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Today, let's talk about Nepalese tea culture.
In the 19th century, Nepal introduced tea varieties from China and began tea cultivation, forming its own tea industry. At present, tea is one of the main agricultural products in the eastern region. Since the industry is not destructive to the ecological environment and can increase employment opportunities, the industrial development has shown an upward trend with the strong support of the Nepalese government and the assistance of the international community.
After more than 100 years of development, at present, the area of Tea Gardens in Nepal is about 16,718 hectares, with an annual output of about 16.29 million kilograms, accounting for only 0.4% of the world's total tea production.
There are about 142 registered tea gardens, 41 large tea processing plants, 32 small tea factories, about 85 tea production cooperatives, and nearly 15,000 registered small tea farmers.
Per capita tea consumption in Nepal is 350 grams, with an average of 2.42 cups per person per day.
Nepalese tea is mainly exported to India (90%), Germany (2.8%), the Czech Republic (1.1%), Kazakhstan (0.8%), the United States (0.4%), Canada (0.3%), France (0.3%), China, the United Kingdom, Austria, Norway, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands.
A brief history of the tea industry in Nepal
In 1863, Nepalese Prime Minister Junga Bahadur rana visited China and brought back tea seeds from the Chinese Emperor, and Colonel Gajraj Singh Thapa accepted the task of planting, and established two large farms in Ilam and Soktim, and thus began the tea cultivation industry in Nepal.
In 1959, The first private tea plantation in Nepal, the Budhkaran Tea Plantation, appeared in Jhapa. As private companies enter the tea industry, the industry becomes more competitive, market-oriented and vital.
In 1966, the government established the Nepal Tea Industry Development Corporation. From 1978 onwards, small-scale tea farming farms began to develop in large quantities. In 1982, the government declared the four eastern counties of Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar and Khankuta as tea industry zones.
In 1987, the government established the Nepal Tea Industry Plantation Association.
In 1992, recognizing the importance of developing the tea industry, the government established the National Tea Industry Development Bureau, which was later renamed the National Tea and Coffee Development Authority.
Since 1997, the Nepalese government has designated April as National Tea Day. During the three-day festival, new tea tastings, auctions, trainings and workshops will be held.
At the 4th Asian International Tea Congress in 1999, Nidani was officially listed as one of the world's tea producers.
In 2002, the Nepalese government promulgated and implemented the National Tea Guidance Policy, which formed the current policies and regulations of the tea industry to regulate the tea industry and vigorously encourage the development of tea production.
In 2006, the government signed the Code of Conduct for the Tea Industry and began to implement it.
In April 2018, the National Tea and Coffee Development Committee of Nepal and the Ministry of Agricultural Development jointly launched the new Nepal Tea Logo, which brings the 2074 Directive, including that the tea it produces must be completely organic, the sustainability of the tea growing process, etc. At present, the logo and directive have been passed, and Nepalese tea will have a place in the international market.
There is good tea in the southern foothills of the Himalayas
Nepal tea cultivation (traditional alpine tea) is mainly concentrated in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, due to the huge drop in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, on the one hand, the vertical differentiation of Nepal is obvious, and the natural belt is extremely rich;
On the other hand, Nepal is located on the windward slope of the southwest monsoon from the Indian Ocean, and the rain is abundant, thus forming the special topography of the Nepal tea region and the climatic environment that is extremely conducive to tea growth.
Nepal's traditional alpine tea gardens are almost all distributed in remote areas above 1500 meters above sea level, most of the tea gardens are concentrated at an altitude of about 2000 meters, some tea gardens even reach an altitude of 2800 to 3000 meters, the annual precipitation is about 1800 mm, the average annual temperature is about 15 °C, the temperature difference between day and night is large, almost every day is the alternating change of clouds and sunshine, and most of the tea gardens are distributed in steep slope hills, surrounded by forests, and the difficulty of planting and picking is high. But it is extremely conducive to the formation of high-quality tea leaves.
Nepalese tea, small but beautiful
1 Organic production system
Nepalese tea farmers generally follow a cultural and social practice of sustainable agricultural development.
There are fewer pests and diseases in the mountains, and the Nepalese tea region will grow some traditional plants, such as Adhotoda vasica and Ablizia lebbell, which have been scientifically proven to have deworming nitrogen fixation.
As a result, smallholder farmers require little external input to make the soil fertile, insect-resistant and production-friendly, so Nepalese farmers can be seen as "beyond organic", truly pristine.
2 picking standards
Nepal tea picking mainly by hand, picking strictly grasp the picking of single buds, a bud and a leaf, a bud and two leaves, almost can not see the phenomenon of picking with a stalk and fish leaves, fresh leaves are fresh in color, soft leaf quality, and more with mules and horses to transport to the tea factory, tea processing with some fuel wood, but also mostly with mules and horses to transport, so in the Nepal tea area can often see the "mountain bell ringing horse gang" scene.
3 high altitudes bring high quality
Due to the slow growth of high-altitude tea flakes, the toughness of the leaves is relatively high, and the caffeine content is low, while another substance, the natural linalool content is high, which plays an important role in the unique aroma naturally formed in The Alpine Tea of Nepal.
4 socha teas are of unique high quality
Nepalese alpine tea is partly Specialty tea, which has already won awards at the North American Tea Championships and is also loved by Chinese tea connoisseurs; Usually referred to as imported tea has a certain degree of chopping process, but Nepal has a strip of tea, its taste is more stable and rough, and it has the kind of toughness that originates from the high mountains, and the durability is better.
What are the Nepalese alpine teas?
Nepalese alpine tea mainly includes black tea, white tea, oolong tea, green tea and other teas.
There are three main types of black tea:
(1) Golden tips: Pure bud head, Nepal's highest grade black tea, the annual output is very small, the quality and taste of different tea gardens are completely different, this is a tea that can capture people's hearts without any unnecessary introduction.
(2) Flower and fruit aroma black tea (Golden tea): including one bud and one leaf black tea, one bud two leaf black tea, that is, people often refer to Nepal's "golden tea" and "golden bud", which is also a high-grade black tea in Nepal, because of the pure natural flower and fruit aroma of Nepal's topography, it is called "flower and fruit aroma black tea".
(3) SFTGFOP1 (the highest grade of red crushed tea in the world): Among them, Misty valley black tea (Misty valley) and Guranse (Guranse) are the most famous, these two tea gardens are thick and light, combined with taste and quality, and have their own unique logo of tea gardens, a large number of exports to Europe, but also have a certain reputation in the international market.
There are two main types of white tea:
(1) Special grade white silver needle (Silver tips): pure bud head, the annual output is very small, its light fragrance and nature's unique sweetness attract a large number of people who love white tea, and the original ecological bud head that really originates from the mountains is precious.
(2) Flower and fruit aroma white tea (White tea): refers to a bud and a leaf white tea, equivalent to the domestic "white peony" level, is also a high-grade white tea in Nepal, the same as black tea, due to the pure natural flower and fruit aroma of the nepalese terrain, so it is named "flower and fruit fragrance white tea", and black tea is different, because of the different ways of making white tea, its aroma is slight "flower and fruit fragrance" atmosphere, it may be more appropriate to say that it is "flower and grass fragrance".
In addition, Nepalese alpine tea also has Oolong Tea (Oolong Tea), green tea (Green Tea), the alpine atmosphere is obvious, hand-picked, especially its green tea, most of which are exported to Japan.
Source: Tea Ceremony CN