Astringency in India teas – be it Darjeeling or green teas – makes them less attractive to the people of China & Japan. But this time during Xiamen Expo in October 2016 I found that Doke Black Fusion, which we brewed on our booth for the first time in China was a very curious attraction. Everybody proclaimed it sweet, with honey, sugar, chocolate, molasses, and maple notes. I was very excited on hearing those words and the kicker came on last day when everything on the booth was sold and I had to hide one packet for the O-Cha Festival in Shizuoka, Japan immediately afterwards.
It was of course not the Black Fusion which was the attraction in Japan but the Doke Silver Needle which got us a Gold award, and the ceremony coincided with our biggest festival that is Diwali – the festival of lights. Chitose Sashida had made elaborate arrangements and had even registered Lochan Tea Japan with full trademark protection. It was a coincidence that Mt. Fuji also gave me its appearance which had eluded me for the last six years, and Rose had promised me that she will see to it that I see it along with the lakes surrounding it.
Dan Bolton gave me space in his Tea Magazine and Geoffrey Norman and AC Cargill wrote blogs, while Dan Robertson summed it all up. Louise Roberge & Peter Goggi were present too in the opening ceremony by the last Shogun of the Tokugawa family. A great insertion was “Bihar is known as the land of Buddha who is said to have torn out his eyelids to avoid sleep, casting them on the banks of the Doke River where they sprang forth as tea bushes,” which translates very lucidly into ”比哈尔被称作佛陀之地，
If such were the words and ramifications of this tea, which the great Tibet Horse Road tea explorer Jeff Fuchs himself witnessed on the Doke plantation, and Barbara Duffrene endorsed, too then certainly Dolly, my younger daughter, who makes the tea herself, will witness a great future–and the story of the reversal of human migration from this parched land of the Kishanganj district will find its place in the annals of Indian tea history.
Congratulations to Mr. Rajiv Lochan and Doke for wonderful achievement.
Thanks Ashok babu for your words of encouragement
Heart felt congratulations Rajiv. How inspiring that you’ve achieved such wonderful recognition for your outstanding teas. To achieve the gold award – in China – for a silver needle is just too good for words!
Thanks Michelle and in this award I see a ray of hope that teas can be made in better ways and if marketed equally well can take care of lives of people involved in this industry in the larger interest of survival of this industry itself as in other growing countries as well.