Assam Deroi Valley Tea Company

Up here in Kakamora, the Deroi River flows right by us and it makes the air feel different. We are situated in a quiet part of Charaideo, over in the Sivasagar district. At the Assam Deroi Valley Tea Company, the routine follows the seasons and the weather more than anything else. When the rain comes, the tea bushes grow fast and everyone has to be out there in the green fields. Our building is near the river side in Parchani, and you can hear the water moving when the factory machines aren't running. It is mostly about the leaves—picking them, drying them, and getting them ready to be sent off. We have been doing this for a long time and the smell of the fresh tea is something you never really get tired of. The workers live nearby and we have known most of them since they were kids. It isn't a high-speed business; things take as long as they take. We spend a lot of time just watching the weather and checking the plants. The office is small and mostly filled with old logs and samples from different batches. We don't use any fancy systems, just our eyes and hands to see if the tea is right. It gets a bit muddy during the monsoon, but that is just part of living by the river. We just keep doing what we have always done for the tea.