Resplendent and Indulgent Ceylon: Q&A with Malik Fernando
Malik Fernando talks with Tea Journey about what drew him to hospitality and why tea lovers must visit Sri Lanka.
Aravinda Anantharaman
Taster Profile: Kurush Bharucha
Tea wasn’t just what I did – it seemed to define who I am. As my close friends light-heartedly joke, “Kurush doesn’t drink tea to wake up, he wakes up to drink Tea!” and “If he won the lottery tomorrow, he’d still be doing tea!”
Kumaon Adds New Chapter To An Old Tea Story
Kumaon was where a lot of British tea experiments took place. It’s land-locked location led to its losing out on what Darjeeling or even Kangra saw. In the last decade there has been a revival taking place led by Raj Vable in the US and Desmond Birkbeck in Kumaon.
When Tea Became Chai
If you imagined that Chai was part of the traditional Indian kitchens and comes with a long history, you’ll be surprised to know that chai is very much a 20th-century creation.
A Remarkable Quest Reveals Untold Chapter in Tea History
From Hwuy-Chow Foo, a tea-growing district in Anhui, China to Pauri, India, the Nilgiris, Munnar, and Chennai … the Ajoo family story traverses an untold chapter in the history of Indian tea, a road James Ajoo is trying to retrace, “to say I landed my feet where my ancestor had walked.”
Remote Farming During a Pandemic
The pandemic was the worst thing to happen to Nepal’s Kanchanjangha Tea Estate, but there is a silver lining. “It radically changed how we work,” says Nishchal Banskota, who manages operations via Zoom calls between Long Island, New York, and his family’s tea estate. It’s early morning for me and the end of the day for my father, but after nine months, he says, “I have more confidence that I can manage a farm remotely.”
Sri Lanka’s Artisan Tea Collective
Sri Lanka celebrates diversity in tea. A new generation of Ceylon tea growers recently established an artisan tea collective to showcase exceptional teas produced to interest a niche domestic market and equally, the international market.
Tea’s Immunity Boosting Properties
In marketing tea, health has always played an important role. In her book Tasting Qualities, Sarah Besky writes that back when the Indian Tea Association (ITA) was promoting “Empire Tea” (teas originating in the colonies), medical journals were linking the increased consumption of these malty, astringent teas from British colonies to a population-wide rise in indigestion and constipation. Tea’s most important benefit today is boosting immunity.
Review: Tasting Qualities – The Past and Future of Tea
Tasting Qualities: The Past and the Future of Tea by Sarah Besky manages to easily deconstruct and demystify the space between the plantation and the cup of tea.
Advocating Artisan Tea for Smallholders in Assam
The Tea Leaf Theory team is very lean, choosing to remain independent, bootstrapped, refusing certifications, they represent a new kind of startup, modern yet rooted in something traditional, ancient even. There’s the social impact but Tea Leaf Theory is not an NGO working for small farmers. “We want to make them entrepreneurs, not beneficiaries,” say co-founders Upamanyu Borkakoty and Anshuman Bharali.
Sikkim’s Temi Tea
Sikkim’s Temi Tea has protected and sustained its legacy. But it also made this legacy a part of its brand story, one that complements its topnotch tea.
Forest Pick Wild Tea from Manipur
Three sisters from Manipur, India, and their brother launched Forest Pick Wild Tea about two years ago. Together they organized villagers to harvest tall-grown tea trees on a schedule, arriving with portable processing equipment to make artisan oolong, black, green and white teas. “Irrespective of the market size or market opportunity, Forest Pick Wild Tea is not another start-up, but an eco-system we are creating in which all the villagers participating will benefit.” — Julie Gangte
The Tea Scientist: In Tea He Trusts
He speaks of tea as one would about a real person, as a friend. That’s true love, if it can be called anything.
The Gentleman Planter of Craigmore
Given that the Indian tea industry is struggling, Craigmore Tea Estate’s profitability offers important insights. The estate produces orthodox green and black tea, with the former exported and the latter sent to the auctions. Over the years, the balance has tilted to favor more green tea production to meet the demand.
The Studio: Muskan Khanna
Tea Studio celebrated its second birthday in August 2019. What it offers is a new model for processing tea in India. Small has not meant few teas. Nearly 90% of Tea Studio’s teas are exported to Canada, United States, Japan, and Australia. Teas are made to order, production is a modest 20 kilos a day.
Holiday Teapots
Classic, whimsical, themed, treasured… teapots are a great way to showoff a host’s personality or as gifts for tea lovers.
Destinations: India
India’s remarkably diverse tea lands are the perfect destination for holiday vacationers. The cool hill stations in the Nilgiris in South India, the gentle slopes of Assam, and the rugged, picturesque gardens of North India each offer a unique tea culture and cuisine.
Sinna Dorais Bungalows Balance Comfort and Old World Charm
If you drive 250 kilometers west of Bangalore, India, you reach Sakleshpur, where the coffee country begins. And sitting here amongst the coffee estates is a tea garden called Kadamane. And that itself seemed reason enough to book a stay.
Teaware
The imaginative and extravagant Borek Sipek invites us to visit a world similar to the circus and Italian opera buffa: the characters are all there, from the decanters with stoppers similar to a clown cap to the jugs with skirts and arms resting on the hips and the jugs-jar with colored ribbon handle
Rural Entrepreneurs Establish Nepal’s National Brand
Nepal’s eastern tea-growing region leads the country’s tea trade, but the landscape is changing as rural entrepreneurs expand the tea terroir. Upcoming tea brands are establishing Nepal Tea as a global brand offering premium differentiated products with a compelling story that is authentic and modern.
Remote Farming During a Pandemic
The pandemic was the worst thing to happen to Nepal’s Kanchanjangha Tea Estate, but there is a silver lining. It radically changed how we work, says Nishchal Banskota, who manages operations via Zoom calls between Long Island, New York, and his family’s tea estate. It’s early morning for me and the end of the day for him, but after nine months, he says, “I have more confidence that I can manage a farm remotely.”
No sale in North India while Kochi Sees High Prices
Demand for CTC at the Kochi tea auction was strong this week. Orthodox teas for export to the Middle East and CIS countries also increased. Green teas from the Nilgiris are also commanding higher prices.
South India Sale Continues as North Awaits Production
Sale of tea continues in the south Indian auctions while north India awaits sufficient volumes as early season still underway. The early Darjeeling first flush is quickly being picked up in private sales.
Light Rains Point to Promising First Flush
A weekly report on global tea prices by market that includes data and details on price averages at tea averages, weather conditions during harvest periods, labor availability and other developments influencing prices, and expert views.
Record Green Tea Prices in the Nilgiris as Darjeeling, Assam Begin Harvest Season
A weekly report on global tea prices by market that includes data and details on price averages at tea averages, weather conditions during harvest periods, labor availability and other developments influencing prices, and expert views.
Forest Pick Wild Tea from Manipur
Three sisters from Manipur, India, and their brother launched Forest Pick Wild Tea about two years ago. Together they organized villagers to harvest tall-grown tea trees on a schedule, arriving with portable processing equipment to make artisan oolong, black, green and white teas. “Irrespective of the market size or market opportunity, Forest Pick Wild Tea is not another start-up, but an eco-system we are creating in which all the villagers participating will benefit.” — Julie Gangte
The Gentleman Planter of Craigmore
Given that the Indian tea industry is struggling, Craigmore Tea Estate’s profitability offers important insights. The estate produces orthodox green and black tea, with the former exported and the latter sent to the auctions. Over the years, the balance has tilted to favor more green tea production to meet the demand.