The production unit of one of Darjeeling's oldest and largest tea gardens, Longview Tea Garden, was destroyed in a fire on Sunday at about 3 a.m. Four fire brigades were brought in, but too late to salvage the facility. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it may have been a short circuit in the electrical system sparking the tea dust. There were no casualties. Damage is estimated at more than $1 million USD (40 million rupees). Because they were able to prevent the fire from reaching the engine room further damage to residences and the tea storage areas was prevented. This garden, established in 1873, employs approximately 1200 employees and produces more than 1.5 million pounds of tea per year. The Longview spokesperson said their estate produces more than 10% of all tea in the Darjeeling Hills.
Now, today's tea - Today I picked Whittard of Chelsea's English Rose Tea. As I looked at this tea, I started reminiscing about buying this on a trip to London to visit friends. It occurred to me that this trip was before my son was born and he'll be 3 this spring. I racked my brain to see if I could figure out how old this tea was...Sadly it was purchased more than FIVE years ago. Ugh. So, off it went to the trash. The downside of my tea collection. Sometimes a tea like that gets lost in the shuffle. It should have been replaced long ago, but it also tells me that it isn't a tea that has drawn my attention as of late.
It seems that Whittard now has two rose scented teas for those of you interested in such things. One is called "Rose Petal" and it is a China black tea (Orange Pekoe grade) scented with rose petals. This appears to be a newer version of what I had purchased. The other is called "English Rose" but, unlike the original I purchased in London, it contains mango and papaya flavors in addition to the rose scent. Odd that it has the same name of the tea I used to buy.
So, I apologize for not having a tea to review/recommend. We'll try again tomorrow.
For more information on tea, please visit The Tea Pages website.
Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/
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