In anticipation of King Charles III coronation, on 26 May 2023, I wanted to write about the foods and drinks people were making for the event. But, life happened and I did not manage to get it all written in time. So I changed my topic a bit and decided to focus in on the darjeeling tea that the new UK King prefers.
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The Coronation Celebration in May 2023
The Royal site wrote that the Coronation was considered both a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry by the peoples of the United Kingdom and the world.
The Firm (what the Royals call the organizational aspect of the monarchy’s “business” (1)), coordinated celebrations by offering recipes, decorations, disposable and compostable dinner-ware. Neighborhoods and communities across the United Kingdom were invited to share “food and fun” at Coronation Big Lunches; as a national and worldwide act of celebration and friendship.
But while Royals and ordinary people were getting Coronation fever, food and party businesses did their very best to offer products in support of the festivities. For instance, Fornum & Mason, which was started in 1707 when Queen Anne gave her footman William Fortnum permission to sell discarded candles from St James’s Palace, released special Coronation tea towels, biscuit tins, and teas.
Tea and Bites
It has been reported that the new British King detests coffee, and favors hot Darjeeling tea, served with milk and honey. So that and some bubbly to toast the new King Charles III was on hand in many places. And they served English biscuits and sandwiches, as well as dessert, like the classic Victoria Sponge Cake, that originated when Queen Victoria was on the throne.
Through all the pomp and ceremony, families gathered in celebration (not all of course), and businesses cashed in where they could. But my interest focused in on the new King’s reported favorite tea.
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The Preferred Tea
HRH Preference
The British King prefers Taylors of Harrogate Afternoon Darjeeling, which is no surprise, as that has been traditionally served at Buckingham Palace throughout the day, and many have noted Queen Elizabeth II liked it as well (1). However, it has been reported she preferred a cup of Earl Grey Tea.
Specifically, the King prefers his tea:
- Organic
- Always loose leaf
- Definitely plastic free
- Served with milk + a bit of organic honey
- And that the milk is poured into the tea
But he has even more specific requirements according to BritishHeritage: the butlers are expected to make and serve the tea in quite a particular way. The key is to use loose tea and a teapot – one teaspoon of tea leaves per teacup plus an extra one for the pot. The water must be heated to 70C for green tea and 100C for Earl Grey or English breakfast tea. The temperature of the water must be measured with a thermometer. Additionally, a perfect royal brew should use organic honey instead of sugar which is added to the teacup before the tea is poured in. There are specific details about how the teacup should be positioned – the handle of the teacup must be placed to the right, with the teaspoon under the handle.
Taylors of Harrogate has the Royal Warrant, as an official supplier to King Charles III. So I bought a box and duplicated the King’s tea for several weeks now. I do like the tea with or without milk and find it is aromatic, tasty, and yet also easy on my stomach.
- Taylors of Harrogate has been in the tea business since 1886 and are Carbon Neutral Certified, a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, and Rainforest Alliance Certified.
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Darjeeling Tea
Winding up along a steep mountain ridge, Darjeeling is best known for its emerald green tea plantations and a majestic view of Kanchenjunga. Standing at 28.169 ft elevation, the pride of Darjeeling is the third highest peak in the world.
InsideDarjeeling
This black tea comes from an Indian town with the same name in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal, Darjeeling, which was colonized by the British in the 19th century. It is said often that these teas are planted at the highest elevation and that creates an ideal environment for the tea plant. Which, in turn, creates its aroma and taste; the taste of Darjeeling is both sweeter and less bitter than regular black tea that I drink.
Most of the web articles I read referred to this tea as the “champagne of teas” due to its wine-like complexity. They even write that the tea develops the aromatic characteristic of muscatel grapes due to its terroir and small leaf variety (2). But this is the same tea bush as planted elsewhere, with one difference: Darjeeling tea tends to come from the smaller leafed Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, rather than the larger leaf var. assamica (3). So yes, the original tea planted in this region comes from China, but the plant has changed over time to accommodate its environment.
Experts speculate that what makes this tea so special is the higher elevation, its terroir, and the small leaf variety of tea bush. Compared to other black teas, darjeeling tea bushes themselves experience different temperature ranges in the warmer days and cooler evenings, different oxygen content in the atmosphere, early morning fogs of heavy mists (4), different ultraviolet ray exposure, and many other differences.
Others mention that the way the leaves are processed, or withered, is different and adds to the tea. When you see it loose leaf, it is not black so much as dark and light green looking. The tea is thus less oxidized than other Indian black teas. It also turns into an amber colored tea, lighter from the first picked leaves, and darker with the last harvest.
Others still, mention two insects that come and attack the bushes, sucking out nutrients, which seems to urge the bush to release Phytoalexin, which we taste as a muscatel flavor.
- Wikipedia writes that Phytoalexin contains anti-microbial and anti-oxidative substances that are defensively synthesized quickly by plants and set to sites of pathogen infection.
Darjeeling tea is the world’s only tea to be protected under the Geographical Indication (GI) trademark (awarded in 2004). However, since this tea is grown exclusively in Himalayan plantations within the district of Darjeeling (a 228 sq mile area), it can only produce ~6 to 20 tons of processed tea each year. It is so small, that Darjeeling constitutes only 0.1% of the total world’s tea production (4a).
The amount of tea varies on different websites. But overall, it seems as though the area is struggling a bit right now.
- Climate change has caused a reduced production of darjeeling tea by 41.97% and 30.90% as compared with 1993 and 2002 respectively (5).
- Temperature has risen by 0.51 degree Celsius (from 1993 to 2012)
- Annual rainfall has declined by 152.50 cm (1993-2012)
- Relative humidity dropped by 16.07% (1993-2012)
- Ground water has dropped as drought has continued
- Putin’s War with Ukraine has also effected darjeeling sales, reducing overall demand.
- FinanceExpress: Production of Darjeeling tea has shrunk to 6.19 million kg in 2021, the lowest on record, according to the data provided by the Tea Board
- In 2022 The Print: wrote about how young girls were being trafficked out of North Bengal tea gardens and forced into illegal surrogacy and smuggled to neighboring Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, so there are other forces at work as well to reduce harvests
Further, this tea is hand planted, managed, and harvested mainly by women; while it is processed by men (5, 6). And it is no wonder it is so labor intensive, given these tea plantations are high up in the mountains, where the tea bushes often grow in land tilted 60 to 70 degrees in some areas.
The harvesting season runs from mid-March through November. The bushes progress through three seasons, known as flushes. In India, the tea is often sold like wine, by single estate and by flush (6). It is written that the First and last Autumn flush are the best, but the Autumn are scooped up quickly by Indians so never really get beyond their border. The series of flushes show a deepening of the tea’s color and changes in its aroma and taste, becoming richer over time.
- Some specialists break the flushed down further, into four. A first, early summer, late summer and Autumn flush.
- But most commonly only speak of the three.
Darjeeling is Now in Rotation
I talk about this drink as a soft, nice cup of black tea.
Over the past few months, as I had my second knee replaced, and was living on pain meds there for a while, so my stomach and gut had been acting up. I finally got off all the meds, but found when I needed to occasionally use ibuprofen, to help with the ache after some long walking and continuing swelling, it still caused stomach problems. So I decided, after some testing, that my stomach cannot daily take the lemon and astringency of dark black tea right now.
To help, I am now drinking Darjeeling a couple times per week as my morning cups, to augment my still favorite Earl Grey. My stomach is now happier, and I am all around happier as well.
—Patty
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