When the e-nose was introduced to “discriminate the complex odours” of tea, the tea world reacted quizzically. Till date, the e-nose languishes. When e-auction disrupted the dialogue between the buyer, bidder and the producer, the tea world took it as a natural progression. For a drink that is 3,000 years old, it is currently witnessing, especially in India, another technological intrusion, one of online retail.
What does it mean for the consumers?
Online retail means shopping comfort, a wide choice of inventory, better advertising and limiting the experience to the tech savvy .
With all this I begin my exploration into a virtual space that is bereft of the romance that tea lights among its sippers. I begin with scepticism and soon go through some of the popular retailing sites — Teabox, Tea Trunk, Beveragewala, World Tea Room, Freshconnection and such. From FAQs to Home, through black, green, white, oolong, I meet virtually the men and women who have put this together. I see their freshness and dedication; I am impressed by their zeal to package the brew in a snazzy wrapping, their pricing competitive, their research thorough, their conversation spirited. I see the Camellia Sinenis in all its beauty, zoom into the curled leaf and feel the bud. Sitting in a rarefied, cold cubicle under white mercury light, the e-trail rekindles the romance of tea. As I surf, I happily add to the cart teas from lands known and unknown and wait to sip one made from leaves plucked only on full moon nights.
Tea, a click away, is an experience to savour.
