Hello everyone,
Last week, I told you about my visit to the Chellotte Estate in Wayanad, talking about how the estate is owned by the Diocese of Calicut, how it was established to help the people, its focus on producing good tea (and coffee, cardamom, etc.) alongside offering exciting adventure and experiential tourism options. This week, I want to tell you all about the next estate I visited on my trip to Wayanad – the boChe 1000 Acre estate, also called the boChe Bhumiputra.
The boche 1000 Acre is a sprawling eco-resort and entertainment destination in Meppadi, Wayanad, India. Besides offering experiential and adventure tourism options, boChe Bhumiputra is a lush tea estate producing CTC tea at its factory.
I took the above picture while standing outside the estate office, where I met the manager, Arun. Can you spot the tea factory in the image, in the valley?
Let me zoom it up for you.
The factory manufactures CTC tea. Pickings are collected twice a day and brought to the factory for processing. When I visited the factory, last evening’s pluckings were in the withering trough, while the morning’s pluckings were due to arrive soon. The collection time is usually 12 noon and 4 PM.
From the withering trough, it moves downstairs for further processing, grading, and packaging.
The factory produces four grades: Pekoe Dust, Red Dust, Super Red Dust, and Super Fine Dust. At the end of the factory visit, I did a cupping on the teas. It was a good experience to cup the teas. If you have been to this part of the world and have an understanding of the difference in preferences between the North Indian population and the South Indian population, you will likely see how a “Good cup of Chai” is perceived differently across India. The team at the factory explained it in more detail, and I could see the differences first-hand.
The estate has a school, a hospital, labor quarters, and recreational facilities. It is in the process of building a lot of entertainment, accommodation, and adventure options for tourists. Below is a picture of the estate hospital. It is right next to the tea factory.
The boChe Bhumiputra estate was purchased by Dr. Bobby Chemmanur in 2023 from AVT Group. The estate had been on the market for some time. Post-purchase, it was renamed to boChe Bhumiputra, meaning Son of the Earth in Sanskrit. The estate offers the tea under the brand name boChe Tea, and it is available in both the domestic and international markets.
After visiting the two estates in Wayanad, I lay awake at night thinking about how closely tea and tourism are intertwined here in Wayanad. The producers are doing their best to produce the best tea possible, and tourism is helping generate additional income, which, considering the challenges of producing tea, is essential. But would tourists still show up if there were fantastic properties and activities, but no lush, green tea bushes around? Or is it the unique experience of living and getting their adrenaline and serotonin rush in the midst of a vast tea estate that stretches as far as the eye can see that pulls the tourists to the estates? Should estates be allowed to convert more of their land to tourism activities, increasing the current cap on how much land they can convert? Or is it essential to keep the cap as is? Can the estates survive without tourism and just go back to focusing on growing and manufacturing good tea?
I will leave you with that food for thought. Think about it over your cup of tea, maybe? And, send me your thoughts, I would love to read them. I was so happy to receive all your email replies to last week’s Letter from Wayanad!
Next week, I will tell you more about the last estate I visited on my Wayanad trip.
Also, if you would like to invest in Tea Journey, register your interest here. It is non-binding, but it would help me a lot in planning things for the future. Helps to know how many of our readers are interested, doesn’t it?
And lastly, have you read our new article about hosting tea meetups? If you haven’t, check it out here.
Don’t forget to share the stories with your friends, family, colleagues, or anyone who you feel would enjoy reading them.
Yours in tea,
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Until next time.
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Bhavi Patel
Bhavi Patel, known as Banjaran Foodie, is a distinguished tea and coffee expert with a background in dairy technology and brand building. As a trusted writer for renowned publications including Perfect Daily Grind, Barista, and STiR Magazines, she combines scientific expertise with storytelling to explore specialty beverages.
