Picking Tea Leaves, and Types of Indian Teas

Tea leaves have to be picked by hand.  There is no way that the proper leaves can be harvested by any machines.  Most, but not all tea pickers are women or young girls. Each carries a large basket on the back which is held in place by a band which passes over the forehead. This way both hands are free for picking the leaves. It takes a large amount of leaves to fill a basket which is then turned in and another replaces it.

The quality of tea depends on which tea leaves it is made from. The best tea comes from the leaf bud and the first two leaves. This picking is called "orange pekoe". The next four leaves form the "pekoe" . The next 4 to6 leaves are called "souchong I" and the leaves older than that are called "souchong II" .  The newer the leaves the better the flavor and aroma. But the new leaves give a light colored tea.  Many people combine tea from older leaves for darker color with more expensive new leaf tea for flavor and aroma. The older the leaves, the less flavor in the tea.

If you travel to a tea plantation it is a beautiful sight to see the tea-pickers in their bright sarees of different colors, working on the hillsides, carrying the tealeaf collecting baskets on their backs, anchored to their foreheads, singing and picking the leaves.