Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - Surprising History of Indian Chai

Video Subtitles:

Good to see you guys. Hi
everybody. happy Tuesday, May

nineteenth. Yeah, May
nineteenth. I can't believe

that today I am going to mostly
be talking about Indian tea

giving a little update on the
current situation with the tea

industry in India. Yeah, right
isn't that cool? Oh yes. Nice.

Yeah, we could not ask for
better weather here in Vegas

like I know every day when I
come on here, it's always the

first thing I do is like talk
about how great it is weather,

but like I can't not like it's
like drop down into the

seventies here today it's.
Beautiful and sunny, but still

in the seventies and we're like
at the of May so really

incredible.

and I just had a really great
tasting with an exciting new

coffee shop that is opening in
downtown Las Vegas. so lots of

things to look forward to and
great weather and the potential

of a barbecue tonight. So I
know that's my business. That's

my personal business but I
could still be excited about

it. I hope that you guys are
all finding the little things.

To remain excited about cuz we
gotta focus on that we got to

count our blessings count what
we're we're grateful for and

yeah so yeah T Industry update.
you know this is an update

related to Covid- 19 in the
situation and just before I

give this update about the tea
industry, I did want to share

some good news for us here. The
United States please excuse my

phone. I to call you back
later.

Okay there we go so we are on
our sixth day in a row of

reduced numbers of daily
covid-, 19 deaths, so I don't

know what kind of KPIs you're
feeling comfortable following

you know I've been kinda
following that number, you know

even though there's a lot of
debate about the accuracy of

these assigned You know seeing
the relative change of those

numbers is important and so
yeah we are on day six like we

peaked at what was that what
was our peak day? Even before

this, let's see the chart, I'm
looking at we repeated on April

sixteenth. So just about a
month ago we here in the United

States, it was nearly 5000 in
one day one single day but. Now

we are at 791 and that number
has been continuously reducing

since the thirteenth since last
week. So good news lots of good

news and other good news and
update from India. Neil Geddy

which is you know the tea
growing region in southern

India has petitioned with the
with the Indian government. To

label and specifically the
brand of tea as Corona cured

and they want to do this by
having the government labels

Asic the districts so the new
goodies district has announced

that all that all nine people
that have tested positive in

that region, so only nine
people have tested positive

every single one of them is
fully cured and there has been

no new cases. Is So also, very
good news progress is being

made so you know the reason why
I wanted to bring this up is

because it brings up this topic
that you know, I've been

getting a lot of questions
about a lot of emails from our

clients about how to best
communicate with our customers

about the safety of of tea. you
know really a lot of the

concern has been around Chinese
tea and I've been hearing this

outside of tea as well. People
say Oh, don't buy products on

and they come from China. you
know it's. Safe and I think

that there's a lot of
misunderstanding about how not

just this virus but any kind of
virus or germ you know moves

and can spread and you know the
fact that this you know this

was organized by the President
of the Noki Small Tea Growers

Association why they would feel
so motivated to get this Corona

cured label attached to their
as if there is this real threat

in the. That's the tea is not
safe. so you know this has been

a concern for Chinese in
Chinese products, but it seems

that that concern has trickled
into other Asian countries and

you know now there's even a lot
of jokes. I've seen some memes

online about you know the
outsiders look into the United

States and like no one 's gonna
want to visit the United States

after seeing how you know this
country has. Responded to the

pandemic, but you know in in
relation to a product that's

coming from a place even a
place that was like a hot zone

the likelihood of a virus or
covid- 19, specifically to be

inoculated into that product
and then survive all the way

through the distributions of
supply chain, which right now

is not a fast easy thing.
Happening like. Very delayed

thing and so you know I think
the longest any study has seen

the virus survive outside of
the human host is a week and

that is on non porous material
like stainless steel, which you

know your tea is not packaged
in stainless steel and and sent

out and stainless steel. It's
usually having a cardboard

outer packaging which is
extremely porous material and

It's been found that it cannot
survive for a very long on

cardboard. So if you're you
know cardboard ship package

arrives to your House, it is
much more likely if there is

some kind of contamination on
it that it came from your local

carrier or from the local post
office versus coming from the

origin. so yeah, I just wanted
to talk about this update to

kinda get some clarity about
the safety. Of our products and

so yeah, I would encourage you
to not discriminate. you know

Chinese-made products maybe
because of that commodity

quality Bitcoin quiet boy. I
don't know if someone's banging

on the roof that's interesting.
yeah, you know cuz we know

China especially like Amazon.
you know people always talk

about like buying clothes or
buying something and never

really matches the description
or the expectation of what they

see online versus they actually
received but when it. The tea,

especially good quality tea, I
would not allow something like

a virus stop you from enjoying
the products that you enjoy so

your tea is safe. I'm sure it's
safe and plus it's you're

consuming it with hot water
right so I don't know. I'm not

a doctor, but I'm pretty sure
your tea is safe. Definitely a

safe from any contaminants from
Origin like I said. If

anything, it's gonna be coming
from either your own.

Contamination within your own
House or from your local Postal

carrier. So that's the update
today and I figured that I

would give a little education
session of related to the NT

and I had some masala Chai some
heritage Masala Chai out for my

tasting earlier today and I
figured I talk about this tea

on the live stream today. And
I've given a presentation about

Chai not specifically but about
Chai and kind of the rich deep

mysterious surprising history
of Chai and India, which you

know it's interesting
information because even for

people from India, people that
live in India when you ask them

about Chas history, it's. It's
a very mysterious thing you

know because the culture of
Chai India has become happy

Tuesday. Gabby Chai has become
like a way of life for Indian

families and

Yeah, it does smell good This
one smells good. so this is a

you know kind of a broken grade
Petco Leaf Black leaf, which

you know a lot of Aol Chas are
gonna be using like a CTC as

the base but here Heritage the
Raj has decided to use a higher

grade broken Petco base. This
is this great which we carry on

our catalog. It's called a peco
which is also available on and

it's. Websites Actually, I'll
go ahead and put that link up

so you guys can see it. But
then they also blend in some

Bay Leaf some cardamom some
ginger. you know all dried of

course, as well as clove so it
does have a nice smell. this is

like just a base that's we sell
to our, you know wholesale

accounts and typically people
will use

They will use this as a base
when they prepare it for either

their concentrates or their
beverages that they'll serve in

their restaurants or cafes they
will they will use We use this

to brew and then add in some
fresh herbs or fresh spices,

just to add that extra kick to
it. Here we go cool. I'm going

to post the link to this tea
that I'm talking about right

now. so online. Yeah. And for
those on Instagram, you would

be able to find this if you
just go to a T and it's people

dot com and just search for
heritage Masala Chai so yeah,

this would be a base so you
know it has a nice smell. The

tea itself is actually. So you
know, even the Assam Pecos

really well as iced tea as a
hot tea but when it's mixed

with all of these herbs, which
are all also so or harvested

from the local area where this
tea is coming from as well. So

this is a very unique like
single-origin Masala Chai so

yeah back to the history of
well. I guess I'm just gonna

make this strong. I'll just
have to really lightly so that

I. Overstep it cuz this broken
of leaf it will become strong

and quite tannic if if I do
oversee it because it is a lot

more surface area than the full
leaf tea. Yeah in in India, the

culture of Chai and Masala Chai
is different from Chai and that

masala is like a blend. Sosa
can be like your spices that

you use in your cooking. so
like a masala chicken, you know

would be like chicken with your
you know a sauce made with some

blend of spices and each family
has their own identity in their

own blend that they create so
as you like you know travel in

India and different friends,
you're definitely going to be

offered a Cup of tea. Entered
someone's House and that's

masala blend that they make is
kind of like their own

hospitality. They're sharing
with you and I think that right

there is a big reason why even
for you know people that have

grown in that culture almost
assume that the culture of Chai

and the culture of their of
their mom making this custom

spice blend for their. is an
archaic part is like a historic

part of Indian culture, and
what's surprising is that it's

not actually it's the
consumption and culture of Chai

is a very modern phenomenon in
India considering also how long

in Indian's history is a very
very long history and most of

that history. They were not
drinking tea, even though there

was tea growing in certain
parts and actually there was

TB. Like this is not all this
is not documented, so this is

not like a part of history, but
I personally believe from my

travels around India
specifically to areas you know

mountains villages in Arora,
which is the only part of India

that borders directly with
China with you none which is

also where he has been growing
for a long time and this kind

of migrants my. Groups living
in this mountain communities

have been harvesting the
processing it and and enjoying

it for themselves highly just
enjoying some masala Chai. So

you see here. I've read it
really lightly. It's got a

really nice spicy but not too
much you know and that's that's

again why we always promote
this tea as like a base for

creating your own unique ones.
So just like in India when you

go to someone's home and they
offer you a Cup of chai or misa

chai. they're going to be proud
to offer you their own identity

of you know what kind of blends
they like to create and share

and so you know for a coffee
shop or a tea shop or even you

know a tea brand that's going
to be creating their own masala

blend or concentrate from it.
you know that could be their

way of adding their own
signature and touch to it. So

this tea is definitely just a
base meant to be built upon. It

sure it's good, though slightly
sweet, I mean, that's the nice

thing about having that kind of
higher grade broken Petco in

here is that it it, it adds an
additional richness just from

the tea that typically you
would expect to get from adding

sugar milk something else to
add some more texture and some

more feeling to it. So. You
know you have this like really

small niche groups of you know
villages in the mountains of a

and in some parts of the some
people say where tea has been

growing for you know when you
ask the people there, how long

they've been making this tea
and and enjoying this tea in

their home, they say well since
the beginning of our time since

the beginning of our history
and then you ask well, where

did the tea come from and the?
I always got you know our story

of migration is that our
ancestors came from Mongolia

and had traveled you know
throughout Asia. you know

there's a lot of documentation
that verifies this history and

but not a whole lot of
documentation about where the

tea was founded and like how
it's spread from there, but the

folks and I'm gonna talk that I
asked these questions to their

impression was. At the seeds
came from Tibet But this is a

very controversial subject
because every time I say that

when I travel to China or meet
a Chinese tea scholars is no

that the the seeds actually did
originated in China and then

they went to places like Tibet
in India and you know for the

the sake of this conversation,
I don't think it's important. I

don't wanna dwell on that. I
just want to show my gratitude

for those seeds and Fact that
they were growing and

appreciated so so long in India
by people's whose stories never

get told. So I'm telling their
story right now. That is my way

of showing my gratitude and
there's very different minority

groups just like when you
travel and you know and travel

mountain to mountain. you will
encounter different ethnic

minority groups that you know
have all kind of the similar

story of how they got there.
And how the tea is such an

important part of their life,
maybe not hasn't historically

been an important part of
business. I mean now and you

know that's a very different
story the past 20 years or so T

has become an important very
important part of their

business, but prior to the
culture of evolution, you know

I try asking people and you
know what was the culture here

before was there like a big
market that you were able to

sell your tea to and. You know
they're they're there is a lot

of confusion. I mean the
culture revolution to erase a

lot of memories and a lot of
culture. so you know some

people don't know exactly but I
ask what was clear to you like

before the culture evolution
before you know before we

started, you know trying to
find excellent quality and age

that excellent quality and hone
in on the purple leaf or hone

in on big trees or honing in on
specific things to bring out

different qualities and the
answers I've always got has

been well. You know that it's
predicted the was. Quite crude

and you know really wasn't
being processed as a connoiss

product as it is now and that's
exactly what I saw when I went

to and drink their tea. you
know, so we went there to go

see their commodity tea
expansion. so we're gonna talk

for ashes just North of Assam
and the Government's there have

a promoted as a commodity crop
to be grown in this hillside

villages in order to using
Assam clones. Since it's so

close, it's logistically very
easy for them to kind of expand

the into the Hills and. I went
there in Raj the maker of this

tea took me there to go meet
some different villages that he

was working with to develop
their quality processing and so

they have like these expansive
monoculture fields which was so

heartbreaking to see in such a
beautiful mountainous

biodiverse environments and
they have these factories where

they're gonna be processing the
tea and when we when we stop

for lunch, they brought a. Tea
after the food was served and I

was like this is not like any
Indian tea I've had before like

this is not one of my drinking
here and I said, Oh, this is

our tea. I said your teeth.
This is the tea we drink and I

said where do you get it from?
I said. We just go out into the

jungle and and we just harvest
it like are you kidding me? Can

you please show me how you make
this tea and so yeah they

happily send some some kids out
to go harvest a leaf. They were

gone for a few hours. They came
back with a big bag full of

like really large leaves. And
they start processing. It's a

very crude process. they you
know they they campfire it in a

walk and after that they
squeeze all of it into a bamboo

into a hollowed-out bamboo and
then that bamboo goes on top of

the fire so very similar to you
know the minority household

like minority group households
and the mountains of you. None

of the House is centered around
the kitchen which has a big.

And that fire is a source of
everything for that home. it's

a source of gathering. It's a
source of warmth but it's also

where you do your cooking. It's
a big fire and there's like

it's so cool like there's all
these different layers of

different things that you can
do on this fire. you know you

can boil water directly closely
to the fire or you know there's

like some wrongs here where you
can like have some pots for you

know cooking and then above
that. Are other layers where

you can smoke things right cuz
that's where the smoke is kinda

gathering at the top of this
fire and so they put these

bamboos filled with tea on that
top layer to be smoked in the

smoke it for seven months and
that's where it dries out and

that's where it does. You know
it. It's fine final setting

process and by the time they
pull it out to brew the tea it

is Rock hard You know you. I'm
sure you've seen that like

there's other process of of of
fermented teas fermented bamboo

from China and you just like
cut off a disc and that's what

it's used for brewing so I was
amazed. I was like WoW cool

awesome this this story never
gets told you know there's been

a couple of stories told about
the people in Assam. That's you

know are you know like you know
a migrant. Minority community

and in the Hills of Asad but
never about I chak and it's so

funny cuz when I my brother and
I made a really cool video of a

story and we published that
video there was like a backlash

from people in the community
that were like. Of a fire,

let's see I'll go look at that
fire.

Is like I think that it's
something that we could all use

in our in our homes

I don't have a picture of
myself. I mean, I'm sure if I

went digging around in my
photos, I could find it but

I've I've also seen this style
of fire even in in none.

So that's not that yeah, it's
basically like a big fire. Let

me see if I can find a picture
and it's got like all these

different layers of

The ones that we got to
experience were big incredible.

Oh, this is a cool site.
India's kitchens. I always love

that what was the show that we
watched Nick about cooking in

India at like. They gave like a
Anthropological viewpoint of

the different dishes at the
various States of India and

would always go and show. Here
we go, they would always go and

show. Kitchens of like the
castles and like the Royal, the

Royal people. So here's one
let's see.

I can show it to you on
Facebook.

Rajah Russel Arun Anya, You how
do you remember that did you

just go copy and paste stuff?
So I hope you did. please tell

me you did. Alright so here is
a picture of fire here you can

see Facebook Kerala show

I don't know if it's gonna look
so good with this filter and I

have to change the filter.
Yeah. let me change. I'm trying

to filter off. Here we go so
you can see the fire in the

Center and all the people
gathered around it. and then

there's kinda like that thing
rigged up and up there. They're

gonna have like meats or
they're gonna have and then

directly by the fire you see
there's like Potts that are

cooking. Yeah, really cool and
so the tea would go up on the

top rig and that's the the
things we get smoked the first

time I saw the kitchen like
this and you was incredible

experience because the the
family had they had all these

strips of bacon lined up on
that thing and I was like I was

like what there's bacon in
there. This is so cool. It's

just right there and you know
like it's like being smoked,

you know like snots. Great. It
looks so beautiful and they

told me that's that's not for
us to to eat. That's like their

medicinal be the medicinal
bacon That's they give to

people that are sick like
elderly that are sick. So

they're like Yeah, this is not
for you. You're not gonna be

able to to have this and I'm
like a sacred bacon too. Wow.

Yeah. So yeah cool kitchen of
Migrant people and so yeah.

Usually the houses are all made
of bamboo. everything in the

House is made of bamboo, the
only thing that made of bamboo

are like the chains and all the
ringing system around that

fire. So, yeah, good memories
so a little off topic, then

what I originally wanted to
talk about. Yeah, they don't

burn the place down. you know
they control their fire. I mean

you saw in that photo of the
fire itself wasn't that big. It

wasn't like this massive
bonfire in the Middle of the

House like kind of the whole
system around that fire is big

and all the things that they do
with that. fire is big but the

fire is actually. Controlled
and and it's very like kinda

safe compact area but it's
definitely like the gathering

point of the House and I just
love that like the gathering

point of when you have guest
over when your family is

hanging out is in the kitchen
and so you know while whoever's

cooking cooks medicinal bacon
and I think how sick of that.

yeah, so whoever is cooking is
just doing their work and

everybody else is just there
for the warmth and the light

and whatever and also you know
holding space for this process

of cooking and eventually of
eating so yes, I'm a big fan of

the fire kitchen. maybe in my
Dream home. I'll I'll I'll

build one. We can all have a
party and some medicinal sacred

bacon together. No need to
cough, you don't have to cough

to to have my my bacon all I'll
offer it for everybody to enjoy

So back to the story of Chai,
so like that is like the niche

story of the long history of
tea drinking in India now the

majority of what we think of as
tea culture of Chai culture of

of Masi, which I just
remembered thing I've been

wearing this is gonna be
strong. I'm gonna be bouncing

off the walls after this Cup
look at that color. Wow

incredible. I just like dilute
it with some water. But yeah,

so you know you have like this
place in in the Hills of India,

where he has been growing and
and enjoy for a long time, not

in a commercial capacity, just
a community-based capacity. and

then you know we all know the
story of how you know the the

tea was smuggled in from China
while they had it there the

whole time and then in India
and I saw you know the asmaa

variety the variety, which was
used, is used for teas like

this And but that variety and
the cultivation of that variety

did not happen until late 18
hundreds which is you know it

seems like a long time ago, but
in the Grand scheme of history

of tea, it is nothing it is
like very recent history and.

You'll always find me in the
kitchen at Parties' Great' to

look at that song. I don't know
that song. so I like that I

don't know sometimes I stay
away from the kitchen when I go

to a party cuz I'm like
everybody always expects me to

do some you know and do some
magic trick. It's like I guess

it's like a musician when they
go to a party. They're gonna

stay away from all the musical
instruments cuz everybody's

gonna cheer them on to play
some music for them. You know

if I go to a party, I'd unless
I wanna. Which actually I do

love to cook at parties, so I
will go to the kitchen, but I'm

I'm usually not a observer in
the kitchen. I'm usually asked

to do something so the Arie was
not introduced as you know part

of the tea industry until later
on Chinese varieties were

actually introduced first and
they didn't fully succeed and

then they ended up taking the
the. Varieties that we're

already there to propagate out
into the Aslam industry and

even then from when the
industry started the late 18

hundreds until.

Thank you for that link Mark
I'll check that out later The

tea that was produced in a song
and and anywhere else where he

had been propagated out by a
mostly British planters, but

there were some other European
planters a hundred percent of

that tea was exported out. It
wasn't until about the 19

forties. That's these companies
also European companies not the

Indian companies. European
companies decided Hey, you know

why don't we? Developed a
domestic market here for our

product, we don't have to
exclusively export on every

product out and get it into the
international market. perhaps

we can

Develop a domestic market. I
mean there's a ton of people

here in India. we should make
this market and so from the 19

forties there was Organization
formed that had the exclusive

job of of putting out
propaganda about a tea culture

in India.

And it was a very interesting
propaganda campaign because.

The Dream such an intense time,
so like the 19 forties like in

the India gated into the
independents in 1940, - seven

right so at that time of
independence and autonomy from

the British, we're really
important. it was like the most

important thing. So here I'm
gonna show some more

images on the. Online So an
example of an image. What they

did so this is from 19 forties.
It doesn't say exactly when but

you see like they like it was
not typical at this time. you

know an Indian woman was not
just sipping on a Cup of Chai

and enjoying it or you know
serving tea like this. The

plucker's were definitely there
but this image here was a very

new image that this propaganda
campaign created to like pull

on the heart strings of the
NDP. to to pull on their desire

for nationalism and for
National pride and so you know

you see the garb of this woman.
She's definitely not

westernized. you know she's
she's sexualized definitely,

especially this one over here
that one definitely sexualized

but still like really pulling
on the image of the. Indian

identity in these in these
images, yeah, maybe I'll show

it to Instagram so that way you
guys can keep up. So I wish

Instagram let me stream maybe
one day soon. We'll figure that

out. so here this is this is
the image that I am showing to

everybody and yeah so going
down. so here's here's the more

westernized one. definitely you
know making her that that image

of the Indian identity playing
tennis and drinking tea

definitely targeting. The elite
so at this time at the

beginning of this propaganda
campaign, it was definitely

targeting elite class This is
this is an interesting

campaigns as Indians lassitude,
so you know this is kind of the

start of the the value and the
culture of of what he is. so

you know like even I've seen
like a family's identity when

you enter their home and and
and feel their hospitality.

They're gonna give you their
own custom Chai and the. Of

Chai even the act of sharing
that of offering a Cup of tea

to your guest is an act of
offering sustenance offering

them relief from lassitude
really from tiredness and you

know energy to to go on with
your day. That's an important

part of hospitality and then
especially during this time

when things were becoming very
industrialized, labor was

becoming you know a very. Part
of the you know society and so

became a big part of

We got to give you energy so
this ad right here is probably

like the most impactful one for
me when I learned about this

this campaign this propaganda
campaign to create a tea

culture and India or a market
to artificially create this

market. And so this is like
this is like a very

nationalistic like this. image
right here. It's simplified it.

Completely represents the
identity of. Indian culture and

it uses a very powerful word
there. sweat Ashy T is 100

percent sweat as and why she is
a Hindi word that means

independence and it's more than
just independence. It's more

than just you know we have
independence from. The British

we have independence from the
European you know. Colonial

powers you know those colonial
powers definitely did effect

that independence the sweaty
means more self sufficiency

self dependence that you can do
things for yourself and so in

that image you see this woman
with the the spinning wheel for

making fabric for making thread
to make fabric and the spinning

wheel was actually. A very
important image in Gandhi in

his campaign for nonviolence in
his campaign of independence

and so, yeah you remember you
know the the image of Gandhi is

of him wearing that cloth like
sitting on a spinning wheel,

making the thread that would
then be used to make the cloth

that he would wear and it was
his his wardrobe. so you know

what's so impactful about this
image is that like so first of

all this is part of a
propaganda campaign right and

they're using a word like sweat
Edy to to say that this is

sweaty so and it could be
interpreted that way you could

say tea is growing on Indian
lands. It is you know, labored

and produced by Indian people
and it's staying in India. And

we're drinking it in India and
we're creating a culture around

it in India that is sushi like
using that context. You could

say that it is what Edy but the
companies that are profiting

off of this propaganda
campaign, The company's you

know, ultimately the value of
this tea, you know not just the

tea itself or drinking, but the
value as far as like economic

gain of of of Commerce from it.
All of that value is going away

to another place like someone
else owns that, and so it is a

complete flop in the face of
the whole concept of sweaty to

say that he is a 100 percent
sweaty. so sorry I'm taking so

much time to focus on this one
image, but this image is very

powerful to me and actually
when I gave a similar

presentation to this, I was a
little of a grittier deeper

presentation that I gave.
International conference, which

is Gandhi you know this is like
a Gandhi scholar conference. I

gave this talk a couple of
years ago. I like you know, had

all these slides set up to
visualize all the things that I

was saying and I ended up
choosing just leaving this

image only on the screen the
entire time while I talk about

the current state of the tea
industry, which is very

different than it was in 1947
when this poster was published

So you know now you could say
this sweat Edy because now you

don't have for owners of these
plantations or all these

companies that are profiting
off of the production of tea

and the culture of tea India.
It's all Indian people that are

you know, owning these
businesses and profiting off of

these things but it is said
even you know in the the state

communities. you know when
people reflect back on the good

old days on the the days of
when the tea estates were

first. Rebuilt in the legacy of
the NT was first being built.

People prefer to the the
British literal slave days like

when it was a literal slave
system. people would refer to

that as the golden days because
you know it was a very unjust

system where you had ownership
and loss of rights for your

intended but the relationship
between the master and the

Slave was one of mutual pride
of building a legacy. And what

that resulted in was much more
respect in the working

relationship between the two
because the owner or the

master, the one in charge knew
regardless of how they felt

about the the laborers or how
they felt over the labors if

they provided a safe clean
empowering workplace for their.

That's the end resulting
product would be higher quality

and that is going to feed into
that's desire for legacy. So

now you know 1940 - seven comes
around and India

becomes independent and.
British companies and British

people or foreigners in general
Cannot legally own a business

in India, so they have to leave
but they're leaving a bunch of

value there. It's not like
they're just gonna up and go

and you know they. they have
something that they've created.

It's a legitimate business and
they wanna get rid of it so

they want to sell it and get
some value in return for it and

the only parties that are able
to buy these businesses and

take over the Industry are a
businessman, mostly from

Calcutta from Delhi. You know
from the big cities that have

the money to buy these
businesses and so they adopt

and acquire this like master
slave business model, where

there's no longer a mutual
desire for legacy. There's a

caste system and a hierarchy
system and a genuine deeply

seeded You know not even just
hate. It's like it's like a

viewpoint that another person
is substandard. It's like not

even human compared to you,
which is the British even had

that opinion the British just
wanted to own. But you know now

that the current system that
India is working with is

a hundred percent What issue
but it's actually a worse

system. so you know kind of a
dark thing to say, but can be

to think about you know that's
you know there's so much more

involved in sweaty and
independence than just you know

colonizing power. That's there
is not there it could be even

within your own. You know so
moving on so the 19 forties so

this campaign so here's a
poster from the 19 fifties and

19 sixties. you can see it's a
bit more modernized still

pulling on the identity of
beautiful, Of course, every

single one of these is
sexualized in one way or

another. So that's a whole
other issue about you know the

marketing of tea and the
objectifying of women. Within

within it's like a woman's job
is to be beautiful and

graceful. you know and selling
tea and making tea versus you

know being the thought leaders
and the you know leaders at the

table. In the 19 seventies you
you saw

From 2004, so the 19 seventies
something really big happened

for tea and the biggest thing
more so than this whole

propaganda campaign, the
biggest thing happen for the

tea industry in India that has
significantly affected chai,

becoming such a major part of
the Indian culture and

identity, and that is the
development of the CTC

processed hair curl. So you
know now these companies that

have been you know trying to
figure out how do we sell to

the Indian people? How do we
make this a Mass market? India

you know it's about money, It's
about finding a more efficient

way of producing the product
and bigger skills. to you know

get to the people and so the
CPC process prot Cros very Mass

scale homogenization process
where you can work with Green

leaf of all types of qualities
and homogenize it into one

product. Brus very strongly and
that's very important part of

this that Bruce strongly
because it takes to the milk

and sugar really well and like
in this ad that kind of

established what the marketing
angle of the would be for for

India is an energy a satiation
tool right, so you know during

this time from the 19 forties
until even now like this period

really has. End of this like
Industrial laborers society in

India without a lot of time and
money workers cannot either

can't afford or don't have the
time to eat three hearty meals

throughout the day to sustain
their energy levels for these

high levels of labor and so as
a Association tool is the

greats. For having that mid day
snack, you know a Cup of tea

with a biscuit to cook stomach
and kinda give you that energy

to last for the rest of the
afternoon and until you get

home to have you know your
dinner so the milk and sugar

are important to that and you
know and and tea culture in

India, you know when you when
you ask somebody about their

teeth, sometimes they say well,
you know the sugar is is the

thing that we're actually
addicted to not the not the

teeth itself. Because the sugar
and milk and the three of those

things together are incredible
combo to coat your stomach and

to make you forget about your
hunger and then also to provide

some energy. I mean there's
some caloric value to that.

yeah, that is the history of
India. so. That thing I said,

was the most important
innovation and and events in

the in the in the industry to
affect the chai tea or the chai

culture in India is the CTC in
the 19 seventies, so you know

it probably took their or a
little bit of time, not a very

long time, but it took some
time for that to even become

part of the culture. So I
wouldn't I wouldn't you know

even Guests to say that, like
Chai as a culture as we know in

India now, it's like this
common community drink that you

offer to someone when they come
to your home didn't really

become a major thing until like
the 19 eighties which I was

born in the 19 eighties. so you
know you know you ask like you

can ask even like when I give
that presentation at the Hees

Center. majority of the crowd
were very established. Lifelong

Gandhi scholars I was the only
non-Indian only non ph.d you

know activists that gave a
presentation and whenever I

told people this story and kind
of reminded them of the

timeline of of the industry in
India and of tea culture in

India, These are folks in their
fifties and sixties, and some

even know the God's grandson
was there, you know so that

kinda gives you an idea of. The
type of people that were in

that room, they were all
shocked. They were all shocked

and so you know, I think it
says a lot about the culture

identities how fast they can be
made how fast they can evolve

and how fast they can cement
themselves into you know our

identity. so I'm just thinking
about like what we're going

through right now in history,
you know a lot of people like

for for the first month or two
of this pandemic we've. We've

been talking about our
experiences in this pandemic as

like a vacuum of like what's
happening to us. now, you know

like once we go back to normal,
like it's like no like I think

it's already like tattooed.
it's image or in printed it's

image and in our culture in our
identity, where Yeah we are

just totally gonna be the
difference and yeah it's

interesting.

You haven't had Chai, so you're
saying that Chai is good for

cooler, which is right and so I
I'm drinking this tea cuz I had

it out for a tasting that I was
doing earlier today for a

coffee shop and I had even
suggested to them like a tea

like this, you wanna save that
to put on the menu until like

the colder of the colder months
cuz Yeah, it is a very warm and

warming experience. you know,
especially when you add in all

those fresh And and herbs, but
India you know Chai is enjoyed

as a child like year round. You
know the the The tea culture in

India is not like it is in
China or is you know in other

places where we may change the
Tess we like to drink based off

of the season or the weather
you know cuz tea for them is a

very different experience than
it is for other cultures. It's

a Association tool. It's meant
to warn you energize you and

make you forget about your
hunger while you get on with

your day so.

Yeah, that is a strong word,
but it's okay. It's good.

That's the difference of good
teeth. You know that would have

been like a CPC in there, it
would have been a very strong

group, maybe little too intense
to handle. But Michael you're

enjoying that Amber Long good
for you are so lucky because I

am out-of-stock of that. it's
finally run out. It's good.

It's interesting like just in
the past few months. There's

just been this like incredible
interest for that and it's sold

so you got your back. That's
good for you. I hope you find

lots of good things to do with
it people to inspire so, yeah,

T Coulter and Nepal is an
interesting thing because. Very

similar to the tea culture in
India, a lot of things about

Nepali culture, I feel are like
such an interesting

relationship. you know, and the
only reason why I've even like

thought about these things.
It's not just because I visited

both of those places and and
seeing those you're out. Also

what happened. Michael you you
built your company fast. That's

incredible. Well. I'll have to
get new teeth if it's something

that. So I just have to get a
new one but yeah, you know like

this when when I was in India
in 2017 in 2017, that was. You

know, like in a very
contentious time during the

strike you know the strike was
officially over by that point

and things were free to move
around, but there was still a

lot of protesting going on a
lot of topics going on. you're

right, it is very porous
border. so yeah, I was like

asking my friends. so I'm in
Doyle and my friends there. you

know they identify with being
Nepali. They speak Nepalese

language and they, you know
they definitely identify in

their culture as Nepalese and
but the and they wanna have

autonomy in how they manage
themselves and manage their

work and manage their lives. So
yeah, they wanted independence

so they're they're asking for
their own independent state and

I just asked out of ignorance
you know and I'm never afraid

to be ignorant. You know,
ignorance is just a lack of

having ask something or not.
Expose yourself to a new

perspective, so I was trying to
increase my perspective from my

ignorance and I said, well, why
you know if if there's such a

strong connection between there
and Nepal you know why hasn't

Darla tried to join the Paul
and they said, Oh, well, Nepal

wouldn't want that you know
it's so weird. I'm like why is

that and I'm sure there's many
reasons, but the one reason

that was told to me by my
friend was that there's like

this fear in Neal that if
darlin joined the they. Be this

unbalanced power struggle
between the two communities

because even though Darlene
identifies with the Nepalese

culture

Yes, so that's that's why
Michael's So Michael says. Many

of the workers in Daren are
Nepali is also as it is used to

be part of the Kingdom. Nepal
previously right, and so that's

why I asked why doesn't you
know what would the feasibility

or what is the willingness like
not that I was asking like what

would the politics of it would
be like cuz I know that would

probably be completely
complicated and not anything

anybody want to talk about, but
I was talking about like

ideology was like how would
people like Enderle feel about

returning to the Kingdom of
Nepal? you're like no one that

doesn't want that because of
this power struggle, that's

because Darleen has been under
India. They're much different

in society as far as
infrastructure as far as you

know, capital resources and
whatnot and that that would

create this kind of political
power struggle between the two

societies. So yeah, I know a
little little off subject but

also interesting observation
and experience that I have that

I thought I would share with
you.

So I have turned to the link on
if anybody wants to join me.

I've been having this frame in
here and there's no one is

there. Yeah, if you wanna join
me and come chat, we can chat

about ENT. You can ask me
questions, but the politics are

complicated. Yeah. Yeah, I was
just like I was asking those

questions not as like a serious
like I believe that this

politically could happen. I was
just asking it on like a high

level. How similar are the Tira
they're so like Dorine and Elam

you there's like points that
I've been in both sides of the

country that like I could have
just walked across the border

and you know one foot be in
this state in India and one

foot be in this tea garden in
Nepal but legally, I'm not

supposed to do that. you're
supposed to a certain you know

checkpoints of orders are
allowed to cross those borders.

So sometimes it's really. It's
like last time I was there, I

was visiting BK, which is where
the Yankee factory is, And then

when I went to the Nepal, you
know if I was a local person to

take me only like 45 minutes to
travel from this village to

that village, but because I'm a
foreigner and have to go

through a separate checkpoint
to get through. I have to drive

you know two hours South the
facility and then over to the

the. There which Coco or not
that's I think about I forget

the name of that of that town
there that border down there. I

don't know I'm blinking on it
but that's where I could cross

it over land and then have to
drive like another four -hours

up so like a 45 minute drive
turns into a six -hour drive

because I'm not local, but my
local friends can't easily just

cross right at those points.
but yeah the whole

point of that. Is that the
taro's are like almost exactly

similar but the politics of it
make it very difficult

difficult to communicate
between the two. you know

logistics between the two so
like in darlin logistics cost

of getting the tea out you know
even in this very rural

mountainous you know isolated
villages. The logistics are

actually not that expensive and
complicated because once they

get the tea on the truck to
sell a good from there, it can

easily get to any point to get
out of India at a very. Cost

but in Elon just that 40 - five
minutes away, it's very

expensive to get the tea to and
legally you're if you're

exporting it out of of Nepal,
you're supposed to take the tea

to can't do to have it exported
out which I do are very far

from each other and very
expensive to travel between

those two places and it's like
the border is just right there.

I can't we bring the tea from
the pole from Elon Into into.

And aggregate these teams
together to get them out and

due to the mislabeling
misbranding of Nepalese tea as

Darjeeling tea, which is a
whole other complicated problem

of the government, is trying
extra hard to protect the brand

by making it illegal and
extremely complicated to move

to between the two borders. But
obviously it's still happening

because there is still. A whole
lot more in the market than

what can physically be
processed. Yeah. Kevin Doss the

day by truck at least it is
it's far and it's not a safer

ride. You know it's very
dangerous. truck ride was it

like 96 percent of Nepal's
mountains. so you know from

Elon to dena

You know the distance itself is
not that long. The poll is not

that huge of a country, but it
takes so long cuz you have to

like cut back cut back cut back
of this mountain and then come

back come back down and then go
over to the mountain and cut

back back back back. Yeah. I
remember one time the first

time I actually I went to Nepal
and we're going to visit a Tea

Garden which you know have the
best tea. That was the way for

the party of our garden. I was
like I have to go here. This is

this is the most elite team of
Nepal like this is the tea that

we're selling on the. Platform
we have to go and they kept

warning. they're like it's
gonna take a long time to go so

that's fine. It's very isolated
there. It's gonna take a long

time. that's fine. I've got all
the time like let's go and the

owner of the Teagarden wanted
me to hop on his motorcycle. I

was excited for I was like,
yeah. I'll hop on my feel like

fun. Okay. so that's just 20
kilometers, which you know for

me. 20 kilometers like oh, I
can do a 20 mile kilometer bike

ride. That's not a problem at
all. It's fast. That's a quit

like 12 miles. Something like
that and that's not a problem

and eight hours later. And lots
of bells and you know lots of

you know really fast stops and
goes to to go on those

cutbacks. I realize the
realities of logistics and in

Nepal are not that easy. I'm a
logistics in themselves are

like that too, but the
infrastructure and that's the

difference between you know
India's country infrastructure

versus Nepal infrastructures so
much more in India even as far

as. Like telecommunications and
law enforcement and management,

there's so much more in India
than than in Nepal Ital is very

common to see broken up roads
and and and taking a long time

to get those roads fixed versus
India. there's a lot of

Commerce going on. so you know
it's it's in the country's best

interest to keep that
infrastructure healthy and

solid that business can
continue to go on so. I am

partial to supporting Nepal and
developing its infrastructure

and it's sweaty it's truthful
as she, which is important

word. Well, if there is no more
questions, you know, I've been

on for a little over an hour. I
think I will be going soon

again a reminder tomorrow I am
going to be launching a

Constitution Study group. You
know United States Constitution

Study Groups so if that is
something you're interested in

this is non-partisan
non-political purely just re.

And discussing the Constitution
cuz it's been a long time since

I did that and I've been
talking about doing it and I

think. Oh, thank you Mark.
Thank you for being a part of

that and engaging so yeah, this
is not gonna be a judgment zone

or you know we're not going to
be a fine, these studies and

constitution on politics or
policies or anything. It's just

studying it and you are welcome
if you join me in this

experience tomorrow and and I
will be repeating that every

week if you join me in that
experience and you wanna take

what you've been inspired from
that and apply in your

politics. You are welcome to do
that, but the purpose of.

Tomorrow is just to read it and
to to study it and and talk

about it. Michael says. I saw a
documentary somewhere that

opened that the whole drinking
Chai on the airspace camp track

and saying how I opened the
lungs and refresh and update,

and it's true and actually
there's a lot of talk about the

power of tea or Chai to to do
this to open the lungs to relax

the lungs to relax the
Respiratory system in treating

Chrono virus patients so you
know you know peer reviewed

documented facts about that. So
I'm not making any kind of

health claim as well as this
you know Everest Basecamp Tea

House making this claim that is
not like a FDA approved health

claim. It's just anecdotal
ultimately T should be

enjoyable and it should taste
good and make. And you know a

little bit like this could you
know just be cherries on top,

but there is a compound. There
is a.

the I forgot the name of the
compound there's actually

Compounding and one of the

Cleo Aids that's is used in
inhalers to do the exact same

thing, but it's extracted from
the tea and then put into that

inhaler. So again, you know you
can't make that health claim

that drinking the tea is gonna
have the same effect as like an

asthma inhaler because he has
asthma inhaler is like an

extract. It's like a
concentrated extract of that

particular molecule, but that
molecule still exist in our

especially in black tea. so.
Chas black tea probably very

high in in those Aids so
wouldn't hurt to you know drink

more to help with your lung
capacity.

Yeah, they cooked the tea with
the virus. Yeah, I mean and

Himalayas. He is a very
important part of of energy.

It's much more than just the
sugar and the milk you know.

the of course got the the Yak
butter and salt, and I've had

even where they add a raw egg
into it. So it really adds a

lot of a lot of energy into it
a really nice warming drinking

experience. So yeah. Michael,
for sharing all your insights

there, I've never been to
Everest so I'd like to at some

point when I have the time and
the ability and hopefully the

training you know, I have to do
some training before doing a

truck like that. but thank you
for sharing that and yeah, I'll

see you tomorrow and then
Thursday. Don't forget Thursday

is the UN's first official
International Tea Day. so

that's the international TV
that we have been celebrating

in mid December. It's changed.
it's date the UN. Has taken it

and change it to be on May 20
first, which is on Thursday and

I plan to do something extra
special on that day for

everybody. I don't know exactly
what it will be, but yeah,

you'll just have to tune in to
find out I'll just you know,

follow my heart's desire but
it's meant to be a day to honor

and respect and observe the
people behind team you know not

just people. But the the real
people behind the tea that are

farming it that are making it
that are you know, dedicating

their lives to making tea
available to us this like

luxurious privilege that we
have to enjoy so please don't

take it for granted and join me
on Thursday. We'll have a lot

of fun. We'll be having on
Thursday too, So we plan to do

something special for that. So
thank you everybody for

listening to me. talk about the
surprising history. Try India

and I look forward to seeing
you soon much love to Pure

Aloha.