Goodricke reinvents itself with a range of exotic gourmet teas, premium lounges

As gourmet tea goes, there couldn’t have been a better time than now.

The chai business has been trying to move up the value chain and rewrite the rules of the game. A number of gourmet and single estate tea startups have been attempting to shake up the market, which is estimated at Rs 180 billion by Euromonitor in its report, India Tea Industry Analysis, 2017-2025. Of this, the gourmet and single estate teas may just be about 5-7 percent of the market, but that is the top layer, dominated by teas that sometimes sell for a tiny fortune in the global market.

According to Azam Monem, former chairman of the Indian Tea Association, tea production costs have risen over the past decade, even as prices stagnate in the Rs 125-132/kg range at the CTC end of the segment. Slowly, the tea industry has begun experimenting with a niche, but high-paying gourmet and single estate tea segment, in which teas are often compared to fine wines.

Kolkata Lounge.

Several startups have taken advantage of the keen interest in teas that are beyond CTC. Consider them as harbingers of new ideas in the industry. Startups such as Tea Box, Tea Trails, Tea Trunk, The Good Life Co and No. 3 Clive Company have gone to the heart of India’s tea producing country, to create or market a range of truly unique teas. This doesn’t just make expensive gourmet teas available to Indians but also helps the industry, struggling with labour issues, to upgrade.

On this landscape steps in Goodricke, a 43-year-old brand. It is very rare for an established tea brand to diversify into single estate teas. In 2017, the company acquired eight tea brands of Godfrey Phillips India Ltd, entering rather aggressively into the retail tea business. “Our branded business is fairly large and growing. Currently, we do revenues of over Rs 2.4 billion,” says PT Krishnan, Head – Consumer Division and Vice President, Goodricke Group Ltd.

Equally interesting, however, is Goodricke’s foray into the niche market of single estate and gourmet teas. Tea Box, the online platform for gourmet teas, sold the brand’s Badamtam Heritage Moonlight Spring White Tea at Rs 2 lakh a kg, as part of its Private Reserve Collection. The scenic tea estate burrows in a small valley overshadowed by the Kanchenjunga mountains, next to the icy rivers — Rangeet and Majhitar. A suspension bridge over Rangeet links the garden to Sikkim. Some of India’s finest teas — the first flushes and the white teas — come from this scenic environment.

Among them is Badamtam Heritage Moonlight Spring White Tea, grown at an altitude of 4,800ft on a slope facing the Kanchenjunga, in an area of the estate, which is called ‘Lama’ Division. A special variety of tea bush named AV2 and the high altitude has lent it the sublime flavour, which can command such prices, says Kausshal Dugarr, founder of Teabox. The Badamtam Earl Grey, another classic from the estate, has a distinct malty, lemony flavour and a perfect orange-golden hue.

“The taste, flavour and look of the tea can vary every lot wise or even season-wise. It is an agricultural product and the quality is dependent on many factors—from the environment to temperature, rainfall, plucking, manufacturing, etc. All specialty teas are produced in limited quantities. While Badamtam White tea is one of our expensive teas, there are others as well, such as Castleton Moonlight, Margaret’s Hope White Tea, Margaret’s Hope Royal Yellow Tea, Barnesbeg Purple Tea, which are of equally good quality,” says Krishnan.

Teabox presentation of Badamtam.

Magaret’s Hope is the other estate from which some of Goodricke’s gourmet teas are sourced. The estate, once known as Bara Ringtong, was rechristened after Lady Margaret, the daughter of the former garden manager Cruikshank, who loved the garden and promised to return to it from England. But she died of a disease on the way back and the garden was renamed Margaret's Hope. It is listed among the prettiest tea gardens in Darjeeling, with views of the undulated Himalayan peaks. Two rivers cut across the estate and the emerald green patina is broken by bursts of colours from the orchids that are part of the landscape. From this estate comes the handcrafted Margaret Hope Premium White, produced in limited quantity during spring or the first flush season. It is light-bodied tea with sweet, fruity and flowery flavour.

Then there is Castleton tea garden, planted in 1885 by one Dr Charles Graham, which has achieved record prices at tea auctions for its Muscatel Tea, characterised by its distinct sweet flavour. Krishnan defines it as a tea with the fragrance of the roses and top notes of musk. Among the crème de la crème of fine teas, Castleton's delicate teas are created from select China bushes and are categorised as a 'muscatels’, which are often compared to sweet summer wines by connoisseurs.

Unfortunately, most tea estates, tea selling boutiques and websites such as Teabox, and even brands such as Goodricke export their single estate teas. The domestic market for them is rather small and restricted only to serious tea connoisseurs.

Tea lounges could hold the key

This is where the teahouses come in. Over the last few years, India has seen an advent of tea cafes, which hope to one day compete with coffee cafes in popularity. Tea houses such as Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea House, set in an old Bandra bungalow in Mumbai, chains such as Chai Point, a startup founded by a Harvard ex-student, or Chaayos that serves 1200 different types of teas, have set the trend.

Goodricke has jumped into the fray with its Goodricke Teapot division to set up lounges and cafes with the view to promote gourmet teas. While Teapot is divided into cafes and kiosks, the talking point is their premium lounges and they have three—in Mumbai, Kolkata and Darjeeling. The central idea of the lounges is to showcase the best of the brand’s specially-crafted teas, served to a menu of classic dishes. Drinking of tea in these elegant lounges, inspired by the English tearooms, is akin to slipping back to the British era, where waiters in fine livery served you tea in delicate China cups, accompanied by a Shepherd’s Pie or some lovely Shrewsbury biscuits.

Teapot’s newest opening, Queen’s Deck, is in a beautiful building owned by The Tea Board and replaces the erstwhile Tea Centre. Punctuated by columns and semi-covered verandas, it has white walls and shelves that hold the teas, loungy sofas, and beautiful China tea sets – both British and Oriental in style.

Queen's Deck lounge, Mumbai.

Queen’s Deck tea is sourced directly from Goodricke’s own tea gardens, and you have more than 30 varieties to choose from. You can pick your tea depending on the time of day, from lunch teas to varieties that can be drunk late at night, to classics such as Turkish Mint Tea. The specially curated menu includes exotic nibbles in the form of biscotti, cookies, a range of European cuisine such as Italian roast chicken, Keema stuffed in Brioche, Lamb Shanks made using Australian lambs, and not to miss, tea-infused desserts.

The first tea lounge or tearoom that Goodricke opened was Margaret’s Deck, somewhere between Darjeeling and Siliguri, close to the Tung station, one of the halts for the Darjeeling Himalayan Rails or the toy train. Inspired by the picturesque Margaret’s Hope Tea Garden, the best place to experience the lounge is out on the deck hanging over a Himalayan valley. The brand has also opened another premium tea room in Kolkata.

“The lounge business helps us to promote the tea-drinking culture and to create an exotic experience for the customer,” says Krishnan.

Deepali Nandwani is a journalist who keeps a close watch on the world of luxury.