BEVERAGE -- 4:

READING ABOUT TEA AS WE DRINK TEA

BY P S SUNDAR

‘Global Tea Digest 2015’, (GTD), the storehouse of statistical data on tea acreage, production, yield, prices, exports, import and domestic consumption relating to tea industry around the world, has come out.

“The data compiled in GTD are of great use to tea industry and trade for decision making.   They reflect the economic situation obtaining in current tea market with rising prices and consumption trends.  These data post a bright outlook for 2016”, Tea Board Executive Director C Paulrasu told me after releasing GTD on Dec 22, 2015.

“There is high demand from exporters for GTD as these data help on deciding their intake from India”, L C Singhania, Chairman, Coonoor Tea Trade Association, who received the first copy, said. 

“This is our fifth annual edition.   It contains 60 classified tables, 120 detailed tables and colourful graphs spread to 160 pages”, Rajesh Gupta, GTD compiler, noted. 

“The data relate to black tea, green tea and instant tea around the globe”, N Sriram, President, Global Tea Brokers (GTB), said.

“Details of tea grades, tea tasting terminology and glossary are also included in GTD”, GTB General Manager Senthil Kumar said. 

“The GTD is distributed free-of-cost as our dedication to tea industry and trade”, GTB Executive Hariprasath added.

Besides the widespread statistical data on tea industry and trade, some facts about tea listed in the GTD are as fascinating as the very beverage.

For instance, do you know that In Myanmar, people eat, not just drink, tea?

“Fermented or pickled tea is a national delicacy of Myanmar.  It is eaten as Tea Leaf Salad”, records Tea Glossary section of GTD.

“We have recorded many less-known facts about tea production and drinking round the world”, GTD Compiler Rajesh Gupta told me.

Chinese green tea from Zheijiang province is rolled into small pellet-size ball and dried.  So, it is called ‘Gunpowder’.  This tea’s colour is also like gunpowder. 

The 7^th Duchess of Bedford gave birth to ‘afternoon tea’ drinking practice in the 19^th century as she drank tea to stave off hunger pangs between lunch and dinner.  Finger sandwiches, cakes or pasties accompanied the ‘afternoon tea’.

Chinese and Japanese tea mixed with stalk and dust and moulded into bricks under high-pressure were carried by Asian travellers to drink tea on their way and it was called ‘brick tea’.  

‘Handkerchief tea’ got its name from large silk handkerchiefs which Chinese tea growers used to collect their very tippy tea.

‘Chunmee tea’ is Chinese green tea resembling the shape of human eyebrow.

Tea transported on camel from China to Russia in the past was called ‘Caravan Tea’.

In Tibet, ‘Butter tea’ is boiled tea mixed with salt and soda, strained into an urn containing butter and dried barley and churned.  It is served is a basin with lumps of butter.

Collectively, GTD is an asset to tea industry, trade, consumers and academicians / researchers. 

(response can also be sent to : pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)