From the very first deal struck with Arya Tea Estate, I have been fascinated by the teas they produce and that too 100% organic. Arya as a tea estate is small when compared to larger tea gardens in Darjeeling, but way better off than some of such larger ones when it comes to producing quality teas.
The first instance sipping Arya was at my friends place - Arya Ruby. It was simply irresistible and I bought it for my clients. I won’t delve too much into the sophisticated tea acronyms, and for simple understanding, I would like to say that this tea is quite rare and produced in very low quantities. I was informed by the Manager, Mr. S. Roy, that only about 200 kgs of Arya Ruby was processed this year (First Flush 08) - so you can imagine the demand for it, keeping in mind the quantity produced. While budging towards the cost factor - its quite expensive, but I tell you its worth it.
It is a strange tea! It is actually a clonal tea and most of the clonal Darjeeling teas are lighter in cup. And not to forget the fact that whether china grade or clonal, First Flush Darjeeling teas are always weaker in strength, but this particular tea is amazing. Clonals are said to be lighter than china grade, but this tea has a body of its own reminiscent of the ruby color - thats why the name Ruby. The same china and clonals from other tea gardens start to attain a good amount of body during the second flush, Ruby doesn’t become awfully strong, it maintains its quality of a second flush.
Arya is 100% organic and besides Ruby, it produces numerous other grades of tea, black, white and green teas. A word about Arya Green teas - most of the Darjeeling green teas I have tasted appear to have a yellowish liqor, but Arya Green slides more towards transparent or white. The white teas they produce is also quite different from what we find from other tea estates - white teas as a leaf is totally green and seems unprocessed, highly aromatic and having a weak body. Vege notes dominates all, though there are other complexities mingled in the characteristics of this white tea. Buying Arya for us is like going bankrupt - it is expensive, but a tea that would stand out among the best of what Darjeeling has to offer.
Well, don’t misunderstand my post - Arya produces unique teas, but each tea garden in Darjeeling is famous for its particular grade. For example, nobody can beat Second Flush Castleton Muscatel - Arya cannot produce muscatel tea similar to Castleton Muscatel characteristics and Castleton cannot produce a tea similar to the charateristics of Arya Ruby. This is highly due to the region the garden is placed, the kind of tea bushes used and the most important factor - the tea maker.
Hope you enjoyed the post!
