About Forest Pick Wild Tea

Natives in the Southern Hills of Manipur have been brewing teas since time immemorial. Tea is called “THING PI” in the native dialect, which literally translates “GRAND TREE”. Explore their living tea tradition through Forest Pick Wild Tea , a collection inspired by these age-old brewing practices.
Tea is an integral part of their day-to-day lives. A day rarely starts without a cup of tea. It is used as a post meal cleanser, it is used as a gup-shup accompaniments, and it’s a pre requisite in any social gatherings. It basically is used in every slice of life moments.


A black metal kettle with steeped tea leaves is a usual sight in the cockpit of every single household throughout the day. TEA is believed to give a lot of health benefits for everyone. The tradition of making and drinking tea has been carried forward for many generations though it has never been commercialized.


How did the idea of Forest Pick came into being:Life in mountain is picturesque, serene and pristine. Everything about it is nature. The southern hills of Manipur is a mountain economy which hinges mostly on natural infrastructure. Economic activities are rudimentary. Jhooming or slash and burn cultivation is the staple economic source apart from wood lumbering, forest produce and small scale mountain farms.


Nature holds limitation, Nature doesn’t accommodate infinite. After centuries of harnessing and harvesting Mother Nature, the mountain soil in this region began to wane; the green horizon is quickly giving way to grey mountains. Economic sustenance is diminishing by the day; climatic conditions are losing its shine.
Can wild tea help in shifting natives from slash and burn cultivation to wild tea making? This was the precursor which instigates the thought of this concept called “FOREST PICK”.


Wild Tea trees are spread across these mountain ranges since ages, even before the British came. Today, there are many mountains where tea trees grow naturally in the wild. Despite the jhooming practice, the mountain still holds thousands and thousands of wild tea trees across various villages. Nobody really knows how and where did it come from, but it is certain that these tea trees are older than most of the villages.


It is locally processed and brew in a typical and peculiar style, but this particular tea culture and process is very limited and could not really spread out. It never became mainstream. Today, even in the interior village, people consume CTC Tea brought in from mainland market. Sweeten milk tea is gaining popularity and hence buying CTC Tea is becoming more fashionable and convenient. The locally processed wild teas are used by few, they are meant for the older folks, the Grandpas and the Grandmas.


As we began to explore and understand more, we realize that this is much more than just an economic sustenance. It is a sustainability cause both from economic angle and for the green environment perspective. The ancient wild tea trees are something which are superior to those available in tea plantations in many parts of the world. At the same time, a wild tea eco-system in the region can give an alternate option from slash and burn cultivation to the natives.
That’s how our first step to the thousand miles of wild tea route started.