Tea has an image problem. In India, we still think of it as comforting and familiar, or as a drink to pause, unwind with. Both are true, but they carry a passivity that does tea no favours. Add to this, we’ve marketed tea on nostalgia or health—well-worn but lacking appeal to a new generation.
Look at any beverage that’s trending or has the attention of 20-somethings. Coffee is associated with high energy. So too is matcha, which managed to push wellness into a visually striking and social-media-friendly drink. Boba, even if it became more about toppings and tapioca, showed that tea could be playful. The lesson seems obvious: make tea fun.
I drove into Amchong Tea Estate, outside Guwahati, last month, with signages advertising ATV rides and an all-day restaurant called Steep House—none of the promise of colonial bungalows, serene gardens or photo-ops with tea pluckers. Amchong’s hilly terrain had been tapped for a 5km ATV trail.
Despite it being a weekday, Steep House saw a steady stream of local guests, many arriving in the morning and staying the day. There were tea mocktails on the menu but the food was familiar Indian and continental fare rather than a celebration of tea or Assamese cuisine.
Later, chatting with Shivani Khemka, director of Steep House, whose husband Ananya runs the family estate, I learned they’d introduced tea-infused dishes early on, but it had few takers. Evidently, people came here for a day out, not for a tea masterclass.
Afterwards, over a pot of white tea made in the demo factory attached to the restaurant, I asked Ananya Khemka, director of the parent company Bhauram Jodhraj who conceptualised the Amchong Leaf experiences, about his positioning of tea tourism. He was clear that revenue was a priority and to see that footfall meant giving people a reason to come. The inspiration came from travels through South-East Asia and visits to Sula Vineyards in Maharashtra. His family bought the estate in 1958, and their tea is mostly exported, but Khemka’s plan for tourism is to compensate for the low seasons and lull market periods.
A person dressed in a tiger costume stopped to amuse some children. Doesn’t all this distract from tea? Ananya pointed out the window at the tea-covered slopes and ran me through all the tea-touch points they had. Weekend visitors waiting for a table are encouraged to watch a short film on tea. A mini factory is open for them to see how tea is made. A young guide outside the restaurant patiently explains the difference between chinary and assamica plants in the mini tea garden. On the jeep ride, the driver says guests ask questions about shade trees, pruning and cultivation. And late afternoon, the popular order at the Steep House is chai and pakoras made with fresh tea leaves.
There are two lessons here for tea estates: one, that an estate experience should be about active fun to appeal to the young, and, if we want to shift tea habits among Indian drinkers, they need to be our focus. Until now, we have created offerings for the affluent tourist seeking an escape but the real opportunity could be in what we offer the everyday Indian tea drinker.
1001 Teas is a fortnightly series about the many stories hidden in the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman (@AravindaAnanth1) is a tea drinker, writer and editor.