The morning cup of tea South Indians sip has a 150-year-old history in which the momentous tales of the Opium War and the tragic story of prisoners are blended in equal measure.
History has it that after the Opium War between China and Britain, the Chinese prisoners brought to Kozhikode were forced to trek to Nilgiris with sacks full of tea seeds. They were jailed in the Thiashola forest reserve and made to plant tea.
The oldest bush is still preserved in the estate that formally began operations in 1858.
Tea production began in 1861 for the first time in South India. “The estate of 190 hectares still has Chinese tea bushes and produces annually around 4 lakh kg of orthodox tea,” said its general manager, Jagan Thimayya.
The estate changed hands several times and in 1893 it became the Thaishola Estates Co Ltd owned by F. Barber and his family, who rebuilt and modernised the factory.
In the early part of the last century, the estate came into the hands of Hindustan Unilever Ltd which in 2006 sold it to Benguluru-based Prakruti Infrastructure and Development Company Ltd.
In 2002, the estate was accorded organic status and it still follows the traditional hand-plucking method to collect tea leaves. It is unique since roughly 80 per cent of the periphery has forest cover.
“The 600 hectares of forest cover around the estate is one of the thickest in the world,” said S. Suresh, research botanist with the Indian Institute of Science which has a field station at nearby Masanagudy.
“The forest cover and the altitude gives the tea from Thiashola its distinct flavour, a delicate fragrance and brightness that tea connoisseurs value much,” said N. Muraleedharan, adviser at the Tea Research Foundation under the United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI).