By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS
Dubai : Tea gardens under the Kanan Devan Hill Produce (KDHP) cooperative society of Kerala swept all awards in the high range category at the Golden Leaf Awards 2008 ceremony for south Indian teas here.
While Chundavurrai tea estate bagged the award for the best high range orthodox leaf, Madupatty tea estate received the awards for the best high range CTC leaf, fannings and dust at the presentation ceremony here Wednesday, the concluding day of the 2nd Global Dubai Tea Forum 2008.
The annual awards, first presented in 2005, are hosted by the United Plantation Association of South India (UPASI) and the Tea Board of India and seek to unfold the quality characteristics of south Indian tea.
Among other notable winners were Sri Murugan Tea Factory of Tamil Nadu for best Annamalai CTC leaf, fannings and dust, Korakhunda tea estate, also of Tamil Nadu, for best organic orthodox leaf and fannings and green tea and Pullikanam tea estate of Kerala for best Travancore orthodox leaf and fannings.
In all, awards under 28 categories were presented from among 42 samples that were selected.
An international jury comprising eight expert tea tasters chose the winners.
Tea Board of India’s director of tea promotion Priya Kumar gave the awards.
The competition was one of the highlights of the biennial Dubai tea forum.
India was among 29 countries that participated in the forum.