Nepali Tea

Nepal, a landlocked country in South Asia, sandwiched between China (in the north) and India (in the south), produces tea that is a cousin of Darjeeling tea in its appearance, aroma and fruity taste. Nepal tea if often referred to as the comparable, "classic" Darjeeling tea, and a great alternative from the "more expensive" Darjeeling tea.The reason for the similarity of Nepal Tea with the well-known Darjeeling tea is that the eastern zones of Nepal, which are the main tea producing regions of Nepal, have more or less the same geographical and topographical conditions as the Darjeeling.

Nevertheless, Nepal tea does stand apart from the Darjeeling tea, despite being introduced to the world much later than the Darjeeling tea. Tea connoisseurs’ consider some of the teas’ from Nepal to be much better than the Darjeeling tea in its aroma, fusion, taste and colour.However, Nepal tea has not been that successful in capturing limelight in the world tea market, mainly due to the lack of sufficient quantities of tea, that often fails to meet the demand. Since its inception, Nepal tea is characterized by two types of tea, which are Orthodox tea and CTC (Crush,Tear,Curl) tea.

During the 1800s and the early 1900s, Nepal was under the reign of a highly centralized autocracy – “Rana Dynasty”. The Rana Dynasty expressed as monarchy. Under its reign, policies were ratified which often resulted in the isolation of Nepal from the external world. Nepal’s borders and governance were constantly under turmoil, both internally and externally. Unlike India, the policies helped Nepal retain its national independence from the British colonial rule. Although the policies helped Nepal maintain its independence, it insulated Nepal from modernization and economic development. Thus the nascent Nepal tea industry was greatly affected, and received a major setback, contrary to the “cousin” Darjeeling tea industry, which thrived under the British colonial rule.

Crush tear curl (CTC) tea is a method of processing tea, where three main steps are involved - crush, tear and curl, hence the name CTC tea.CTC tea is produced in lower altitudes in the fertile plains of Nepal, which are warm and humid, primarily in the Jhapa district, which is ideal for the production and processing of CTC tea. The CTC tea produced in Nepal is known to be of average quality. It accounts for almost 95% of the domestic consumption, owing to its cost of production, which is much less comparatively to that of the orthodox tea.