Sep 2025
I hope all is well with you. A lot has happened in Nepal and at Nepal Tea Collective in September. All of our team are gearing up for the Q4 which is usually the busiest time of the year.
What’s happening recently at Nepal Tea Collective?
New Tea Launches, Two Amazing Oolong
Nepal is generally not known for its oolong teas, but on my recent trip, one of the producers I work with told me about Maan Kumar, who lived in a village above his farm. I visited his factory and plantation and immediately fell in love with the work he is doing. When I spoke with him, he shared his humble beginnings in the tea industry.
Remarkably, he is the only factory in Nepal producing Oolong tea, and he learned much of it from YouTube. As a child, he was curious about why the mature leaves weren’t plucked when making white or green tea. As he grew older, he began experimenting with these mature leaves, eventually creating some of Nepal’s finest oolongs. We’ve now included his teas in our portfolio: Gaba Oolong and Himalayan Oolong which has a flavor profile similar to Dong Ding Oolong.
Producers Competition Update
After conducting tastings over the past few weeks, we’ve selected about seven different teas across various categories that have now been sent for The Leafies, AVPA, and Golden Leaf Awards. It was incredible to see how enthusiastic all of our producers were about participating in the competition, and it was truly difficult for us to select just a few winners in each category.
As always, our White Prakash led the way in the white tea category, while Kumari Gold, Everest Black Wiry, and Golden Black represented us strongly in the black tea category. The most interesting entries came from the oolong category, where three new teas Gaba Oolong, Himalayan Oolong (similar to Dong Ding Oolong), and Dragon Oolong were submitted. Additionally, the producer of the highest-elevation black tea surprised us this year by sending a highest-elevation green tea, which turned out to be exceptional as well.
We’ll keep you posted on which teas win in each category once the results are announced. One of the main reasons we wanted to hold a competition like this is that, in a typical tea-producing factory, tea makers often focus only on the teas that are already in demand, leaving little room for experimentation.
Every year, we ask our producers to create small batches of around 12 teas that we select for our Nepal Tea Club subscription, allowing them to experiment freely without worrying that their teas will go to waste. Going forward, we hope competitions like these will help us expand our catalog, adding any exceptional teas that aren’t already part of our portfolio.
2025 Tea Sustainability Awards
We are proud to announce that we are the winners of the 2025 Tea Sustainability Award hosted by Tea Association of the USA for our "Nepal Tea Revival Project".
This awards truly feels special as it reminds us of how our small effort is creating real impact to keep the heritage of Nepali Tea alive and being celebrated on an international stage just means so much more. Thank you for supporting us and being a part of the journey in what we're trying to build here at Nepal Tea Collective.
We are proud to announce that we are the winners of the 2025 Tea Sustainability Award hosted by Tea Association of the USA for our "Nepal Tea Revival Project".
This awards truly feels special as it reminds us of how our small effort is creating real impact to keep the heritage of Nepali Tea alive and being celebrated on an international stage just means so much more. Thank you for supporting us and being a part of the journey in what we're trying to build here at Nepal Tea Collective.
Tea Bar Opening In Nepal
We opened our first tea bar in Nepal back in 2022, inside the lobby of an iconic hotel. Since then, we’ve partnered with Himalayan Java, often called the Starbucks of Nepal, to establish around five tea bars inside their cafés. However, we always had the itch to open a full-fledged tea bar of our own, especially after seeing the success and impact of our existing tea bars. And this year, we finally made it happen with the opening of The Collective.
One of the main reasons we opened all these tea bars was to make artisanal teas feel more like an experience rather than just a commercial drink and elevate the way tea has been drunk. We’ve received an amazing response and feedback from customers visiting our tea bars, and we hope to open one in the U.S. in the near future.
What's happening at the farm in Nepal?
Gen Z Protest and Nepal's Revolution
Sometimes, things need to burn down before we can start rebuilding. While I don’t literally believe in destruction, there are moments when dismantling parts of a system is necessary to create something new. A similar moment happened in Nepal this September, when Gen Z took to the streets and challenged the government, leading to the appointment of Nepal’s first female Prime Minister. The previous generation, including mine, may have tolerated the status quo and incremental changes, but the Gen Z were fed up with years of uncheck corruption, political favoritism, misuse of public funds and lack of opportunities in the country.
While many young Nepalis continue to leave for better education and jobs abroad, this generation wanted to stay in Nepal and create opportunities for themselves without leaving their families behind. Their frustration sparked massive protests across the country and has opened the door for a new generation of leadership
Our new Prime Minister, a retired Chief Justice, has appointed cabinet members who are truly qualified and knowledgeable, rather than choosing people based on nepotism. I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity this presents for Nepal to rebuild and grow in a more transparent and effective way.
What’s remarkable about the Nepali people is that, despite such significant change, life in the country has returned to normal quickly. I’m also relieved and happy to share that all of my family members, team members, and producers are safe and doing well.
What’s remarkable about the Nepali people is that, despite such significant change, life in the country has returned to normal quickly. I’m also relieved and happy to share that all of my family members, team members, and producers are safe and doing well.
Monsoon Season
Nepal’s monsoon season this year has been unusually intense, with heavy rainfall causing widespread flooding and landslides, particularly in the eastern tea-growing regions and central areas. These extreme weather events have displaced hundreds of people and blocked key roads, complicating rescue efforts. In response, the government issued severe rainfall warnings and implemented road closures to ensure residents’ safety and facilitate emergency operations.
Tea production at our factory has been temporarily halted while rebuilding efforts are underway. Unfortunately, many tea farmers have also lost livestock due to landslides and flooding. On a positive note, all of our producers are safe. However, shipments from the factory to our warehouse in Kathmandu have been disrupted.
We’ll be back soon with more updates and stories from Nepal.
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