dissimilar to the story of the origin of tea in China, on a pristinely sunny day with a clear view of the third highest peak of the majestic Himalayas called Kanchenjunga, the head monk of Sidrabong broke his long meditation with a cup of light spring tea. The warm elixir had long been known to Buddhist monks as a meditative aid. Indeed, Alan Watts, author of The Way of the Zen, notes, “If Christianity is wine and Islam is coffee, Buddhism is most certainly tea.”
Seeing a peaceful smile forming on his master’s lips, the acolyte who had served him asked the most fundamental of philosophical questions, “Oh revered one, what is happiness?” The monk took a long breath, the aroma of the ambrosial brew still full in his mouth and nose. He looked down at the cup, extending his arm in a circle around him pointing out the tea plants jutting out of the rugged slopes, and spoke softly as he replied, almost in a whisper, “This is happiness!” said he.
The young disciple countered, “But aren’t such pleasures forbidden?” he asked.
The master replied, “Certainly not—it is only attachment to them that must be avoided, for attachment leads to discontent. How long this paradise will be here is a question that only the ages will answer.”
The word Arya is derived from Sanskrit, meaning respected. The head monk was known by that name, so the group of monks used the name Arya and Sidrabong to refer to the garden, interchangeably. When the Scottish brothers Walter and William Duncan (founders of the agricultural company Duncans) took it over in 1885 as the population of aged monks thinned, they called the tea cultivated there Arya Monk tea. Ultimately, the garden would be called Arya Tea Estate.
Arya is a specialty tea estate. They cultivate only high-quality leaf for connoisseurs and tourist boutiques in Darjeeling town. Few gardens can boast the elevation of Arya Tea Estate, which is a key element of raising such aromatic cultivars. Other factors include the mineral rich terroir and rolling mist that bathes the leaves in moisture.
The Buddhists are mostly gone now, and Gorkhas, generations removed from the original migrants to British Darjeeling, populate the villages around the tea estate. They form the labor pool that works the verdant hills that wind around the estate but, unlike the old days when the Burra Sahibs of the British Raj ran their gardens with iron fists, Gorkhas have obtained protections provided by their powerful unions and local political leaders.
The Lama’s question looms large in the mind of owner RK Bansal, as he begins a new harvesting season. It is mid-March; normally, plucking of spring tea would have started. However, this year’s first flush is delayed due to lack of rain. Only sporadic picking of delicate nascent leaves and buds takes place every few days. First flush will begin only in early April.
In other gardens, disputes over the bonuses paid in the prior year have shut down plucking for the first time since the long strike of 2017. Jayshree Tea and Industries’ Sungma Estate was closed for a day; two gardens owned by the Chamong group are shut; and nine others are experiencing similar work stoppages.
At Arya, the tea pluckers are a small community whose respect for the owner and garden manager mitigate the kind of large-scale labor issues currently being faced at corporate gardens.
Still, Bansal is anxious. “Each year it gets harder,” he says. “At any one time almost half of my workforce will be absent. The weather isn’t cooperating. And it takes four kilograms of plucked leaf to make a single kilogram of tea. How can I get the yield that I need?” he asks.
Challenges aside, the monks had chosen the site of the estate with characteristic enlightenment. At an altitude spanning between 3000 and near about 5900 feet, Arya Estate is considered to be a high-altitude garden by the industry. Its proximity to Darjeeling town facilitates transportation to their main local trading hub and makes the site well-located for tourism.
The estate is not a vast one like Goodricke’s Thurbo Estate. When RK Bansal acquired the property in 1982, they had 300 acres under cultivation, but this has come down to around 280 acres due to landslides, according to Bansal. A major decline in yield also occurred when the garden was converted from a conventional one to a certified organic garden in 2002.
“We lost about 50% of our yield,” Bansal recalls. Hence, in recent years, the estate produces an average of around 45,000 kgs of tea each year. Still, making the transition to producing 100% certified bio-organic tea was important to Bansal. “I felt that the people buying our tea deserved the most natural experience; in this way, we would be true to our origins as a plantation.”
Labor strength is also a major factor in the decline in yield. “When I bought the garden, we had around three hundred and fifty permanent workers; now, it is closer to around two hundred.”
Like other Darjeeling tea estates, the next generation of inhabitants are less likely to seek work on the estates themselves, preferring to pursue higher education or migrate to cities.
Subhasish Roy, Arya’s Garden Manager, says it’s a natural evolution. “Everyone has a smartphone, so they can see how people live all over the world. The lure of urban life is exciting – at least that’s how it appears in all types of media. So, the young people are more attracted to seeking out such a lifestyle than toiling on a tea garden. Meanwhile, there are people retiring leaving their tech jobs in Bangalore, so they can start organic farms, riddled with health problems and fed-up of living in an urban jungle. You know the saying: ‘The grass is always greener on the other side.’ Well, Darjeeling is not immune to this.”
Darjeeling is known as the Queen of Hills. As Arya Estate’s tea was becoming known on the market, the locals were not unmoved. They started to call the tea the crown jewels of the Queen of Hills. With that notion in mind, planters started naming different cultivars and flushes from various parts of the garden after precious stones.
Arya’s white tea is therefore called “Arya Pearl”. Typically selected from two of the youngest leaves and a bud, though greenish, they are covered in silvery-white fibers. Arya Pearl is a hand-crafted artisanal tea that is made in very small quantities—offered at their highest price for most ardent connoisseurs. The liquor is bright and almost clear—an ivory appearance that gives off just the slightest tint of gold. The brew saturates the nose with a symphony of floral notes, and its body goes down silky smooth. Carrying the sense of a garden in a cup, it is truly a "Champagne" among teas.
The estate’s premier first flush bears the name “Arya Diamond.” As the name might suggest, it is their most sparkling tea. It's made from the flavorful AV 2 clone, which has become the standard-bearer in Darjeeling for new growth. Once processed, the leaves bear the signature bottle green color of spring growth, and they are long with chunky tips. The rolling process twists them like the tendrils of a creeper trying to find the sun as it coils around a vertical rod. A four-minute steep leaves a golden liquor with a strong floral aroma. The brew is clean and has a well-balanced structure, leaving a plummy aftertaste in the mouth.
Aside from Diamond, Arya produces a flowery almost fruity brew made from its original China seeds—the same ones planted by the monks. One might assume that such aged plants would not produce much flavor—a misconception that is corrected with each light aromatic sip. That these plants flush so well is a not only a testament to their hardiness, but also to the credit of Garden Manager Roy, who has worked at Arya estate for some twenty years.
Arya’s second flush is called “Arya Ruby” and is also made from AV 2 clone. The clone lends itself well to second flush, giving off a honeyed flavor with lots of natural sweetness and a depth. With the cup resembling the radiant red of its namesake, it clings to the soft palate permitting one to retaste it with each breath.
They produce a green tea aptly called “Emerald,” which is both vegetal and bears the fruity sweetness that is characteristic of a Darjeeling green tea. Previously, Darjeeling gardens concentrated on black tea, but with the health benefits of green tea burnishing demand for this variety of tea, Darjeeling gardens make fine green teas as does this one. Unlike their East Asian cousins, Darjeeling greens do not carry the strong grassy character in typical green teas. So, while one might consume green tea for the anti-cancerous polyphenol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (ECGC), Arya’s Emerald can be drunk for the flavor alone, with the free radical protecting effect of the beverage acting merely as an ancillary benefit.
Arya mixes Jasmine flower with its green tea to make “Arya Jasmine,” a refreshing tea with a heavy fragrance of the flower.
Other teas include “Arya Topaz,” which is an oolong tea made to order for buyers. The leaves used are long, and the semi-oxidation of the leaves leave it with a light flavor and clean character. They also mix Rose petals with black tea to make “Arya Rose.”
Garden Manager Roy says that at another garden, he might be contemplating retirement, but he credits the intensity of feeling for the garden of his boss, RK Bansal, with his staying on. “I am here because of his [RK Bansal’s] passion,” Roy says.
Roy is no stranger to the tea industry, having "made his bones" at the Chamong Group, learning at the side of tea baron, Ashok Lohia.
“It takes a few years to really know a garden – each section has its own distinct character, and it takes time to familiarize oneself with each area. And, the plants aren’t uniform. They are living beings with their own idiosyncrasies. So, a tea estate is a leaving, breathing entity in itself, which one must get to know,” he says.
Bansal returns the favor by saying that Roy is no mere employee; he sees his garden manager as almost a co-owner, and gives him the freedom to cultivate as he sees fit.
Despite the quality of the leaf, business isn’t exactly booming, and Bansal is not shy to admit that. “Because prices haven’t risen with costs, we are struggling somewhat, subsidizing tea with other parts of our consolidated business,” he says. “You’ll find that we aren’t the only business operating in this way.”
Indeed, Goodricke, which owns five Darjeeling gardens, operates all of them at a loss, which they recoup from their other twenty-four gardens in the plains as well as tea lounges such as Margaret’s Deck, which overlooks Margaret’s Hope Garden and Tea By the Lake at Mirik near its Thurbo garden.
Arya also is in the early stages of generating alternative income from its estate. It has converted the manager’s erstwhile bungalow into a tourist resort that it rents out using the websites, stayvista.com and teatour.in. While the approach road needs some improvement, the bungalow, though modern in comfort and fittings, offers a distinctly Indian experience, which provides a contrast to the colonial themes promoted by other tea estates pursuing tea tourism. With ample land available for further development that doesn’t touch the tea plantation in the slightest, the Bansal family is contemplating a more ambitious development that they hope will augment earnings, especially during non-productive periods.
Typically, such initiatives utilize labor from the estates to work on the tourism side of the business – but this requires substantial investment in training, and regular inspection from the owners for quality control to ensure that guests are properly accommodated and their needs tended appropriately. What is most important is that the tourism experiences should primarily project the tea from the estate in a prominent light, and leave guests feeling like they want to not only buy the garden’s tea but also talk about the tea experience to their friends and contacts on social media. This means keeping ample supplies of tea from the estate at the tourist site for guests to try, and having trained people to give proper tea tours. Often, the garden manager is expected to double as tour guide. During production phases, this puts a strain on the manager, whose focus is on producing the best possible tea.
It's far easier for plantations located in the UK or the USA to conduct tea tours because the amount of tea under cultivation is sparse compared to those of Indian estates. Indeed, tourism has become essential to such plantations due to the small amount of tea sold compared to bigger teaproducing countries, while it remains a minor part of the business at Indian tea estates.
For now, Arya concentrates heavily on its crown jewels—the teas that have made this garden a well-known source of premium and specialty tea in Darjeeling.
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