STiR coffee and tea magazine

44 STiR coffee and tea | 2023 Issue 5 (October / November) Backed by its own retail brand, the Wah Tea Estate produces orthodox black, green, and specialty tea. Unfortunately, Kangra's cooperatives fal- tered. Even the single cooperative that still stands is "barely surviving," according to tea planter Dinesh Butail. He says it has 600–700 members, of which only around 300 supply green leaf during April and May. After those months, most growers sell to private factories instead. The coop's factory has a capacity to produce 150,000 kilograms of tea annually, but it is making less than half that much, rendering it economically unviable. One buyer told STiR that Kangra needs a new and better type of coop. The valley's cooperatives failed because they were quickly politicized, ac- cording to this buyer, who asked not to be named. The groups were not sufficiently democratic and participatory, and members did not work together. But he believes that a coop run by local people could be successful if done right, as it has been in the case of the Mineral Springs Cooperative in Darjeeling, West Bengal State. Kangra would also benefit from having more bought leaf factories because there are lots of smallholders. STGs have two options: sell green leaf to factories, or make tea to sell themselves. Many choose both. One small grower is Abhimanyu Sharma, who worked as a mechanical engineer elsewhere be- fore returning to Kangra. His great-grandfather had become a tea garden owner in 1905, after the earthquake. The family stopped cultivating tea in his grandfather's time but kept the garden. So, in 2020 he decided to revive 10 hectares on which the original china bushes grew. He set up a small factory, attended courses in tea tasting, and focused on manufacturing high- fired orthodox black tea. Last year, he produced about 5,000 kilograms, of which he sent 60–70% to Kolkata, after the auction started to include small factories. He sells the remaining tea locally under his own brand, Aanya Tea. Resources Many small growers produce small volumes of hand-rolled and pan-roasted green tea. That's an old Kangra tradition now. Back when the British planters left, the locals who bought their tea es- tates tried to keep the industry running, but few could afford to restore the factories. It was pos- sible, however, to produce green tea with just a minimal amount of machinery. And fortuitously, green tea is a style well suited for the chinary bush- es planted here. Kangra's green tea found ready markets in Russia, West Asia, and Central Asia for many decades. Unlike Darjeeling, where the original chinary bushes were long ago replaced with hybrids and clonal tea plants, Kangra is still home to 150-year- old china bushes. "Kangra gets a lot of sun, and our soil is acidic," explains Deepak Prakash of Wah Tea Estate, the largest garden in Kangra. Producers and buyers alike agree that Kangra's planting material is top-notch. "The climate, the characteristic terrain and soil conditions, and the coolness of the snow-clad mountains in Himach- al's Kangra region, all play a big role in crafting a flavory and distinct cup of quality tea which is dif- ferent from other tea growing regions," says Mad- hav Sarda, whose Golden Tips brand offers a line of single origin teas from across India. Kangra's potential has not been fully devel- oped, however, because the area lost its tea culture and tradition of tea-making so long ago, unlike Darjeeling or Assam. Growers revived black tea ACTUATE * *SYNONYM: STiR, influence, inspire, propel, rouse, excite... Don't Miss a Single STiR ring Issue of the World's Leading Industry Magazine for Coffee and Tea. ACTUATE a paid subscription to STiR (coffee and tea magazine) | Visit stir-tea-coffee.com/subscribe | Email malisa@stir-tea-coffee.com w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m

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