Vallie Prince
The Kraken's Cup
I am very passionate about using tea as a way to connect our community. My tearoom is growing into a community hub, both as a place where people can disconnect from the chaos of the “normal” world for a while to connect with each other, and as a place where they can learn about and experience the world of tea. I have degrees in anthropology and religious studies, and the one thing that both of these educational paths have led …
Joydeep Phukan
Principal Officer & Secretary, Tea Research Association of India
I come from a family in Assam that has been actively involved in tea cultivation for more than 100 years. My maternal great-grandfather, Someswar Sarma, worked at Moabund Tea Co. (under George Williamson & Co., UK) as their first Indian manager. Upon his retirement in 1895, he was gifted a tea estate by his employers—Oating Tea Estate—in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to tea cultivation in the forests of Assam. By the time he passed away in 1910, he had …
