Nilgiri black tea is a popular Indian tea made using the CTC method, with a slightly acidic flavor and orange coloring. It is made using the broadleaf assamica strain and is harvested year-round. It is often enjoyed straight or with sugar and milk.
Black tea nilgiri is a delicate, dark blend with few astringent overtones. It originates from the Ghats Mountains and other high altitude regions of coastal southwestern India. Most farmers who process nilgiri tea use a squeeze, tear and curl (CTC) cultivation method, which promotes cheap brewing. One of the most renowned and distinctive members of this black tea family is called orange pekoe, although Darjeeling black tea, produced in India’s Darjeeling region of Bengal, eclipses most others in popularity.
Most of those who grow, process and sell nilgiri tea use the broadleaf assamica strain of the Chinese tea plant Camellia sinensis, grown throughout southern India – a region also known as the Nilgiris. Darjeeling growers, on the other hand, are more likely to use a sinensis variety with much smaller leaves. About two-thirds of all nilgiri farmers are smallholders; many harvest nilgiri throughout the year, as it is the only Indian black tea with annual trunk cultivation.
Black varieties such as nilgiri tea are processed using the CTC method, which is typically an acronym for crush, tear, and curl, but can also mean “to cut, twist, and curl.” Invented in the early 1930s, the method is widely used in 2011 in Asia and Africa for the production of black teas such as nilgiri. Instead of the old method of simply rolling nilgiri tea leaves, CTC involves rolling the leaves on serrated rollers which, as the name suggests, crush, tear and curl – or cut twist and curl – the leaves until they are ready. for final drying and fermentation.
The CTC method makes it easy to brew all black tea and spread it across multiple cups. When full leaves are used, the product is orange pekoe; other partially intact leaves are used for what is called “broken orange pekoe”. With Nilgiri tea the high altitude of its growers and the heavy rainfall they receive get credit for its slightly acidic flavour. It is considered a strong and unique flavour, comparable to no other for its light and smooth tones. Its orange coloring is quite characteristic of most Indian black teas.
Only 1 teaspoon (2.7 g) of processed nilgiri tea is needed for each cup brewed. Boiling water should be steeped with the tea for up to five minutes. Some add sugar and milk to the final product; others believe the flavor is savory enough to drink it straight, inhaling the aroma of the nilgiri between sips.
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