One of the nicer blogs about tea is the one by Marshal N, called “A Tea Addict’s Journal“. If you are interested in learning about Taiwanese teas, then Marshal N’s blog is a surely a recommended stop on the way.

Today I was browsing through some of the older entries, and saw this one that described a park in Taiwan that describes the manufacturing process of tea. Very fascinating!

In the same article Marshal also shares with us the pictures of the tea manufacturing process taken in a old tea store called Youji. I highly recommend taking a detour over to Marshal’s website and checking out this and other entries!

In the article, Marshal describes the “Youji” owner’s lament about the decline of interest in tea among the young. Its easy to get pessimistic, however I believe there will be a resurgence of interest in the young about the traditional taiwanese ways of making tea. Its just a matter of time - just like how “old” ways are becoming more and more fashionable here in the US.

DailyIndia.com reports that Assam Agricultural University is offering a course in tea husbandry.

The only university in the world, which provides a bachelors degree in tea husbandry and technology, includes in the course, as well as classroom studies and exposure of the field during the rural work experience program.

Could be a great opportunity for those interested in tea industry jobs!

In another news, tea warehouses in Siliguri, India suddenly went on strike on Oct 26, after one of the members of the warehouse association was suspended for some irregularities. For the gentle readers who aren’t aware, Siliguri is one of the Auction centers in India where Darjeeling, Assam, Dooars tea gets auctioned. Just to give you a sense of the importance of this town to tea trade, here is a tid bit from the same article…

It may be recalled that there are over 30 tea warehouses in Siliguri, which, on an average, allow an inflow of about 3,84,000 kgs of tea per day. However, the ongoing strike has stopped both inflow and outflow of tea from the warehouses, which, if continued for a long period, would affect the tea trading.

October is the best month to be taking stock of your tea needs for the fall and winter months. Now is the time to start planning, which tea to serve during Thanksgiving dinner, which one on the Christmas eve, and which one to herald the start of the New Year. But besides all this, its the time to start planning to stock up on the first flushes you liked so much, and the second flushes you have savored. And for a short time now, we have a huge selection that has been put on specials for you, so stock up

All of our first are in and the second flushes are almost in. Recently we added a series of first flushes to our website and online catalog. These first flushes have definite good keeping quality - they will stay good for extended period of time - as long as they are kept in a dark and cool place. Some of the marks we carry, Castleton, Makaibari are familiar to you but recently we have introduced some famous marks such as Avongrove, Rohini and Gopaldhara White Tea, and Gopaldhara FF.

Next week we will receive a shipment of some delightful second flushes from Assam and a couple from Darjeeling. We are also adding an interesting white tea from Doke, which the Lochans are producing in the Kishanganj district of Bihar. Doke is an example of what one can achieve if one pays attention to detail. There is a family connection here as well, for Mr. Rajeev Lochan used to work along side Mr. R.S. Tiwari, our famous uncle while at Longview Highlands, and Kishanganj in Bihar is the home to our elder uncle Mr. Sohanlal Tiwari! Where ever we go there seems to be a family connection - no getting away from it!!

As you will read in the rest of our newsletter, we have also introduced several hand made teas which will absolutely wow you. And as I mentioned before, for a short time now, we have a huge selection that has been put on specials for you, so stock up now!

When my cousin asked me what he could do for me, I said to him, make me a tea that would be exclusive to us, Jaya Teas. So, he thought about it and came up with a few options - the traditional oolongs, silver needles etc etc. I challenged him to think out of the box, and lo and behold, he comes up with Jaya Reserve, Handmade Nut Tea. this is no ordinary tea, for this tea has not only the premium quality leaf with exotic spicy aroma, but also has nut peal of the tea nut!! Funny thing is, when he discussed making the tea I wasn’t thrilled about it, but now? I am completely sold on this tea!!

This tea is a Late First flush - early second flush tea, so it produces a beautiful amber colored liquor, and a gorgeous spicy fruity aroma that will just sweep you off your feet. As he said to me, “this exotic tea is gorgeous to look at but equally gorgeous in its delicious fruity aroma mixed with the nuttyness that comes from the nut peal”.

If you haven’t tried it yet, I would highly recommend trying it right away for there is nothing like this available in the market.

Completely hand made by our cousin Sunil Tiwari, this tea is an example of the excellent craftsman ship that goes into tea making.

Go to the shopping cart to see additional pictures of this gorgeous tea.

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As we approach the gift giving season, I want to give you some ideas on how one can make an elegant gift out of teas. Teas are traditional gift in China and India, where top quality teas can be very scarce and therefore very valuable. Most who can afford to give good quality tea usually gift it in small chestlets - of 5 or 7kgs. However, we can suit this tradition to our on purpose by modifying it per the American tradition. Today, I am writing about making a gift basket that includes tea. Things you will need for this gift idea are:

Cut a small 10 inches by 6 inches piece of the card board and fold the sides up by about one inch on all sides. Place the card board on the mesh fabric, place two caddies of tea on it and the tea pot in front of the tea caddies. Now, start collecting the mesh fabric around the caddies and the tea pot and collect it at the top. Staple it together with your home office stapler, or simply tie it together with a string. Tie a nice little bow with a ribbon to hide the stapler or the string, and attach a card to it.
If you want, you can tie thinner ribbons such that they stream down the gift pack.

There - the whole thing should set you back by may be $20 at the most.

As a variation, you can use shrinkwrap cellphane wrapper instead of a mesh fabric with the same effect. In the photo instead of the cardboard you see a basket. A basket will cost you a few more dollars at Walmart.

BBC News has an article about Ramjhora Estate in northern West Bengal, close to the border of Bhutan. The article laments the crisis the region has entered into due to the closure of the tea garden many years ago after the tea prices world wide fell, and the garden owners couldn’t efficiently manage it.

At first glance, it may seem to be the case of managerial mismanagement and often the finger points to the owners for destroying the livelyhoods of thousands of people. But as is often the case, there are many layers to the story, and unfortunate victims of the dislocation are the workers who loose a livelihood, the owners who loose a source of income, and customers who loose a source of good product.

Failure of tea gardens in India stems from a variety of reasons, not in the least

• Failure on part of owners to adopt a growth oriented strategy: Garden owners need to start thinking of using innovation as a growth strategy, rather than try to manufacture large volumes at the lowest price. Innovative products with greater value addition will fetch higher prices resulting in improved health of the garden overall. Innovations need to be in product quality, appearance, and product distribution chain
• Failure on part of owners to market their product: if you make an innovative product and no one knows about it, its not possible to fetch a good price. Marketing ones garden so that the world knows about it and learns to appreciate it, is a surefire method to fetch a better price
• Failure to improve labor relations: Todays customer is very savvy. If the garden owners think that manufacturing the product is enough, they are wrong. Today, the customer demands that a fair wage be paid to the worker that produces the product they have come to love so much.

Stories such as the Ramjohra Estate tell us that producing tea is an economic activity that benefits all three, the growers plant it, the labourers who pick it and the customers who enjoy it. When one leg of this three legged stool falls out, it leads to a dislocation which affects all three parties.