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Job that suits few to a `T'
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The glamour has dimmed. There are few openings or takers. But tea tasting is a job that calls for expert, cultivated, taste buds. V. SAVITHA lays bare the world of tea tasting.
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THE AROMA of tea brewing is possibly one of the most refreshing smells that greet one in the morning. Strong tea, light tea, black tea, flavoured tea, Nilgiri tea, Darjeeling tea - there is one to suit the taste buds of all. But before the tea hits the shelves of supermarkets, it undergoes the strict scrutiny of the tea tasters. Nothing escapes the examination of these experts - the flavour, the colour, the strength, the merits, and the flaws.
The tealeaves undergo several steps of processing before it reaches the taster. The processing procedure determines whether the tea is black or green. The leaves are first spread out so that they lose some moisture. They are then rolled and placed in a humid atmosphere to ferment. Later it is moved to drying ovens, after which it is sorted and graded.
The taster first tests the dry tea for colour, uniformity, texture and aroma. The same quantity of the different samples are infused separately and poured out into bowls. The taster tastes each bowl and notes his observation on each. The infused tealeaves, or the `infusion' is inspected for its colour. "Ideally, it should be copper coloured," says Suresh Kumar Balaraman of KPGM Teas Private Limited.
Tea tasting and blending is, according to Mr Suresh, a "balancing act." The tasters are the people who advise estates regarding the defects or merits of their tea. It is also the taster who advises the buyer on which sample he should go for. To do this job, faithfully, one needs to have a clean palate. Drinking,. Smoking, chewing paan are `no no's, especially if a tea taster has the responsibility of advising manufacturers what to buy.
Saikumar Menon, a tea taster who has been in the profession for the past two decades, explains that tea tasting is necessarily a delicate skill that is acquired over the years through practice. Newcomers into the field train under seniors, picking up in course of time, the subtle differences. "In the beginning, every tea tastes the same," comments Mr Suresh.
Mr Menon elaborates that tea tasting takes place at three different levels. First, it is tasted by the producer, at the estates. Here, the samples are checked for defects. The brokers, or auctioneers then taste samples from the estates. The brokers set a value for the different tea, and sell it to blenders. The blenders taste different samples in order to arrive at the perfect blend, with just the right amount of colour and strength.
Mr Suresh says that the profession once had an aura around it. "Earlier, it was generally perceived that it is a very highly paid job. It could have been because it was dominated by the Englishmen," he says. An auctioneer in the city agrees that the aura has definitely been lost. He attributes it to the younger generation's preference for jobs in the filed of Information Technology. "IT and multi-national companies pay much more than this profession can now," he remarks. Anyway, it was a myth that it is a highly paying job.
Adding to this, Mr Menon says, "The youth are now more enamoured by technology. They all want to be working in front of a computer." Adding to this is the present crisis in the tea industry. There have been a number of lock-ups and lay-offs in South India in the recent months.
According to Mr Suresh, everyone who is in the tea industry, other than the "absolute traders," has to taste tea and know what is good. He adds that the tea tasters are tuned to the taste and the requirements of his or her particular area. "I might have 50 years of experience in south India, but I will be a big zero in the north," he says. The tea in the north is ruled more by flavour than in the south, where it is colour that is given priority, he said. Moreover, the taste differs from area to area, estate to estate.
A leading exporter, who did not want to be named, recalls that a tea company had once tried to bring mechanisation into tea tasting. A device named the tongue would be dipped into the brew, and give computer ratings according to pre-set parameters. But the company stopped the practice when it was realised that a slight voltage fluctuation or temperature variation could give 20 percent incorrect results.
It is interesting to note that there are very few women in the field, and fewer still entering it now. Some attribute it to the inconvenience women may have in maintaining the job after marriage.
There is no formal education available in the field of tea tasting, though the agricultural university trains beginners at an institute in Coonoor. The newcomers learn by following their seniors in tasting, till there taste buds are trained to understand the nuances of taste and flavour.
A tea broker points out that Darjeeling tea is the most sought after tea in the international market, the main buyer being Germany and Japan, followed by Sri Lankan varieties.
Here's a toast to all those dedicated tea tasters who strive for that right blend, which gives that perfect scent to the morning air, and refreshes the avid tea fan.
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