Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/716988
36 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2016 (August/September) CHOLADI, Tamil Nadu Green and black tea solubles made at the Choladi factory begin their journey to the bottle unlike other teas in the world. This is because of the unique combination of climate, cultivar, and careful cultiva- tion that makes Choladi one of Nestlé's top tea solubles suppliers. "Teas here are more flavorful and astringent and cuppage is greater, requiring a smaller dose per cup," explains Pankaj Agarwal, exports manager for Nestlé India Ltd. "The unique terroir gives our green teas among the highest levels of catechins found anywhere in the world, especially EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate)," he said. Plants do not possess an immune system common to animals. To survive they erect biochemical defenses against bacteria, diseases, UV rays, and pests. These same chemi- cals when ingested help humans defend against similar assaults. Pests find chemicals like caffeine and catechins (especially EGCG) distasteful while humans enjoy the fla- vor and lift they bring. Concentrations of EGCG can go as high as 14% during certain times of the year, according to Agarwal. Teas here are hand-picked to provide uniform leaf quality "with strict checks to ensure that only tender leaves and buds are collected." Leaves are quickly processed into green tea without drying to preserve the catechins. This makes the resulting tea powders suitable for a large number of applications from flavoring ice cream to use in cosmetics, confectionery, pharmaceuticals, and in making instant tea. Black tea pro- cessed at Choladi is primarily sold for use in making beverage products like 3-in-1 premixes and flavored hot teas. "There is a lot of stress on quality and compliance right from the farming stage where we provide inputs on good agri practices, conduct in-house farmer training, and perform audits on pesticide usage," said Agarwal. "In addition all our instant tea grades are regu- larly monitored at labs in Germany and Italy for levels of contaminants, he said. Processing consists of creating a tea slurry followed by extraction. The mix is then evaporated and spray dried, resulting in soluuble tea powder. The tea powder is then By Dan Bolton Choladi Factory Tea workers at Choladi use a fine pluck to gather the highest quality leaves A global leader in tea solubles, India is paving a path to better tasting instant tea at Nestle's Choladi factory Instant India