Champagne of teas loses fizz amid scanty rainfall, last year's lockdown

Scanty rainfall, last year's lockdown, growing competition from Nepal and the disaster of the 2017 Gorkhaland agitation are steadily weakening exports and sales of Darjeeling tea

What makes Darjeeling tea a cult brand with a following that ranges from the British royalty to Satyajit Ray’s fictional private investigator, Feluda? A delicate balance of sunshine, rainfall, elevation and the mist that grazes the snow-capped Himalayas.

So if one element plays truant, it can spell disaster. Scanty rainfall earlier this year dealt a body blow to the season’s first plucking — known as first flush — causing major revenue loss to an industry reeling under sustained misfortune. The 87-odd gardens in the hills are now staring at a 50 per cent crop loss.

“The first flush makes or