TEA AND ITS MANUFACTURE IN NEPAL

TEA AND ITS MANUFACTURE IN NEPAL

Tea is most consumed aromatic beverage all around the world. After water it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. It is prepared either by pouring hot or boiling water or pouring hot milk. Nepal account for only 0.4% of total world tea output which produces approximately 16.29 million kilogram of tea per annum. Tea is taken as self dependent cash crop in agro forestry practices and is the most important example of long term sustainable farming.

In Nepal, morning tea determine the overall day performance. Morning without tea is like a worst morning ever and worst morning result worst day performance. Every tea lover required at least a cup of tea either in their sleeping bed or in dinning table. Milk tea is more preferable to black tea in Nepal. Season also determine the cup of tea. In winter, an average of 4 cup and in summer average of 2 cup is consumed by Nepalese people.

Tea we consumed everyday needs a lots of efforts to prepare and after wide range of practices it is ready for consumption. Tea manufacture is the process of transformation of freshly plucked green tea leaves into black tea. The process itself is long, requires much care, attention, control and a scientific understanding of the complicated physical and chemical changes in the leaf as the manufacture processes.   Here is the list of practices that is performed for preparation of tea.

TEA AND ITS MANUFACTURE IN NEPAL

Plucking

In Nepal Darjeeling tea is manufactured more than other tea. The plucking for Darjeeling is,” two leaves and a bud” only two fresh leaves and the tender bud are being plucked by hand is undertaken by well trained women. The green leaf is harvested on a regular basis at intervals ranging from 5 days to 8 days from each field.  After watching the tea is processed the orthodox way: withering, rolling, fermenting, drying, grading and packing.

Withering

The leaves are put on so called withering tables. Long tables with fine mesh as a table board that is being aired with a ventilation system from underneath. Fresh leaves contain about 73-80% of moisture, after 10 to 20 hours of withering the leaves’ moisture content will go down to about 60-65%. For a good quality tea it is of utmost importance that the withering is done early.

Rolling

After withering the soft tea leaves are put into rolling machines- two large round metal plates that run in different directions and gently twist the leaves thus opening of cell walls of the leaf and allowing the juices inside to get exposed to the oxygen in the air – the start of the oxidation process or fermentation.

It takes a lot of expertise to decide upon the right amount of pressure and the right duration of the rolling process (usually about 20 to 60 minutes) to bring out the best results.

Fermenting

Fermentation is the oxidation of the enzymes in the juices, which bring out the flavor, strength and the colour of the liquors and infusions The oxidation process that has been started during withering and rolling reaches its climax during the fermenting processes that will last 2 to 5 hours. During this time black tea will develops its characteristics flavor and aroma while losing of its astringent and bitter taste. Fermentation is generally carried out on glass or tilled tables.

Drying

Drying of firing of tea leaves is a tricky step in the manufacturing of tea. A mistake at this step could ruin a whole day’s production. On flat conveyer belts the tea runs through a giant oven and is exposed to hot air, around 95oC. The heat will dry the tea leaves, giving them the dark colour and stop fermentation process. Moisture content will be reduced to about 3 to 4 percent and ensure that tea can be stored for a long time. The drying process takes about 20-25 minutes.

Grading

Dry tea after cooling are graded according to size and shape, as the trade demands. After completion of grading, teas are stored in airtight bins of boxes.

Packing/Despatching

Tea are hygroscopic in nature which means rapidly moisture absorbing. When sufficient quantities of tea are collected, they are either packed in plywood chest of multiwalled aluminium  craft paper lined pager sacks and dispatched to the auctions or packed into tea packs of various forms for direct export/distribution.

HERE ARE SOME LIST OF TEA MANUFACTURER IN NEPAL.

1.Giribandhu tea estate P. Ltd

2.Himalaya orthodox organic tea Nepal

3.Rakura tea factory Haldibari

4.Illam tea producers Factory

5.Kanyam tea factory

6.Sandakphu tea factory

7.Chandragadi tea estate

THANK YOU