In search of the perfect cup...Indonesia Day 2

Day 2: March 21, 2009

My mom and I arose at 7:00am, we walked for about 30min through the garden, met a tea garden manager, saw some people plucking the leaves, chemical and pesticide free areas, and new sapling tea plant growing areas. They use the leaves from a palm tree to mulch the area around the new saplings to protect them from weather and bugs. Strategically located throughout the garden are tall trees. These trees are allowed to grow during the summer to provide the tea plants with the necessary shade and in the rainy months they are cut back to allow more sun.

After hiking through the garden we reached the river and the waterfall. It was beautiful and such a fun experience to have breakfast there. Along the walk we were able to see a few eagles and monkey (it was black and had a white belly) hanging from the tree. It was really cool and I was glad that it was so remote. After eating breakfast we went and saw the hydropower dam which supplies electricity to their factory and the houses in the village.

My mom and I were asked to plant a tree in memory of our visit. They ask all visitors to do this as a way of giving back to nature. I hope to see it as a grown tree someday! After planting the tree we were taken to the factory and participated in a professional tea cupping and tasting. This was a great experience learning how to taste tea and cup tea. After tasting the tea, we suited up to go into the factory. We had to remove our shoes and use some special flip flops. It was really cool seeing the machines that dry, fire, roll, and sort the leaves. There was one machine that sorted one type of tea into different grades ranging from premium quality to fannings/dust. Upon completion of the factory tour we grabbed our stuff and headed back to Jakarta thus ending my first plantation tour.

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In search of the perfect cup...Indonesia Day 1

Charity's Indonesian Tea Tour



Day 1: March 20, 2009

We drove about 3 hours from Jakarta to Bandung. When we got to Bandung, we stopped by the Chakra tea central office. We met the owner and different managers of Chakra Tea. We then got into a Ford escape and drove to a restaurant with the son and tea taster of Chakra. Our group had a delicious meal of vegetables, chicken soup, chicken satay, and a cassava dessert. Then we drove on a dirt road for 2 hours through the mountains. Talk about bouncy!

There were strawberries and onions growing together, lots of terracing, and many tea gardens (some owned by the government, small farmers, and private estates). Chakra falls into the 3rd category. After 2 hours we arrived at Dewata. They have 600 hectars of tea gardens, a hydropower plant that supplies power to the factory, village, and guest house. The plantation employs 700 people.

The plants are grown on the sides of the mountains. There are trees strategically placed and seasonally pruned to provide the right amount of shade or sun on the tea plants. They pick year round. This is family owned estate since its purchase from the Dutch when the country became independent (1936). The estate is in the middle of a national rainforest reserve. The estate itself is accredited by HACCP for its state of the art environmental management. The local wildlife is comprised of various birds, insects, eagles, monkeys, flying squirrels, black panthers, snakes, and tigers. The house remains the same as is it was built. The weather at the garden was misty and cool at night. During the day it was very hot.


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