The Real Face of Our Tea

"My grandfather planted these rows. I know every root, every slope. When a visitor asks how long it takes to learn tea, I say — a lifetime, and you still don't know all of it."

Murugesan has worked the Kaircombai estate since 1997, following his father and grandfather before him. He oversees the plucking schedule, reads soil and weather to decide flush timing, and has trained 14 younger workers in the past decade.

"Every morning I walk the rows before the pluckers arrive. If the flush isn't right, we don't pluck that section. One wrong batch ruins the whole lot's grade."

Rajan has supervised estate operations for 22 years. He determines daily plucking areas based on flush cycle, weather, and soil moisture. Every batch that leaves the factory carries his QA sign-off. He has turned down 6 full lots in the last 3 years for failing cup-test standards.

"Spent tea leaves go back to the soil they came from. Nothing is wasted on this estate. The compost pile is the most important thing I manage."

Dharmaraj built the estate's zero-chemical composting programme from scratch in 2013. Spent tea waste, shade-tree cuttings, and kitchen scraps are composted in a 3-stage pit system he designed. The output replaces all chemical fertiliser on the estate. He runs quarterly soil-health audits and shares data with the plucking team.