the small tea co-operative
  • about our teas!
    • introducing Hirok Konch & the Chenehi Tea Group
  • who we are
    • small tea - in Canada
    • small tea - in Assam
    • why we got started
  • news & updates
  • tea events
  • videos & images
  • contact us
  • Chai recipe - made with CTC style black tea
.....not just a good cup of tea!
unique organically-grown teas that support growers and their families
and celebrate the culture of Assam

Introducing this month's featured tea grower - Bijit Basumatary!

Picture
Picture
Earlier this year, Bijit constructed a small-scale tea processing facility where his green leaves are withered, rolled and dried.
     Bodo Tribal Tea
Bijit and his family live on the north bank of Assam's Brahmaputra River, not far from the Bhutan border.  He's one of many growers from the Bodo Territorial Autonomous Region -  and one of the first to take up organic cultivation!  This year, his 3 acre garden yielded 60 kg. of black tea and 45 kg. of green.
Picture
Picture
The first sample of this year's tea arrived in August - and it's a wonderful black tea with a light, earthy flavour! We can't wait for our first shipment!

Click here to view images from a recent visit with Bijit and some of the other
small-scale growers we're working with in different regions of Assam!

Read a message from Bijit describing some of the challenges he and other growers
from the Bodo region are facing - and how our partners at Fertile Ground can help!.


Picture
Picture
Download
our fabulous
chai recipe
here!

   the small tea co-op is a family-based business. 
We carry out our work differently than most tea retailers.
 
Here's why.

For almost a century, the tea industry in Assam has been controlled by large, non-Assamese business interests.  Relying on a work force originally brought in from other parts of India, it has historically offered few direct benefits to the people of Assam.

In the early 1990’s, a number of Assamese families began planting and cultivating tea in an effort to improve their livelihoods. Today, most of the tea leaves they harvest are sold to bought-leaf factories - often at prices that barely cover production costs.
Picture
Without access to processing equipment, technical and educational support or a market for their teas, many of the families who’ve shifted to growing tea as a cash crop are struggling simply to survive. 

The small tea co-operative is dedicated to assisting some of Assam’s tea growers to develop the capacity to process and market their tea. 

Along with a limited quantity of these very special teas, we're also able to offer other naturally-grown teas not available elsewhere in Canada.  You can read more about this on our site!

Picture
Great News!
Teas from the small tea co-operative will be available mid-October at Edible Island Whole Foods
here in Courtenay. 

Thanks to Edible and our friends at World Community  for the help their support has given to the young tea growers of Assam!
Picture

Contact us for prices and for information about where you can buy our teas. 
[email protected]

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.