COP10 gives reason for optimism. “We’ve seen history in the making here in Nagoya with a landmark agreement now in place that defines the future for life on earth,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “Here in Japan the international community have moved closer to the realisation that it’s time we stopped considering nature as expendable, and any related expenditure a write-off – it’s time we valued and conserved nature.”

And it has gotten tricky because the scientific findings of work like the Stern Report is frightening, the scope so huge, mammoth really. That the small / medium family run segment be involved is such a healthy strategy, if only as a monitor on the behavior of the big players. And if history is any guide, they will cry for governmental bailouts. Worse yet, they will get them, thus forcing governments to burden the common taxpayer with tax increases they can ill afford, just trying to make ends meet as it is. And here, big oil once again has re-arranged the macro economic landscape to dodge the full burden of the bio-muckup’s which they have caused – apparently with full forethought and knowledge of the risks involved due to penny-pinching their contractor, Halliburton, by forcing them into a price corner that could not afford anything better than cheap low-grade concrete, all of this picture is just so absurd to me that it’s like watching a real-life version of Monty Python or Firesign Theater, but it’s not humorous at all. The shoddy materials q/c as decided by senior management at big oil who are pay-incentivized on immediate results at de minimus cost to the firm. Management only has their eye on the short-term future, paid by a tax increase or an emergency tax on the working middle class who are struggling to make end meet as it is. And on it goes. With results like Stern estimates of say 12 to 13% decrease in quality of living per annum; that is a frightening statistic when we consider it going five years to a a decade out from now.

On last evening’s news, Dil, there was a report that the grade of concrete Halliburton had used for the base of the oil platforms was – knowingly – of a poorer, sub-standard quality to shave off a few thousand dollars of cost savings. And that poor quality concrete gave way, ultimately being the basis of the whole BP bio-spill. It’s covered in this report … http://www.halliburtonwatch.org (agreed, a bit over the top but still instructive) … and elsewhere on the more conservative news from the FT and the WSJ. Directing their anger for the responsibility of this fiasco with accuracy, it would appear that Halliburton was only working on instructions from BP. In either event, it’s always the same cabal of huge cap players with stronger free cash flows and balance sheets than most countries on earth. We in tea have been practicing diversity for many decades without being told to do so by anyone but our own knowledge of investment in the long run balance of nature in the areas around our tea fields. It’s small compared to the BP type of big messes, but it’s the best we can do realistically. Maybe Dilmah Comservation’s in SL (and other small / mid size efforts around the world – in tea, that I know of at least in Africa, Argentina and – I believe – in PNG / Australia, too) will speak loudly by our examples. But it is a big hope on our small parts.

And time – as Stern points out – is of the essence. I don’t know what the solution is, but it may well require some sort of governmental intervention in terms of generous tax benefits to the participating parties, thus stimulating more participation by the huge multinationals involved in tea / coffee ’round the world? They are also participating in the Ethical Partnership, and the Rainbow Alliance as such. But the point is that we tea people should not by rights have to pick up the huge tabs caused by shoddy controls in big oil that result in fiascoes like the recent Gulf spill. It’s been over a half year already, and BP (with participation by contractors like Halliburton) plods slowly along.

In any event, thanks to your Dad’s vision, and our generation’s follow through in tea, maybe we will make some small noise that other larger industries will start to listen to and begin to participate, as well.

I’m going to discuss this in a weekly radio show on sustainability and biz, if you’re interested. http://www.your3bl.com

I remember the first CTC teas I’d ever liquored – Assams, not Kenyas; over in East Africa, the early KTDA, UTA, TTA, OCIR and OTB were still making (more or less) exquisite orthodox.

The Assam surprised me – it was a rich, malty and juicy second flush low grown which a sparkling liquor, every bit its orthodox equivalent. Normally, I’d buy the factory’s orthodox small broken grades in season for select, demanding blends but this CTC PF was quite new, the maker had done a bang-up job, it easily met or exceeded standard, so I snatched up the 10 MT on offer. I asked the maker = a 3rd generation Assam planter named Khaitan = if he might prepare me a second batch of 10 MT of additional but graded in the traditional orthodox make, which he booked. He had maintained dual lines at the factory just to oblige such eventualities. The second batch of GOF was also fully up if not pref to usual seasonal std and the price was just the same as his CTC PF.

He hand wrote me a note that he was glad I could support his CTC, because at the end of the day, the CTC PF at price X offered the estate and its workers a preferable nett profit versus the orthodox GOF at the same price X. And as long as they did the same job in my buyers’ blends, he was happy. He did suggest it was difficult learning how to make a quality CTC – just as difficult as making a quality orthodox – but because the CTC yielded a higher proportion of clean maingrades and less offgrades and powdery dusts than the orthodox, he could afford to reinvest in R&D.

That guy ended up helping me arrange the shipment of some of the first CTC machinery from Calcutta to Mombasa and Dar for the East African parastatels who were very interested to experiment with the new Assam CTC machinery for the reasons Khaitan had stated. Although there’s very little lowgrown tea in East Africa, the results were after some effort quite the same as in Assam. It was just new rules for how to use this new tech – keeping the cutters sharpened on a weekly schedule without fail and so on.

Now, the past is back to the future once again. Many of the African makers are running dual lines in the Assamese method in order to oblige demand for both sorts of makes. A bit of retraining back to what they had used to do so brilliantly back in the 1950′s / 1960′s and here we are once again. I do sense some teas are better suited to good CTC make than to good orthodox make – specifically, the Assam / East African varieties that need throw off a sparkling and rich rosy red colour in the liquor that the buyers of top quality in certain markets like Ireland absolutely require. We can’t get that same hue from any CTC or orthodox Ceylon or its poorer substitutes from South India and Indonesia no matter how hard we try.

Some of the best teas I’ve ever bought, Dil, have been CTC and particular beauties stand out in my mind from factories as far afield as the PNG Highlands to eastern Kenya’s slopes of Mt Kenya to the teas made up at the sources of the Nile at 6,000+ ft from select Burundi and Rwanda factories where rows by force must be terraced at a highly angled grade somewhat like Nuwara Eliya or Darjeeling.

Otherwise from that, your’s is a great article which I greatly enjoyed as usual!

Best always,
Bruce . .

I believe that your friend was not basing his opinion on facts, but a general contrarian perspective to insert a memorable comment into your conversation. He could easily defend his perspective on a general basis about the human need for instant gratification, but that is not new thinking. Mankind has benefited as well as lost intangible countless benefits from the efforts of being able to provide faster responses to our needs. We have internet and instant meals, faster travel and the list goes on, and does this give us more time to do the important things in life? There is no right answer of course, everyone is different and that same answer would change on a regular basis depending on the circumstances, but yet we all make a conscious decision to periodically stop what we are doing to relax and drink a cup of tea or coffee, and balance the pace of life that our ‘learned marketer’ is talking about. There are some basic rules that regardless of the effort or eagerness for ‘instant gratification’, the human body responds the same, if you don’t take care of your body, the body will eventually let you know its displeasure. The truth is, we all need to have a balance diet, with home cooked meals, exercise regularly and rest. It helps if you are spiritually guided and take time to share and contribute in your community. Ask Oprah if you don’t believe this. She has tried every diet plan, equipment, solution, potion for instant gratification on her body and health and her response will be that mother nature will eventually show you that you are going the wrong way and short cuts are not acceptable. She now promotes exercise and diet as a must for healthy balance living.

But back to tea. Tea is the fastest growing beverage sector in all markets, not because its trendy or fashionable, although ‘marketers’ do have the ability to promote the shell without substance, tea continues to stand on its own. Tea is a beverage with natural health characteristics, it embodies tradition, loyalty and peace. When the thought or memory of someone coming to you with a problem or chaos in the air, the sensible reaction is, ‘let’s talk about it’… and tea is subtly introduced into the solution. I recall a movie with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts (Nottingham) , where she plays a famous actress staying at Hugh Grant’s apartment incognito, when suddenly the paparazzi shows up unexpectedly and she reacts aggressively towards Hugh. She reacts by packing her things and unjustly accusing him, while he defends himself by asking her to sit and have a cup of tea. She did rush off, but eventually after a few developments in the movie regretting it, coming back and asking him to take her back. Of course this is a movie, but in retrospect, the problem would have been solved much sooner if she stayed and had the cup of tea. How is that for quick gratification? By the way, I’m plugging in a recommendation for cinnamon tea, if you do find yourself in the odd situation and you need calmness and peace to take over a scenario. The mere scent of cinnamon will work wonders in the situation.

I acknowledge your concern about the dangers of tea pretenders, highly sugared teas and even worse, corned syrup sweet and rubbish comments from so called ‘learned marketers’ who generalize their comments to suit a conversation. I agree and the task is huge, but speaking as a reformed sugared saturated iced tea drinker, opening my eyes and palate to good tea was very easy. Exposure to good tea, education and this blog is a step in the right direction. Your comments with regards to the recession are spot on and blame the ‘instant gratification’ quest for it. Consumers eager to get what they wanted whether a house upgrade, car, boat or other without properly assessing feasibility and affordability rushed to purchased based on over inflated evaluations of their homes and when the balloon popped reality set in that they were living beyond their means. Not surprised about increase of tea sales during this period, a lot more chamomile for me as well. Well, I think I wrote more than I intended to; maybe the topic hit a spot, or maybe it was the tea that inspired me to promote it and joining you in defending it whole heartedly. Why don’t you send a box of tea to this friend of yours? He might have another perspective next time you run into him.