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Friday, May 17, 2013

LETTER: Congratulations to Temi Team fraternity

KC Pradhan, Former Chief Secretary, Sikkim
Having had a hand in the establishment of Temi Tea Garden in its formative stage, it was heartening to learn that Temi Tea fetched the highest price of Rs 2,600 per kg at the tea auction in Kolkata. Congratulations to the establishment and every individual, including the 600+ labour force employed in the garden, involved in the success! Not forgetting the veteran tea planters like Terry Young, Sonam Topden, HN Bista and Mohan Chamling who laid a solid foundation to get the Temi Garden established and processing of green tea leaves perfected to cater to the most sophisticated markets worldwide. Temi Tea was rated Number 2 after Castleton of Kurseong that I know of after a brief survey in the German market many years back. But to know that it is the best now is a matter of pride.
What made Temi Tea the real champagne of tea is moot question. When the establishment of the Tea Garden was mooted in 1968 after the Rabongla/ Kewzing initiative failed to take off due to wrong site selection on one hand and workers alien to tea on the other, Temi was identified as an alternative. About 400 families had to be moved out to Forest land where cardamom did well making way for establishment of the tea estate on acquired land at Temi - around 200 hectares now producing more than one lakh kilos of finished tea. But in the world market, I am told three-times this produce is being sold as Temi Tea. So be aware when you buy Temi Tea from odd sources…
Most tea gardens in India are established from seeds and later poly-clonal seeds were used but none exclusively from clones. But we had strict orders that the Garden should be clonal. The process is to select the best bearing and flavoury bush in the old Tea Gardens and they are propagated vegetatively, either by leaf cuttings or stem cuttings, so that it will be true to their mother plants. The contribution of forest officers of the yesteryears in LC Simick, SK Rai and PS Subba in sourcing the clonal materials from various tea estates in Darjeeling with their personal contacts is great. This is the secret, as far as I know, in its consistent quality of tea combined with fine techniques of processing mastered over decades of trial and error.
Today, Temi Tea is synonymous to Sikkim. Once you are hooked to Temi Tea, no other tea will be able to measure up. And when looking for presents for guests and friends from outside Sikkim, Temi Tea is an automatic choice! Congratulations and Good Luck to the Temi Tea fraternity. It is our flagship and should continue to be so.

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