Our Visit To The Singtom Tea Factory In Darjeeling

Our trip to Darjeeling couple of months back had us exploring this piece of heaven one day at a time, by tapping all the unexplored places in and around it. It all started with our stay at the Singtom Tea Estate And Resort, which is right in the lap of nature overlooking the tea gardens amidst the clouds. With the village school on one side, tea gardens on the other, a small pathway leads you in and out of the place, which can be hiked down too. I’ve never seen a resort so lively and one with nature that makes you forget your phones. Trust me I know how difficult staying away from the technology can be or from the Internet for that matter. But during our stay there, I didn’t touch my phone or iPad at all, not even for work. It was just tranquillity and us. Read all about our stay with Singtom Tea Estate And Resort incase you missed out on it.

Few minutes away, outside the compound of the resort is also their tea factory – Singtom Tea Factory. It is one of the oldest and most renowned Tea Factory’s in the world. The Singtom Tea Factory is known to produce some of the finest and classic teas in the world that are appreciated by tea lovers across the globe. We were so lucky to have dropped by Darjeeling during the prime tea plucking season (Please note, from Dec – Jan tea plucking isn’t carried out during winter season).

It is such a lovely sight to see skilled women plucking teas early in the morning. Mostly you will only see women doing the plucking since this is an art and it requires delicate hands to carry out the process. Only the shoots with two leaves and a bud can be plucked and women are hands on with this process compared to men. I need to congratulate Singtom Tea Factory for providing so many women jobs at this place and I truly appreciate the way they care for their workers. Apart from various amenities, they also have constructed a huge class right next to their factory so that all the women workers with babies can drop them off at the school or with the caretaker provided by the factory. Really happy to see someone take this step towards supporting women of our country.

Salman and me visited the Singtom Tea Factory early morning and here’s what goes behind our daily cuppa every morning. The final tea has to go through various stages to be arrived upon. Different processes give you different types and kinds of teas, which are then prized accordingly in the market. Each of these procedures is carried out in a climate-controlled facility to avoid spoilage due to excess moisture and fluctuating temperatures.

1) Withering Process –

Withering means wilting of fresh green tea leaves. Withering reduces the moisture content in the leaves while building up the flavour compounds. They lay freshly plucked leaves in a series of troughs with hot air forced from underneath the troughs. This reduces the moisture content in the leaf by about 30%, making the leaf look limp and soft for rolling. The caffeine content along with the flavours also gets intensified in this process. A short wither gives a light green appearance to the leaves while a longer wither darkens the leaf and intensifies the aromatic compounds.

2) Fixing Process –

Fixing or “kill-green” refers to the process by which enzymatic browning of the wilted leaves is controlled through the application of heat. The aroma is decided though this process. The longer it takes to fix the leaves, the more aromatic the tea will be. They use heated tumblers to carry out this process.

3) Rolling Process –

The processed leaves need to be converted into a tight form and this is exactly what rolling does. Wilted or fixed leaves are gently rolled depending upon how each and every leaf looks. They are shaped to look kneaded like tightly rolled pellets. The more tightly rolled the leaves, the longer they will retain their freshness.

4) Oxidation Process –

Oxidation simply means further intensification of the flavor compounds in the leaves, which in turn makes them look more brownish. From the moment they are plucked, the cells within the tea leaves are exposed to oxygen and the volatile compounds within them begin to undergo chemical reactions. It is at this stage that the polyphenolic oxidase, including theaflavin and thearubigin, begin to develop within the leaves. Theaflavins lend briskness and brightness to the tea while thearubigins offer depth and fullness to the liquor that’s produced. Oxidization transforms the leaves and puts in a deep aroma. So the next time you see a blackish brown tea, you know that the tea is fully oxidized with amino acids and lipids are broken down completely.

5) Drying –

Now comes the final step – Drying. In order to keep the tea moisture-free, they are dried at various stages of production. Drying enhances a tea’s flavors and ensures its long shelf life. Drying is one of the key factors as that helps bring down tea’s moisture content to less than 1%. To dry the leaves they are fired or roasted at a low temperature for a controlled period of time, typically inside an industrial scale oven. If the leaves are dried too quickly, the tea can turn abrasive and taste harsh.

Hundreds of workers both men and women work effectively everyday at Singtom Tea Factory towards bringing for us a finest blend of tea that tastes as per the process that has been carried out on the tea leaves. Such an enriching experience this was. I would suggest covering your face and nose with a scarf while visiting a tea factory, as the tea smell from the factory can be quite overwhelming for those who are not used to staying in close contact of heavy smell or compounds. I appreciate every cup of tea of mine even more now, knowing what goes into the final TEA.

After returning back from Singtom Tea Factory to our suite in Singtom Tea Estate And Resort, we learned that they had planned a surprise tea tasting session for us. I was on cloud 9. Imagine trying out the freshly plucked teas from the garden, be it green teas or masala chais. They also gave us so many samples of teas to be taken home that were freshly packed from the Singtom Tea Factory. Other than the earnest hard work, these teas have the love of those women and men who were kind enough to welcome us into their spaces and show us around.

Have a look at the grand “Tea Tasting Session”that consisted of some of the most authentic and freshly brewed teas that we had ever tasted that included – Oolong Tea, Masala Teas, Darjeeling Tea, First Flush, the Mighty Masala Tea, The Earls Pearl Tea, Bablylon Oolong and soooo many kinds of fresh green teas.

A photo posted by Shifa Merchant (@sassyshifsays) on Nov 15, 2016 at 12:32pm PST

Hope you liked our story from the Singtom Tea Factory in Darjeeling.

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