Such promotions are common with aerated soft drink and mineral water companies, the planters said.
“Though apex agencies, like the Tea Board of India, have come up with some campaigns, these alone cannot save the tea industry from its present crisis,” said C. Bose, the chairman of the Terai association.
“So far, the stress was on international market, where the sole aim was to boost export,” the chairman said. “The domestic market can no longer be ignored, which needs aggressive campaigning to spread the message across the population, 60 per cent of which is below 24 years This would then increase the annual per capita domestic consumption, which is as low as 660 gm now.”
The annual per capita consumption of tea in countries like Pakistan is 1 kg, while it is 2 kg in the UK and Ireland.
Monojit Dasgupta, the secretary-general of the Indian Tea Association, who was present at the meeting, brought with him a few good tidings. “The tea board is designing a strategy for improvement of the brew belt during the 11th Plan period,” Dasgupta said. “Under the plan, priority will be given to domestic campaign for expansion of the market.”
Not the aerated soft drinks but mineral water brands are the principal contenders of the beverage.
“There has been an unprecedented rise in mineral water sale across the country which has brought down tea consumption,” Dasgupta said. “We are into experimentation and hope that by summer, ice-tea or tea in cold formats will be in market.”
According to him, they need to concentrate on CTC varieties instead of the orthodox tea. “We have already started planning strategies for aggressive marketing in different countries, which can be potential buyers,” he added.
At the meeting, the planters lined up several demands and recommendations, seeking government intervention, some of which are:
Introduction of incentive scheme for exporters of Indian tea
A 50 per-cent slash in the social cost borne by planters as per the recommendation of the inter-ministerial committee constituted by the Centre
Keep the industry outside the purview of any excise levy
Waive payment of salami for purchase or take-over of sick gardens
Devise schemes for diversification into other commercial crops
Declare North Dinajpur district as a “non-traditional area”
Consider provisions for self-employment for the unemployed residents of tea gardens
Summer is officially here! The temperatures are hot and the days long and lazy. On a walk around the block, the first fruits of the season could be observed. Apricots are ripening, apples are starting to grow bigger and turn a rosy red, and the blueberries are ripe and ready to eat. Cars of pickers line up along the road each morning as the blueberries are picked. It's time to enjoy the abundance of nature's harvest! Happy summer!| But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. |
The Boston Tea Company lists the ingredients of this tea as including Chinese black tea, raspberries, cranberries, rosehips, safflowers, natural pomegranate and raspberry flavor. The dry leaves were such a mix of fruits and flower petals that they resembled potpourri. There was a strong but pleasant fruity aroma. I steeped this tea in my Breville One-Touch Tea Maker with 212 degree water for four minutes.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked this tea. It was a perfect balance between tart and sweet. It had just the right amount of astringency but wasn’t overbearing. I love when a tea is sweet without tasting artificial. That is not an easy thing to achieve and Boston Tea Company does it well. I haven’t tried it yet but this would make a great iced tea. I would definitely recommend this tea.
(Image courtesy of www.thejapanesegreenteashop.com)His subordinates at Jalpaiguri, where all these gardens are located, assured that the process has been initiated. “We will soon issue forms to workers of these estates. After they are filled, the forms will be scrutinised and sent to the higher level for sanction,” said Kallol Dutta, the deputy labour commissioner of Jalpaiguri. “Once the funds start coming in, we will help the workers open bank accounts, where the money will be transferred.”
Officials said they were trying to break the deadlock at the estates through tripartite meetings. “So far, at least 30 meetings have been convened for every closed estate, but to no avail,” said the joint labour commissioner. They have fallen through mostly because the management officials of closed gardens have not attended the meetings, he alleged.
The labour department has also got in touch with the provident funds (PF) officials to recover the workers’ dues.
“During the recent visit of our secretary here, it was decided that the issue will be taken up with the PF department. We are checking the dues of the workers who were on the payroll of these gardens and taking joint steps to recover the money,” an official said.
The labour department, however, said no new instructions have reached them after the finance minister’s visit to Jalpaiguri last week, when he made a number of promises to workers.
Source: The Telegraph
Infusion: This matcha foamed rather nicely. The large foam brought out the lighter color of the matcha and gave off a nice hue. The flavor was a very rich matcha flavor. The flavor was quite bold, yet had a slightly gritty texture to it. There was a detectable light bitterness to it though.
J'ai aussi bien aimé cette chaise longue antique. On voit comment on a pris une chaise classique chinoise, augmenté l'angle du dossier et ajouté un reposoir pour les pieds. Je trouve le résultat assez hilarant, car au lieu d'obtenir une chaise longue moelleuse, on obtient une planche dure pour les fesses et le dos! Pour un occidental, cela ressemble à un instrument de supplice. Un chinois trouvera cela sûrement confortable, par contre. On comprend mieux qu'ils ont été habitué depuis des générations à s'assoir sur le sol et à dormir sur le dur. Les lits ici sont bien durs et de nombreuses personnes ont encore des fauteils en bois massif dans leur salon. Or, les médecins du dos conseillent de nos jours de dormir sur de tels lits qui gardent la colonne vertébrale droite: encore un domaine où les Chinois étaient en avance sur nous!
Je suis ensuite allé voir quelques jolies calligraphies chinoises.
Et voici la vue de l'autre côté:
Et, pour finir, en voici encore une très simple. J'aime bien le dernier caractère en bas à gauche: xin, le coeur. On dirait un visage en train de sourire. (La traduction 'maison' de ce poème est: "Regarde vers le ciel et ton coeur grandira". Ainsi, pour être amour, il faut voir haut et élever son âme au-dessus des affaires de ce monde. Et quand on parle de quelque chose de beau et de pur comme du thé, on laisse la politique de côté ;)
expect from a Darjeeling, but it’s so difficult to pinpoint that it’s hardly worth the effort.
We wheezed our way up to San Lin She, where the highest point is 2000 meters tall, one of the highest in Taiwan, to see the harvesting and processing. The hills are so steep I felt alittle afraid for the first time. Agriculture doesn't usually look like you need to be a monkey to get up to! So the name 'High Mountain Oolong' is completely justified in everyway, including the price. It's hard work, trying not to fall off the 80 degree hill picking tea. Tasting the unfinished fresh leaves inspired me so much that I foolhardily bought, at very high prices, a jin of fresh barely dried leaves for our harvest party next week. This, folks, would be 
the only chance one might ever have, unless you are at these mountains at the exact right place and right time, to taste these leaves at such freshness. And unprocessed too, with the original fruity fragrance of the leaves completely intact. I will try not to drink it all before I get back.
A baby quilt
Fabric and pieces for a wedding quilt
A capelet in the works - ooh, this will be nice!
enough tea already by now. The trees here are typically 50 to 100 years old, and the best and oldest are well over 300 years. The young ones are about 10 years old and harvested for the first time. Most tea bushes in the world get harvested by the time they are 2-3 years, but not here. They have to be seasoned, sure, but the groves grow so very very 
slowly, and it takes so long for the roots to reach deep for nutrients. The roots are taller than the trees. Trees that grow on low lying areas never really grow well and usually don't survive, because the soil isn't rich enough. So high mountain it is; generally by 500 meters the fog rolls in, the soil is rich, and the trees thrive. Our Honey Fragrance Phoenix Oolongs are usually harvested at 800 -1000 meters, the Almond and Pommelo Fragrances are at the peak areas of 1300 meters or more. Wudong Mountain, the tea mountain of the Phoenix Mountain Range, is covered with new plantings at the bottom and full of the old trees at the top. The new trees are planted at the base for a couple of years, and if they survive, transplanted up the mountain for continuous growth, sort of like in a dojo, you can work y
our way up from white belt to black belt, that is if you survive the matches. Any poorer quality groves are grafted with better quality or more in style varietals. For example, this year, our favorites, the Almond and Pommelo, proved to be so wildly popular many younger trees were grafted with those two species.
