Guwahati, July 9: If anybody in tea industry knows how to set the bar higher every time, it is Halmari.
Today at the Calcutta tea auctions when the Halmari lot came up for sale, nobody could take a guess on what price it would fetch.
The Halmari lot came up for sale around 10am and it was all over at 10.15am. The bidding was intense and everybody was setting the bar higher. As it crossed Rs 501, which was the best price till now, it became clear that there are no price limits when it came to buying Halmari.
Altogether 260kg of broken orange pekoe (BOP) grade of the CTC (crush, tear and curl) variety belonging to Halmari garden in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh district was today sold at Rs 556 a kg, setting a new record once again.
The second flush tea was bought by Manash Chakraborty of Golden Tea House, Guwahati.
The last record was Rs 501 a kg at sale number 23 at the Calcutta tea auctions on June 7. The garden is located 28km from Dibrugarh town and 430km from Guwahati.
"In my wildest dreams I could never imagine it would witness such stiff bidding. I offered the best price and the rest is history," Chakraborty told The Telegraph.
The tea will be exported to Europe. CTC Tea is processed using the "crush, tear and curl" method. Leaves processed using the CTC method are not rolled, but are placed through cylindrical rollers with small teeth. The rollers crush, tear and curl the tea leaves.
"I cannot recall when I had tasted anything better. It fetched that price because of its exotic aroma, taste and colour once milk is added. It easily gets 10 out of 10," Chakraborty said.
A tea industry official said the BOP is a little bolder grade and allows consumers to perceive the aroma and flavour to its fullest. It also provides a unique and very balanced combination of flavour and strength.
The tea was manufactured on May 23-24 and despatched on May 28 for sale.
The chairman and managing director of J. Thomas and Company, Krishan Katyal, one of the country's topmost tea tasters, told The Telegraph that today's price was "phenomenal". "It is no more a tea brand, it is a prized possession," a tea industry official said. C.S. Bedi of Rossell Tea, known for orthodox tea, said: "It is an acknowledgement of the quality of Halmari that it can command such a price."
The director of Deha tea estate - which is ranked in the top 10 at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre - Bikash Agarwal, said buyers do not get disappointed when they purchase Halmari.
"The consistency of making quality tea has paid off. The lesson which we can take from Halmari is that if they can produce that kind of quality, why cannot others do it?" Agarwal said.
Lalit Jalan of Assam Tea Traders who has a tea shop in Guwahati said once customers buy Halmari, the request is for once more.
Soham Daga of Calcutta-based Amarawati Tea Company Ltd, which owns Halmari, apart from Duliabam, said: "This achievement is dedicated to everybody at Halmari right from the garden to people at the head-office. We are constantly improving the quality of our tea which has been appreciated by people worldwide."
What will be the next record? "The sky is the limit if it is Halmari," a buyer said.


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