Teabox celebrates tea picking community with Kalpana 2022 First Flush Teas
Image: Teabox
For the first time, Indian premium tea brand Teabox is bringing its customers not just exotic First Flush teas, but also a symbol of the tea-picking community’s heartwarming story.
The First or the Spring Flush is the very first growth of tea leaves after the dormancy period. It is considered the best flush of the growing season, bringing in high prices from tea connoisseurs. It contains a high amount of antioxidants or catechins, L-theanine stimulant, and caffeine. First Flush invokes a different image to every tea drinker – one of wonder and excitement; a New Year of sorts for the tea community. The first of these Limited Edition 2022 First Flush teas have now been harvested, and are available online at Teabox – Teabox gets leaves from tea gardens to teacups in just one week.
The first four 2022 First Flush teas available are Singbulli Spring Flowery Oolong, Badamtam Spring White, Goomtee Spring Black, and Upper Namring Spring Clonal Black.
India offers high-quality specialty teas and Darjeeling First Flush tea has made a name for itself in the global as well as domestic market.
Spring Flush teas are light and bright with spring-fresh flavours and are immensely smooth and aromatic. Darjeeling spring white and oolong teas are some of the most prized world-wide and are made in limited quantities. Since Darjeeling tea has received a GI (Geographical Indication) tag, it has brought in a lot of authenticity and tea lovers across the world are willing to pay a premium.
The Kalpana Story – Tribute to the Hands That Pick
Teabox’s 2022 First Flush harvest is dedicated to KALPANA, the tea pickers that bring this magnificent drink to tea lovers across the world.
Teabox says it wants to bring the attention of every tea lover back to the source; to the people, who are so often overshadowed by the distance created by an over-convoluted and old industry, the politics of the region, and a distinct lack of voice. Teabox dedicates this year’s First Flush to them by creating KALPANA – a symbol of the tea picker in the form of a special handmade doll – an embodiment of each and every woman who strives under the sun and rain to pick the finest of the teas.
In Sanskrit, Kalpana translates to ‘Imagination’, a befitting name as it allows the mind to wander across the misty mountains and valleys to create one’s own Kalpana.
Kausshal Dugarr, founder & CEO, Teabox India said: “We wanted to make the idea of bringing this tribe to the forefront more tangible – something that you can touch and see, to bring you closer to the story of these extraordinary women. As we pondered on what exactly that could be, we came up with the idea of handmade dolls. Dolls made from left-over clothes and a little sponge stitched by grandmothers – a perfect symbol for our campaign.”
“To make this happen, we collaborated with Hayden Hall – a private non-profit-making organisation in Darjeeling that dedicates their efforts towards the development of underprivileged women and helping them become self-reliant. With the support of dedicated volunteers, they helped create simple dolls with social and cultural significance. And with each order of our First Flush, we intend to send our customers one of these dolls to highlight their story,” Dugarr added.
Read more about the Kalpana story here, and follow a day in the life of one of the Kalpana tea-pickers here.
