The Tea Plantation

After exploring the rubber plantation and learning about the harvesting, production, and selling of rubber, we drove several hours into the tall, palm filled mountains of Eastern Kerala.  Our bus luckily made it through the windy roads that hung over the edge of cliffs, and the mountains began to turn into big hills.  The landscape was beginning to look more like farmland again and the bushes that covered the hills were lined up in perfect rows.  This was the beginning of the tea harvesting area of Southern India.  We pulled into the plantation and ate our lunch before sitting out to tour and learn about tea production.

We were taken into a small room where we were given a presentation about the harvesting of tea leaves and how they are processed into the tea we drink.  At this factory they use a process called “CTC” (crushing, tearing, curling).  Here they only produce powdered tea (the most popular kind in India).  The top three leaves of the plant are picked and once the leaves get to a certain age they no longer can make tea out of them.  The tea trees are kept at a certain height that makes it easier to cut the leaves, so they all appear to be bushes.  A lot of labor is needed to harvest the tea and it is primarily women who do this.  Many of the women who work at the plantation are from other states of India.  This is because there are shortages of labor in some areas in Kerala because of the high education level.  Because of this many people feel over qualified for these kinds of jobs.  The women use a tool similar to a dustpan with a blade attached to it to cut the leaves off.  I never would have guessed that that was the way tea was cut.

After learning about the process, we went on a tour of the factory.  The leaves travel through a series of machines and are separated into grades based on size, the smallest being the strongest tea.  We were guided to the side of the factory where we were given a tasting of a mixed grade tea.  We drank it the Indian way, with a lot of milk and sugar.  It was burning hot and almost melted the little plastic cups it was served in.  The tea was strong and sweet, slightly mirroring the smell coming out of the factory.  We were given a tin of tea as a gift and were soon on our way to our hotel, driving back through the tea and spice fields. 

So far in Kerala we have had many opportunities to drink a lot of tea, and we are beginning to see a lot of varieties in it.  It was nice to learn how much work is put into the process and learn more about tea in general.