• Samovar Tea at Sunset

    Fifty years ago, three industrious Turkish brothers in Havza, near Türkiye’s tea-growing region along the Black Sea, fabricated a modern chromium steel version of the traditional samovar. These storied vessels, fired by wood or coal, brew tea while keeping large volumes of hot water on tap.

    The Sözen brothers were skilled copper, bronze, aluminum, and steel metalworkers. Their compact, easily disassembled design for Sözenler Semavers (the Turkish word for tea-urn) is now the nation’s most popular brand.

    Listen to their story

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    Samovar Tea at Sunset
    Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada

    Socializing Lakeside over Samovar Tea

    Years ago, my wife, Susan, presented me with a four-liter Sözenler samovar, ideally suited for enjoying the setting sun. We set it up under the flagpole at our family cottage on Lake of the Woods, a deep and clear 300-mile-long lake in Western Ontario.

    In September, as the summer days shorten and the sun begins to fade, our grandchildren stuffed kindling and split pine branches to stuff into the samovar’s gated furnace. We toasted marshmallows before I placed the reservoir over the fire. Next, I extend the chimney. The young boys stoke the furnace with hardwood hickory chips until it burns red hot. Then, I scoop a fine Ceylon tea into a metal teapot that sits neatly in flue amid a steady stream of steam from the boiling reservoir.

    Once the tea is brewed into a potent concentrate, we pour it into tin cups and add hot water, sugar, jam, honey, and cream. Unlike an English teapot, everyone can dilute the tea to their taste. Strong or light, creamy or clear, the tea tastes lovely as we sit back in our Adirondack and bid farewell to the sun.

    Ornate Russian samovars, whose name is derived from “camo” samo, meaning “self,” and “varit,” meaning “to boil’,” are better known, but samovars were invented in Central Asia. The utilitarian, easily disassembled version originated in Bukhara, Türkiye. Caravans carried samovars to the Caucasus, where different styles evolved in Russia, Iran, East and Far East Asia, and Anatolia. Turkish samovars are seen at weddings, family picnics, public ceremonies, and outdoor social gatherings in sizes up to 50 liters, with flues supporting four large teapots.

    Co-founder Azmi Sözen writing on the company website, describes Sözenlar samovars as “especially for picnics, evening chats, hosting guests specific to Turks, village houses, weddings, associations, and coffee houses. Samovar tea is very famous, and it is drunk in palaces, mansions, hunting parties, and special ceremonies.”

    The first documented Russian samovars appeared in the mid-18th century. By 1778, the craftsmen in Tula, located about 200 kilometers south of Moscow, were famous for producing heavy urns of ornate sterling silver, bronze, and distinctive copper teapots. Symbols of Russian hospitality and domesticity, Samovars were family heirlooms.

    Azmi Sozen
    Co-founder Azmi Sözen

    In paintings, copper and bronze samovars with a capacity of 5 to 15 liters appear at the foot of the table, spread with cakes, sugar tongs, and jam, with young and old in conversation over tea.

    Persian samovars can be seen in chaikhanas (chaykanas – tea houses) in Tehran, Tabriz, and Isfahan. “Samovar is an indispensable pleasure of Islamic society during Ramadan and long winter nights,” writes Azmi.

    Azem, Adem, and Azmi Sözen began making samovars in a small workshop in 1974 and have since expanded to a 6,000-square-meter factory with a public showroom and warehouse. “Our company, which accepts quality as a way of life, has established its power, discipline, self-sacrificing, and reliable trained masters and employees,” according to Sözenler.

    “Market expansion did not occur spontaneously,” writes Azmi, but growth continues worldwide. Our mission is to popularize the samovar culture inherited from our ancestors and to pass it on to future generations,” writes Sözenler

    “Tea is not just a drink of pleasure but also a culture. Poems, folk songs, and odes were sung in samovar tea ceremonies, which gave people peace and preserved their place in memories.”

    Our company, which set out with this understanding, is primarily aware that it is a part of this culture and has increased its production every day to carry the cultural and historical heritage to future generations over time. 

    Sozenler Samevers, Havza, Turkiye
    Sözenler Semaver showroom and factory, Havza, Türkiye

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    • Photos via Sözenler website
  • Kenya’s Annual Tea Bonus Brings Strife | Sri Lanka Reinstates Minimum Daily Wage Challenged in High Court | Lipton CEO Nathalie Roos Resigns

    Tea News for the week ending Sept. 20, 2024

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    India Tea News | Week of 13 September 2024
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman
    Tea Bonus Protests
    Tea bonus protests, arson and looting led to one death and several injured

    Kenya’s Annual Tea Bonus Brings Strife

    By Dan Bolton

    Disappointing bonus payments angered tea workers at several Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factories and led to violent and, in one instance, deadly protests. Protesting smallholders questioned the accounting and fairness of apportioned funds.

    The Nation reports approximately 612,000 small-scale growers qualified for the estimated final bonus for sales through June.

    Kenya Tea News reported that Principal Secretary of Agriculture Dr. Paul Rono has directed the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) to audit all KTDA financial commitments and operations and all its assets.

    Read More

  • Northwest Tea Festival Nears

    Tea festivals are enjoying a resurgence, basking in the renewed enthusiasm of health-conscious consumers and the joy of imbibing quality tea. The 14th Annual Northwest Tea Festival draws tea enthusiasts to Seattle for two educational and fun days at the Seattle Center on September 28th and 29th. The Northwest Tea Festival has a rich history in tea, evolving from a small local event to become the foremost social gathering for tea lovers in a region known for its beverages.

    Listen to the Interview

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    Founders Doug Livingston and Julee Rosanoff chat with Tea Biz Podcast Host Dan Bolton
    Founders Doug Livingston and Julee Rosanoff chat with Tea Biz Podcast Host Dan Bolton

    How it Came About

    Julie Rosanoff is a pioneer in specialty tea dating to 1990 when she co-founded the Perennial Tea Room near the Seattle waterfront. In 2004, Julee hosted tea-themed dinners there, with author Norwood Pratt narrating the story of teas as courses were served. Tastings and special events led to the founding of the Puget Sound Tea Education Association and the region’s first tea party featuring Barnes & Watson, Teahouse Kuan Yin, Tea Geek (Michael Coffey), Sa Tea, Village Yarn & Tea, and Choice Organic Tea. Inspired by the mass tastings hosted by Bay Area tea firms for the 50,000 foodies attending the first Slow Food Nation in September 2008, the Northwest Tea Festival, a not-for-profit venture, launched to wide acclaim later that month.

    Dan: The Northwest Tea Festival is a genuine specialty tea experience, a social gathering of respected speakers and vendors with a delightfully appreciative audience. Julee, tell us what inspired you to get involved in hosting the event.

    Julee: Author and tea expert Norwood Pratt inspired me to start the festival. He attended a meeting of several key vendors in Seattle then, and he said that no one was celebrating the 400th anniversary of the House of Orange importing tea to Amsterdam, which is the origin of orange pekoe. So we said, We’ll do it, and we spent a year sorting it out, and the following year, we had our first tea festival, and we’ve had them every year since then, except for COVID, where we were down for three years. Now we’re back.
    I didn’t know what would happen the first year we did it. The most exciting thing for me was having 500 people standing in line waiting to get in that first day, all having a wonderful time. I think we only had about seven booths, and it was a wonderful thing. Everybody had a good time. And they all said, We want to come back, please do it again.

    On the morning of the first day, there is a line out the door, down the street, and around the block, and it is just fabulous to see all these people waiting to have tea.

    That’s how it started.

    Founders Doug Livingston and Julee Rosanoff with Author Norwood Pratt
    Founders Julee Rosanoff and Doug Livingston with Author Norwood Pratt
    CLICK TO CONTINUE reading the interview and see a preview the new Tea Bar & Lounge
    Northwest Tea Festival

    Northwest Tea Festival | Seattle Center: Exhibition Hall
    301 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109
    Saturday, September 28 – 10 am – 4 pm
    Sunday, September 29 – 10 am – 4 pm

    Buy Tickets | Program | Tea Bar & Lounge

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    Lindsay Lohan TV Ad Advocates Office Tea Breaks | Suez Shipping Disruptions Intensify | China Launches Global Tea Marketing Initiative | Kenya Suspends Auction Price Minimums on Old Tea | AI Models Predict Local Weather on a Planetary Scale. | Dan Bolton | Episode 182 | 23 August 2024


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  • Lindsay Lohan TV Ad Promotes Office Tea Breaks | Suez Shipping Disruptions Intensify | Botanists Identify the Gene that Causes Tea Leaf Droopiness

    Lindsay Lohan TV Ad Advocates Office Tea Breaks | Suez Shipping Disruptions Intensify | Botanists Identify the Gene that Causes Tea Leaf Droopiness | PLUS Revitalizing Kumaon | A century ago, Kumaon’s high-mountain estates were abandoned. The formerly productive tea fields lay fallow until an enterprising young entrepreneur marshaled the resources of US-based Frontier Co-op and USAID’s Cooperative Development Program to benefit hundreds of tea smallholders.

    Tea News for the week ending July 5, 2024

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    India Tea News
    India Tea News | Aravinda Anantharaman

    Raj Vable, founder of Young Mountain Tea in Marquette, Mich., inspired the villagers in the Kumar region to create a new era of economic resiliency and autonomy. The solar-powered factory with state-of-the-art equipment will process regeneratively grown certified organic tea in four styles available in retail locations by November. Vable writes, “We hope our model serves as a blueprint that can be replicated and improved upon so we can all collectively raise the bar on transparent sourcing, regenerative agriculture, and smallholder farmer equity.”

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    Listen to the Interview
    Lindsay Lohan for Pure Leaf Tea
    Lindsay Lohan for Pure Leaf Tea

    Pure Leaf TV Ad Advocates Office Tea Breaks

    By Dan Bolton

    Actress and producer Lindsay Lohan appears in a new television commercial and social media campaign urging tea drinkers to take a break at work. The commercial, financed by the Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, features Pure Leaf, the top-selling ready-to-drink tea brand in the US.
    The minute-plus spot is the first national multimillion-dollar tea advertising campaign since the pandemic.

    The Pure Leaf brand also launched a US-only coupon giveaway of a free bottle to enjoy on your next tea break. Text 737-377-3774 between June 27 and July 25 to receive a bottle or visit. PureLeaf.com/TeaBreak

    Try: Tea break recipes

    In the commercial, Lohan, who has starred in several Netflix original films in the past few years and is currently filming Freaky Friday 2 with Jamie Lee Curtis, asks, QUOTE “When was the last time you took a break? I mean a real break. It’s like we forgot breaks even exist. Standing on an office coffee table, she shouts “it’s time for a tea break.” We all deserve a moment to recharge and revitalize ourselves. Soon the office staff is headed out the door chanting “tea break, tea break” and chugging Pure Leaf.

    Edelman made the humorous 90-second spot, supported by research that reveals “three in five workers struggle to take breaks during the workday, and more than half of workers feel too busy or interrupted by work to take a refreshing break. Nearly two-thirds of the 1010 full-time workers surveyed feel mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. However, sixty-three percent (63%) of workers surveyed noted that when they take quality breaks, they return recharged for what’s next*.

    Read More
  • Students Triumph in Tech Brew Challenge

    India’s Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat announced the winners of the 2024 Tech Brew Hackathon competition, held on International Tea Day. The winning students received 50,000 rupees for tackling their choice of five industry challenges. Teams from 20 universities participated, submitting projects addressing tea waste, marketing and promotion, and climate change. A panel of nine tea industry experts judged the projects.

    The top three teams are Team Orthodox, representing the Assam Science & Technology University with a novel non-chemical pest control solution; the second prize goes to Team Neuro Linga at the PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research in Coimbatore for designing an integrated weather and crop health monitoring system. Team Doodle, also from PSG, proposed a network of sensors that monitor plant conditions for growers, signaling areas of concern. A resource website with a chatbot informed by a machine-learning AI model will assess their concerns and suggest remedies.

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    Pranjit Barman
    Pranjit Barman demonstrates the Spectro Smoke Drone

    Hackathon Focuses Youthful Attention on Pressing Problems.

    By Dan Bolton

    Tea Research Institute Secretary Joydeep Phukan said the “hackathon marks a significant milestone in bringing technological innovation to one of India’s most vital industries. I’m proud to announce the successful conclusion of the first-ever tea Tech Brew National Hackathon, a groundbreaking event aimed at addressing the challenges faced by the Indian Tea Industry.”

    Phukan said the event was organized “under the esteemed leadership of Chairperson Nayantara Palchoudhuri, Tocklai staff, and industry professionals who judged the competition.”

    Team Orthodox

    The winning students, Team Leader Pragyan Sen Deka, 23, and Pranjit Barman, 22, designed a drone-mounted hyperspectral imaging eye that roams tea gardens, searching for indications of pest infestations. Suspended below the drone is a smoke chamber that delivers natural fumigants that pests avoid.

    Pragyan Sen Deka
    Pragyan Sen Deka

    Fumigating crops with low-hanging smoke is an ancient, effective, and non-chemical method of driving pests away. Winning team leader Pragyan Sen Deka describes how a modern “Spectro Smoke” generator heats ferns and grass with electrically controlled nichrome wire, producing a downward-driven column of smoke that rises to the underside of leaves and drives away pests like the tea mosquito, one of several insects that reduces tea yields in India by an estimated 147 million kilos a year.

    “This innovation promises to transform how we approach pest control, ensuring healthier crops and a more sustainable future for tea plantations,” writes Phukan.

    Spectro Smoke Drone
    The Spectro Smoke Drone has 1000kv 10-inch propellers producing around 3500g peak thrust. Its max payload capacity is around 2kg. The drone is powered by a 4000mah lipo battery, which gives it a flight duration of 15-18 minutes with no payload. The transmitter is the 2.4GHz FS i6, with a range of 1.5 km.

    Team Neuro Linga (second place)

    The second prize goes to Team Neuro Linga at the PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research in Coimbatore for designing an integrated weather and crop health monitoring system.

    “Their innovative solution impressively combines AI and IoT to tackle pest control and crop health. Using sensors, cameras, and smart technologies, they’ve developed a comprehensive system that not only repels pests but also monitors and predicts pest outbreaks, ensuring healthier crops and a more sustainable future for the tea industry,” writes Phukan.

    Team Doodle (third place)

    Their innovative solution features a specialized RAG (retrieval augmented generation) model for tea pest detection, designed to minimize computational resources while delivering precise, domain-specific results. Utilizing a Phi2 model with 2 million parameters and an image classification model (ResNet), Team Doodle leverages research papers, and articles scraped via Jina AI to ensure accuracy and relevance. Additionally, minimal hardware is used to collect environmental data such as temperature and moisture, helping to prevent pest outbreaks with accurate and timely detection.

    “Team Doodle’s approach represents a significant advancement in sustainable pest management for the tea industry. It combines cutting-edge AI with practical environmental monitoring,” writes Phukan.

    Problems to Solve

    Here is a list of problems students were asked to address:

    • Problem Statement 1: The tea industry faces significant challenges due to climate change, including water scarcity, temperature fluctuations, and soil degradation. Develop a technology-driven solution to help tea farmers adapt to changing climatic conditions, optimize water usage, and maintain soil health to ensure sustainable tea cultivation.
    • Problem Statement 2:  Tea crops are vulnerable to various pests and diseases, which can devastate tea crops within a short period. Develop a predictive model using data analytics and machine learning to forecast outbreaks of pests and diseases, enabling pre-emptive action to protect crops and reduce the reliance on chemical pesticides.
    • Problem Statement 3: With climate change and changing weather patterns, the incidence of pest management has increased, with certain pests such as the Tea Mosquito Bug, Looper Caterpillar, and Green Thrips causing havoc in tea plantations. Develop technologies based on airwaves, sound waves, or biocontrol to control the outbreak of the Tea Mosquito Bug, Looper Caterpillar, and Green Thrips to showcase how it works in tea plantations.
    • Problem Statement 4: The tea plant Camellia sinensis is a wonder plant. Tea leaves are harvested to make various types of tea. The tea plant also produces tea seeds and flowers. Tea is high in various properties, such as antioxidants and flavonoids. Propose methods and technologies to convert tea into diversified products using tea leaves and waste using innovative technology.
    • Problem Statement 5:  Tea is the second most consumed beverage after water globally. However, there is intense competition for tea as a beverage over other products. Some of the products sold as tea are not from the plant Camellia Sinensis. Develop technology-based solutions to promote tea amongst people from age 10 to 35 years, highlighting its many health benefits, which should be innovative and scalable to make tea the most sought-after drink. One may add non-technology-based suggestions to justify their technologies.

    Hackathon Judges

    • Ms N Palchoudhuri, Chairperson TRA
    • Mr Dan Bolton, Tea Journalist, Canada
    • Mr S K Saria, Chairman, NBC TRA
    • Mr Kailyanjeet Borah, Vice Chairman Agriculture Committee TRA
    • Mr Abhijeet Hazarika, Tsigma Consultancy
    • Mr Jai Kejriwal, Council Member TRA
    • Dr Anoop Barooah, former Director TRA
    • Dr A Babu, Director TRA
    • Joydeep Phukan, Secretary TRA

    Tea Research Association – Tocklai Institute

    To delve into the science and processes behind a good cuppa, visit the Tocklai Institute, the world’s largest and oldest tea research center (founded in 1911). The labs there research microorganisms that inhibit plant disease and promote growth. There is also a tea museum and model tea factory exhibiting the machines that turn leaves into teapot-ready tea.

    Tea Research Association Tocklai

    History

    The establishment of the Scientific Department of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) in 1900 marked the beginning of a new era of tea research in India. This was consolidated with the creation of the Tocklai Experimental Station in 1911.

    The formation of the Tea Research Association (TRA) in 1964, with Tocklai at the center of all activities, further expanded the horizon of tea research to cover the entire Northeast India. Research on all aspects of tea cultivation and processing is carried out at the Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, the world’s oldest and largest research station. Transfer of technology to its member estates is carried out through its advisory network covering 1,076 tea estates occupying 341,049 hectares (1,317 sq mi) of land spread over The South Bank, North Bank, Upper Assam, Cachar, Tripura, Dooars, Darjeeling and Terai. Tocklai has its regional R & D Centre at Nagrakata, West Bengal.

    The organization undertakes basic and applied research on tea cultivation and processing in northeast India. A large chunk of the research work is done at Tocklai, while area-specific research for Dooars is carried out at NBRRDC, Nagrakata. Research on the pharmacological properties of black tea is carried out in collaboration with Kolkata and other institutes across India. The technologies developed through R&D activities are disseminated to the member gardens through a wide network of advisory personnel who conduct regular hands-on demonstrations and workshops.

    Photos courtesy Team Orthodox | Tocklai Tea Research Center

    Tea Research Association

    113, Park Street, Kolkata-700016
    +91-033-22291815, 22293813
    [email protected] / [email protected]


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    India’s Tocklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat announced the winners of the 2024 Tech Brew Hackathon competition, held on International Tea Day. The winning students received 50,000 rupees for tackling their choice of five industry challenges. Teams from 20 universities participated. | Episode 171 | 7 June 2024

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