10.25.07
Meet Rajah Banerjee
posted by James Norwood Pratt | 11 comments
I just finished the wonderful Matt Gross piece on Darjeeling in Sunday’s NY Times (Oct. 14, 2007). What a fine piece of writing! In it, Matt Gross repeatedly mentions Rajah Banerjee’s out-sized ego, but this is too facile and too easily misrepresents the man himself. People with less “patrician” self-assurance are simply incapable of pioneering bio-dynamic farming, say, or pioneering much of anything else. Indeed, people simply attribute lots of things to “ego” who have never experienced what it is to be SINGULAR, as for instance how an estate owner of an old and distinguished Brahmin family in Darjeeling must feel. The truth is that Rajah is indeed a singularly intelligent man, an authentic original. It makes Rajah’s friends smile to read that he seems proud, but Matt Gross also realized he has much to his credit to take pride in.
Rajah and the Darjeeling elite to which he belongs are not entirely comfortable with one another, but he also has many friends there such as the Lord of Goomtee and MuscatelValley, the very distinguished Ashok Kumar, who knows how to value this complex and brilliant visionary tea man—and others even at the distance of San Francisco. Of no possible interest except to tea people, this observation is simply an aside, not an exception, to the Matt Gross article wittily headlined “High Tea, India Style.”
October 25th, 2007 at 7:51 am
A man who has single handedly done more then anyone else has done to the presentation and marketing of Darjeeling teas in the world scenario.
If all tea gardens of Darjeeling are projected and presented as Makaibari, the real beneficieries will the workers of Darjeeling tea estates, whose sufferings has attracted innumerable consumers and writers.
Hats off.
Rajiv Lochan
October 25th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Fascinating. Of course it reminded me of regional wine-tasting (and the wine industry certainly has its share of big egos!). But even more, it reminded me of the infinite spectrum of tastes, just within this one type of tea, and of people’s perceptions of the taste of tea. I was curious about Matt Gross’ comment that “The second flush…is really just as good” as the first flush; on what might he base that opinion?
There is a lot of debate about Rudolf Steiner’s theories of biodynamic growing methods, but in the end it means that great care is going into the land that grows the tea.
One last thing: I repeat my question from a previous post: how do you pronounce “Darjeeling”?
October 25th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
My understanding Anne, is that 2nd flush teas in India are often considered better than the first flush because they can be as flavorful but more robust in holding the flavor and aroma through multiple steepings. The first flush can be sweeter but also more delicate and has a shorter steeping life.
I have always heard Darjeeling pronounced as it is spelled, but I will check and see if I can get more expert comments on that.
October 25th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but Darjeeling tea is traditionally NOT steeped multiple times (whether first flush, second flush or autumnal). That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but normally people prepare it “British style” in a large teapot rather than gongfu style. I’ve been successful with infusing some Darjeelings up to 4 times (first AND second flushes), but it is rather the exception than the rule that the subsequent steeps produce a great tea (also: I’ve prepared them in a gaiwan).
); the Darjeelings that most people get to try are of medium quality at the best and often make customers wonder what all the fuss is about…
Which flush (harvest) is the best depends purely on personal taste. I personally am a confessed first flush connoisseur (who can be won over by a select few extremely muscatel-y second flushes) but most people wouldn’t be able to make that call because it is extremely difficult to find those really high grade teas (unless you live in New Zealand, of course
October 25th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I imagine there’s less, quantity-wise, of the first flush than the second and other flushes, therefore it’s more expensive–but not necessarily more in demand?
Can anyone out there tell me a “ball-park” number for amounts harvested per acre for any type of tea?
October 25th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Jo, define some terms for me (I’m a newbie): “gongfu” must mean a single pour-through serving, rather than a pot? and what does “gaiwan” mean? I’m guessing that “muscatel-y” must refer to the Muscatel Valley-grown teas–but how are they distinguished from the rest (in the wine world, “Muscatel” has rather different connotations!)?
Thanks!
October 25th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Interesting but did you know that Rajah Banerjee has been visiting Japan in a cultural exchange with the Maiko tea company to both learn about Japanese green tea (specifically Gyokuro, the shade grown type) and it’s growing, harvesting and processing as well as imparting his long standing knowledge to his Japanese friends? If you are interested (and I am NOT trying to sell these products as I have no monetary interest in them, it is strictly for educational purposes only) here is the website where this information may be found at the Maiko tea plantations near Kyoto.
Happy viewing
October 26th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Anne, I have been told that the correct pronunciation of Darjeeling is “Dorjeeling”.
October 26th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Anne, I’m sorry for being too technical, it’s easy to forget that terms I use everyday aren’t part of “general education”…
Explanations of the term gongfu often start heated debates between tea connoisseurs since it means different things to different people. The literal translation of gongfu is something like work or effort. In tea brewing, it generally refers to the practice of using a small brewing vessel (about 70-250ml capacity for most occasions), a comparatively large quantity of leaves and very short steeps (anywhere between 5 seconds and a minute). This way of tea preparation yields a lot of infusions (about 3-4 for most green teas and up to 15 for aged pu-erh). It offers a very different tea experience since you’ll taste “stages” of the tea infusion separately instead of an integrated result in a 4 minute infusion.
The term gaiwan refers to a lidded cup used for tea preparation. It serves the same purpose as a teapot but can also be used to drink directly from. Tea leaves are placed directly into the gaiwan and the lid is used to hold back the leaves when pouring the tea. Usually, the tea is poured into small thimble-sized teacups which are typically used for gongfu tea.
I’ve used the term muscatel-y in a reference to a flavor that is highly desirable in second flush Darjeelings, not in regards to a geographic location (or a grape variety as in wine).
BTW, thanks for asking these questions. It is a bit of a reality check for my assumptions about how much people interested in tea actually know. And it inspired me to write an article on Chinese gongfu tea on our teahouse blog!
October 27th, 2007 at 9:54 am
hi anne,
hope this helps..
The name Darjeeling is a composition of ‘dorje’ meaning ‘thunderbolt’ and ‘ling’ meaning ‘place’ … ‘the Land of Thunderbolt’..
so u got to call it dorje-ling…
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:47 am
Hi Fr. Patrick and all other tea lovers,
has anyone tried the MaikoTea Gyokuro Green Tea & Darjeeling Set ?
On the maikotea shop site it says:
The selected Darjeeling from the Makaibari Tea Estates in India, headed by Mr. Swaraj Kumar Banerjee (Rajah), has won the world record price for the best tea, and many more internationally renowned awards.
A master tea-maker with exquisite choice and taste.
Yamashita’s Gyokuro, only purchasable through MaikoTea, has also been awarded the best place possible from the national Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries seventeen times in the past, along with many other prestigious awards, nationally and internationally.
We present you with a masterpiece collaboration of the world’s best tea experts, Swaraj Kumar Banerjee (Rajah), and Yamashita Toshikazu. Exquisite choice and taste, perfect for a gift.
Are these experts really that good? Has anyone tried the tea?
I would like to hear about it - any feedback?