Tea Manufacturing :: Nathmull's of Darjeeling

Darjeeling tea leaves are processed in the traditional ‘Orthodox’ form. Very careful and gentle treatment must be given to the finely plucked leaves so that the inherent quality is not lost. The stages are uniform even though a different variety of different leaves require a very delicate and intricate variation in processing.

The initial stage is plucking of tea leaves mostly done by local women folk in special bamboo baskets known as “Doko” and this is the most cheapest and realiable medium to collect tea leaves. Then it reaches the factory and the tea leaves are sent for weighment and the labourers paid accordingly. Now the tea leaves enter the actual process of “Orthodox Production” starting with the process of ‘withering’.

Stages of Manufacture:

Withering: During this process, the green leaves are evenly spread on troughs, through which hot & cold air are blown in a regulated manner. This withering trough is normally 4 to 5 feet wide and 50 to 70 feet long. The object is to remove moisture in the leaf slowly over a period of 14 - 16 hours and in this process approximately 65% of the moisture is removed from the green leaf.

Rolling: The withered leaves are loaded into rollers where they are twisted by a mechanical action. The process is carefully monitored so that the style of the leaf is maintained and overheating does not take place. In this process the green colour of the leaf is replaced by brown coppery coloured texture as the process of rolling under pressure twist the leaf, rupture the cells and release the natural juices, promoting oxidation and acceleration of pigmentation. Premium quality green and white teas are generally manually selected and hand rolled.

Fermentation: After Rolling, the leaf is spread in a cool & humid room in very thin layers. The process lasts between 2- 4 hours, depending on temperature, humidity and leaf quality. During the process the tea develops a unique flavour and aroma and it is very sensitive one. The flavour of the tea can be affected by a minutes delay in adjusting the correct fermenting period. In this stage the flavanols combine with oxygen in the air, develops the unique flavour of Darjeeling Tea.

Drying ( Firing):The fermented leaf is taken to a dryer, where it is subjected to regulated varying temperature of 200 to 240C for a period of 20 - 30 min. The result is black tea whose moisture has been lost after natural fermentation is checked. But both the green and white teas are sun dried, not in the dryer.