Cameron Highlands has the perfect climate for growing tea: cool year-round temperatures, just the right amount of sunshine, low clouds, high humidity and early morning dew, so essential to the cultivation of tea. We were introduced to Aseema Aggarwal, wife of Vinod Kumar Aggarwal, the owner of the Cameron Bharat Plantations, who kindly called to invite us to tea at her Tea Shop. Henry and I were so delighted to meet her and see, for the first time, the beautiful land and plantations of tea. Rolling hills are covered in low hedges of tea plants, their new growth a light green color that glistened in the sun. It is one of the most beautiful crops to behold, and is so romantic when low clouds and mist rolled in to nourish the crops. We learned about the early days of tea production on the plantation, founded by Aseema’s late father-in-law, Datuk Seri Brij Kishore; and, we tasted several kinds of tea, accompanied by scones and strawberry jam. Delicious. While we were there, the shop did a very brisk business, with the specialty of the house being a dessert of brownies and ice cream flooded with chocolate sauce. The following afternoon, we decided to venture farther afield to visit another plantation, the Boh plantation, with the hopes of seeing how tea is produced.  We toured the factory at this plantation, where we were able to see the big machines and the methods of drying and sorting the tea leaves. In the past, tea was picked by hand. Later, large hand-held powered hedge clippers were used. Today, large combine-type harvesters trim the rows of hedges. When these leaves are taken to the factory, the first step is withering, a process which the public is not allowed to see. Next, the leaves are “smashed” in a large machine with discs and blades of metal. These are then passed on a conveyor belt through a large oven which is fired with the wood of rubber trees. The dried leaves are separated by size, then ground and fermented.  The leaves are graded and sorted for shipment to the packaging plant. We learned that the best quality tea requires no sugar or cream. Some of the teas are flavored with additives to give them special qualities, such as fruit flavors or spiced flavors. The Bharat Tea Plantation  processes their tea on site, selling a small quantity under their own brand name, Cameron Valley Teas. The remaining tea leaves are sold in bulk to other tea companies who buy the product as a commodity. Boh Teas, processes their teas on each of their plantations, then package it in a plant near Kuala Lumpur. This plantation is developing brand recognition amongst Asian countries with the Malaysian brand, ‘Boh’ Tea.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. Aseema and Henry at Bharat Tea Plantion. Aseema owns one of the two Tea Shops on the plantation. A family-owned operation, her sister-in-law owns the competing shop. 2. Bharat Tea Plantation. 3. The Cameron Valley Tea logo. 4. A view of Aseema’s tea shop, the building cantilevered over the valley with a spectacular view of the beautiful plantation. Center, Top: View from Aseema’s Cameron Valley Tea Shop.  Center, Bottom:  Closeup of the tea plants and the rows of hedges at Bharat Tea Plantation. Right Column: 1. Henry standing before a view of the Boh Tea Plantation. 2. View of the valley of tea. 3. Green leaf unloading machine at the Boh tea factory. 4. The rolling hills  and mountain background of Bharat Tea Plantation.

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