🍃Free shipping over ₹999 · Estate-direct from the Nilgiris since 1994
Our Family · Since 1994
Three Generations, One Estate
Forest Brews Tea Company is, at its core, a family decision made in 1994 and renewed by each generation since. T. Rajan planted the Kaircombai estate on the belief that quality comes from ownership — of the land, the process, and the relationship with the people who work it. Thirty years on, his daughter runs the factory, his son steers exports, and his daughter-in-law is planting the shade trees that will shelter the estate through the next thirty. No outside investors. No broker in the chain. Every kilogram of Forest Brews tea carries the direct fingerprint of one family and one mountain.
The people behind every cup
T. Rajan
Founder & Estate Patriarch
Thangavelu Rajan left a government posting in Coimbatore in 1993 to lease and later purchase the Kaircombai plot on the upper slopes of the Nilgiris. Guided by neighbours in Ooty's long-established tea belt, he planted the first seedlings in early 1994 — a mix of clonal TV1 and TV17 varieties suited to the cooler nights above 1,700 m. His philosophy was simple: own every step from bush to cup, and never let a broker dictate price or quality. By 1998 the estate had its own withering troughs and a secondhand orthodox roller sourced from a closing estate in Coonoor.
"If the land is healthy and the workers are treated fairly, the tea will always be honest."
Vijayalakshmi Rajan
Factory Manager & Quality Head
Vijayalakshmi — Viji to the pickers — joined the estate full-time after completing a food-technology diploma in Coimbatore. She rebuilt the factory floor from 2005 to 2008, replacing ageing dryers with temperature-controlled fluid-bed units and formalising the grading sequence from Broken Orange Pekoe through to fannings. Under her watch, Forest Brews received its FSSAI licence (12422021000409) and began supplying Tata Consumer and Brooke Bond as a certified source. She introduced a daily cupping log that now spans two decades of harvests, the most complete flavour record of any small Nilgiri estate.
"Consistency is a discipline. Tasting the same cup every morning for twenty years teaches you more than any textbook."
Arun Rajan
Export & D2C Lead
Arun grew up on the estate but studied international business in Chennai before spending three years with an export trading house in Colombo. He returned in 2018 with a list of importers in Singapore and a conviction that single-estate Nilgiri teas could stand beside Darjeeling first-flushes on specialty shelves worldwide. He negotiated the first direct retail contracts in Malaysia and the Gulf within two years, cutting out the Cochin auction entirely for export grades. Arun also launched the Forest Brews direct-to-consumer channel, bringing estate teas to households across India for the first time.
"People keep asking why we don't scale faster. Because our land has 14 acres. That's the answer — and the point."
Meena Arun
Packer & Sustainability Lead
Meena joined after managing logistics for an organic food brand in Bangalore. She standardised the kraft-foil pouch specification, introduced compostable inner liners for the gift-tin range, and set up the shade-tree replanting programme that added 180 silver oak and grevillea trees from 2021 to 2024. She is the primary contact for B2B buyers — handling documentation, APEDA compliance, and the phytosanitary certificates needed for export consignments.
"A tea estate is a forest you harvest. If you forget the forest part, the harvest disappears."
Our Promise
The same family. The same land.
The same leaf.
Every tin of Forest Brews tea leaves Kaircombai bearing the direct fingerprint of one family. No outside investors, no blending with off-estate leaf, no auction floor. When you buy Forest Brews, you buy from T. Rajan's 1994 decision — and from the three generations who have renewed it every year since.