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Kangra tea is a tea from the Kangra district in
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Both
black tea Black tea (also literally translated as red tea from various East Asian languages) is a type of tea that is more tea processing, oxidized than oolong, yellow tea, yellow, white tea, white, and green tea, green teas. Black tea is generally st ...
and
green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...
have been produced in the Kangra Valley since the mid-19th century. Kangra tea was given the Geographical Indication status in 2005.


History

Tea was first grown in the Kangra region in the mid-19th century. After a feasibility survey in 1848 showed the area of being suitable for tea plantation, a Chinese variety of '' Camellia sinensis'' was planted across the region. The production turned out to be successful in Palampur and Dharamshala, despite failing in other locations. By the 1880s, the Kangra tea was considered to be superior to tea from other places, and was bought in
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and
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. In 1882, the ''Kangra District Gazette'' described Kangra tea as "superior to that produced in any other part of India." In 1886 and 1895, the tea received gold and silver medals at International conventions held in
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. However, the 1905 Kangra earthquake caused thousands of deaths and destruction of factories, forcing the British to sell the plantations and leave the area. In the decades that followed, only small quantities of Kangra tea were produced by the new owners. After a further decline of produce in the 21st century, research and techniques are being promoted, aimed at reviving the brand by increasing the produce. In 2012, the then Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Anand Sharma, laid the foundation stone for the Palampur regional office of the Tea Board of India, marking a significant step towards the re-integration of the Kangra region into the mainstream of the Indian tea industry.


Description

Although Kangra cultivates both black tea and green tea, black tea constitutes around 90 percent of the production. As of May 2015, there are 5,900 tea gardens in the area covering about 2,312 hectares of land between Dharamsala, Shahpur, Palampur, Baijnath and Jogindernagar; with an annual output of 8.99 lakh kg. Kangra tea is known for its unique color and flavor.While the black tea has a sweet lingering after taste, the green tea has a delicate woody aroma. The unique characteristics of the tea is attributed to the geographical properties of the region. It was granted the Geographical Indication tag in 2005 by Office of the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks,
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, as per Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. Flavour is indeed the unique selling proposition of Kangra tea. The Chinese hybrid variety grown here produces a very pale liquor, which is the reason why Kangra does not produce any CTC (crushed, turned, curled) tea—the staple tea of India.


Tea tourism

Tea tourism is slowly beginning to gain ground in and around Kangra. Several of the tea estates and tea factories in Palampur and Dharamsala offer factory tours as well as home stays for those interested in learning more about the tea
Wah Tea Estate
in Palampur offers an in-depth guided tea tour and tea tasting session. The Dharmsala Tea Company offers guided tours of its factory and tea gardens, starting from its factory in Mann Tea Estate. Similarly, the Palampur Cooperative Tea Factory offers factory tours and homestays.


See also

* Darjeeling tea * Nilgiri tea * Assam tea * Tea Board of India * Kangra Valley


References

{{Indian beverages Indian tea Tea industry in Himachal Pradesh Kangra, Himachal Pradesh Kangra district Black tea Green tea Geographical indications in Himachal Pradesh