Tag: Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal

A Tale of Two Kathmandu Tea Shops

Bhairab Risal, a veteran journalist with a sharp memory at 94, speaks with ease and zeal of his memories of the early days of Kathmandu’s tea culture. In 1948, at the age of 20, he recalled his first cup of tea at Tilauri Mailako Pasal, one of Kathmandu’s earliest and best-known tea shops. In this article, Kathmandu journalist Prawash Gautam shares tales of two storied tea houses.

Read More

Nepal’s Specialty Tea Evolution

The Barbote tea farm is nestled in the steep hills of Ilam, Nepal, planted by his grandfather and tended by his father but grower Narendra Kumar Gurung spent most of his working years with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Like most of Nepal’s new-generation farmers, specialty tea is a new endeavor built on a century-old foundation of commodity production.

Read More
Remote farming

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.”

Read More

HARVEST REVIEW: Nepal

DO NOT PUBLISH http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/printedition/news/2016-05-02/tea-exports-down-as-production-up.html May 2, 2016- Tea exports dropped 1.13 percent in the last fiscal year despite a significant growth in the plantation area and volume of production. Nepal exported tea worth Rs2 billion in 2014-15 compared to Rs2.02 billion in the previous year, according to National Tea and […]

Read More

A Tale of Two Kathmandu Tea Shops

Bhairab Risal, a veteran journalist with a sharp memory at 94, speaks with ease and zeal of his memories of the early days of Kathmandu’s tea culture. In 1948, at the age of 20, he recalled his first cup of tea at Tilauri Mailako Pasal, one of Kathmandu’s earliest and best-known tea shops. In this article, Kathmandu journalist Prawash Gautam shares tales of two storied tea houses.

Read More
Nepal Kanchenjenga

Nepali Tea Opportunity

A lack of infrastructure, a lack of capital, natural disasters, a pandemic, and a very tough competitor at the border – are the challenges faced by Nepal growers. The Nepal Tea and Coffee Development Board report that very few (3,244) of the three million employed in Nepal’s tea industry work full-time. Seventy-four percent of temporary workers are women, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. There are 18,180 small farm owners, in stark contrast to India’s vast tea plantations and the social complexity of such systems. The farmers can either process the tea themselves or sell the raw leaves to factories.

Read More
Barbote Tea Farm, Nepal

Nepal’s Specialty Tea Evolution

The Barbote tea farm is nestled in the steep hills of Ilam, Nepal. It was planted by Narendra Kumar Gurung’s grandfather and tended by his father. Narendra spent most of his working years with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Like most of Nepal’s new-generation farmers, specialty tea is a new endeavor built on a century-old foundation of commodity production.

Read More