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Nilgiri tea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type: | Black |
| Other names: | NA |
| Origin: | Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. |
| Quick description: | NA |
Nilgiri tea is a dark intensely aromatic and flavorful tea grown in the southern portion of the Western Ghats mountains of Southern India. Most of the cultivation and production occurs in the hills of the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, though there are numerous tea plantations further south in Kerala state.
The United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) which is situated in Coonoor is responsible for enforcing and maintaining the numerous quality conditions required for tea to be known as "Nilgiri Tea." There are several Tea Estates and factories, which are concentrated around Coonoor and Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district.
The tea provides a higher number of cups per measure (technically known as cuppage) because of the Crush, Tear, Curl or CTC process of manufacture. The expensive hand-sorted, full-leaf versions of the tea like the Orange Pekoe (O.P.) are highly sought after at international auctions making it unaffordable for most locals. In November 2006 a Nilgiri Tea achieved "Top Honours" and fetched a world record price of $600 per kg. This was at the first ever tea auction held in Las Vegas. A machine-sorted, lower-cost variety of high quality tea is a semi-full leaf variety known as Broken Orange Pekoe (B.O.P.). Tea Factories are generally equipped to produce either CTC tea or B.O.P. or both. A few also manufacture green tea, which is gaining in popularity.
Nilgiri tea is generally auctioned in Coonoor, Coimbatore and Kochi. Most of it is intended for domestic consumption, though some of it is exported, particularly the higher grades. The former USSR used to be a prime consumer of Nilgiri Tea. In the early 1990's the collapse of this trading partner triggered a substantial economic downslide in the Nilgiris district, which was further punctuated by various quality issues, mainly due to bad practice in the industry such as adulteration. A new drive is taking place to stamp out this habit and raise the quality of the tea. Some quality issues are also said to be as a result of local climate change and pollution.