Rose tea brings fresh taste

In a first for the country, rose tea recently joined the white and yellow blends for sale in local markets. It was sold for Tk 3,000 per kilogramme (kg) on May 5 at an auction centre in Moulvibazar's Sreemangal upazila.

The rose tea, which bears a similar colour and fragrance of its namesake, was sourced from Brindaban Tea Garden in Habiganj.

Rrich in antioxidants that help prevent cell damage among other health benefits, the tea is produced on a very limited scale for export. Local tea connoisseurs are only accustomed to drinking lemon, milk and green tea.

"We only got 10 kilogrammes of rose tea but were able to sell it at a good price as there is good demand for this blend," said Helal Ahmed, managing director of Srimangal Tea Broker.

Rose tea is produced in many countries across the globe. However, those are made mixing rose flavour with tea leaves, according to Nasir Uddin Khan, manager of the Brindaban Tea Garden.

"But we produce the tea by mixing rose leaves with high quality black tea leaves, not by adding flavours," he said.

"Since many locals import rose tea from China and Sri Lanka, we produced it on an experimental basis to get an idea if selling the product is viable in this country," Khan added.

The tea garden manager went on to say that if they witness adequate demand, then production would be increased.

Of the 20 kgs of rose tea produced this year, 10 kg was sold at the Sreemangal auction center while the remaining half will be auctioned off in Chattogram.

Riyam Chowdhury, owner of Asian Tea Supplier, said there was good demand for white, yellow and even rose tea in the tourist town of Sreemangal.

This was the first tea auction of the current fiscal year while the second will be held at a later date in Chattogram.

About 60,000 kg of various tea blends were sold on the opening day, worth Tk 90 lakh.

More than 5 buyers and brokerage houses from around the country took part in the auction, according to the Tea Planters and Traders Association of Bangladesh (TPTAB), an organisation that manages the Srimangal tea auction.

A total of 22 auctions will be held this year as tea production will be better this time due to the prevalence of favorable weather, said Jahar Tarafdar, member secretary of the TPTAB.

Since huge amounts of tea are sold at the Srimangal auction every time, many modern warehouses have been built there.

As a result, people are able to enjoy high quality tea year round.

At this year's auction, some white tea sold for more than Tk 7,000 per kg while yellow tea went for Tk 5,000.

Shah Alam, chairman of Bangladeshio Cha Sangsad, told this correspondent that they have been putting in extra effort to develop new teas to add a different dimension to the industry.

First it was white, then yellow and now it was rose tea, which he said was recognised as the most expensive blend in the world.

"There is a lot of demand for this tea due to which many garden owners are interested in producing the variety," Alam said.