Ooty: It is generally said that “Every sip of Ooty tea has the taste of the hills it came from; In the Nilgiris, tea is more than a drink, it’s a culture brewed fresh and Nilgiri tea, popularly known as Ooty Tea, is not served, it’s shared with the nature and warmth of the heart”.
While the Nilgiris is one of the major tea growing areas in the country, tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world as its importance spans health, culture, daily routine as well as hospitality.
The Knowledge Sharing and Caring Trust (KSCT) here, which has been working with small farmers for the past six years, recently organised its ‘Tea tasting event’ to give small tea growers, the backbone of agriculture economy in the Nilgiris, to showcase their might in taking to value added/specialty tea arena.
S. Padmanaban, founder of KSCT, said that his organisation had been supporting farmers by sharing information on cultivation technologies for various crops, weather, soil health, market rates and emerging market trends. During the past six years, KSCT organised virtual agricultural meetings, conferences, training programmes and tea tasting events to create awareness about new technologies, improved cultivation practices and market opportunities.
The tea tasting event brought together tea learners, fans, traders and small growers producing handcrafted teas, providing a platform to experience and understand the distinctive characteristics of the Nilgiris teas. Handcrafted teas produced by small growers Prabhu Nanjan, Bharath and Singam Sadhu were showcased during the event.
Participants tasted an interesting selection of Green, Black, White, Silver Tips, and Yellow teas, as well as a new tea introduced as Black & White Tea, alongside a range of flavoured teas.
A highlight of this year’s event was the innovative handcrafted teas produced by small grower Bharath, demonstrating the potential for innovation and value addition among small tea growers. During the tasting session, participants were guided to observe the colour, aroma, flavour and aftertaste of different teas. They were able to identify distinctive notes including honey, fruity, vegetal and nutty characteristics, highlighting the diversity and uniqueness of Nilgiris teas, he added.
Through its annual tea tasting initiative, KSCT aims to create greater awareness about the quality and diversity of Nilgiris teas while providing small growers producing handcrafted and specialty teas an opportunity to connect with tea lovers, traders and potential markets, Padmanaban said.
He added that innovation, value addition and greater market awareness could create new opportunities for small tea growers and strengthen the identity of Nilgiris teas in the specialty tea market.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
