6 Good Reasons

Why Buy Tea from Thunderbolt Tea

First Ever Tea Company to go Online from India to promote Darjeeling Tea

Doing business that is good for You, the Community and Us.

Standing alongside Values

The Earth is the best thing that we have and making the world a better place is what we can strive for. Thunderbolt Tea are locals of Darjeeling and we exactly know the rights and wrongs that dwell here. The hardships tea people face and the drain of economy without benefiting the locals is heart wrenching. We, as a small family owned company are trying our best to bring back the economy and give back whatever small portion we can. We try our best to get you top notch teas so that you can sit back, sip and relax. To sum up, we are here for the local community, for You, providing you quality teas and for ourselves so that we can make a better living for our family and the families who work with us.

1. LOCALS DOING BUSINESS

All of Thunderbolt Tea’s family and staff were born and brought up in the hills of Darjeeling and the only best thing we adorn our knowledge with is, Darjeeling Tea. That’s why we only sell Darjeeling and know its ethical value as far as we can.

We know the people, we speak the language and we know the hardships that prevail among the locals. And to top all, we know our hometown brew, that supports thousands of family households living in and around Darjeeling. Thanks for your support in making it possible for us to make a living.

BRINGING BACK THE ECONOMY

When we refer to locals as a whole, everything comes under the umbrella from the embedded culture to its economic conditions. Do you know that apart from the tea wages and their basic welfare, not a single penny comes back to Darjeeling or its community from its global sales? Only a few social projects are operational which help in some way (like the Chai Project by Mercy Corps originally started by Steve Smith of Tazo) and we are thankful for such initiatives.

Though we may not be able to change the whole economic facade, but we are definitely proud that we are trying our best in bringing a tiny part of that economy back to the original tea people. Buy from a local and help the region’s economy. 

2. TEAS DIRECT FROM THE SOURCE

Sourcing not just teas, but anything, from its origin is ethical. It also cuts off the middle man. Our teas cut the cost of circles such as tea wholesalers and distributors enabling you fair prices.

No tea garden can produce a number one quality in terms of tons, but would be in terms of one or two invoices which may comprise of about 200 kgs approximately or even lesser. So imagine the class of quality you will be getting from us. Its only the “crème de la crème”, the best Darjeeling Tea industry can offer.

3. Quality Teas for you

To enable customer satisfaction and their peace of mind, we strive to procure the best teas from this region.

Shop OUr Teas

We expertly choose various invoices of Darjeeling every tea season through years of experience by personally tasting hundreds of teas. An alert and experienced tea taster is the only one who can make the judgement. We only choose the best having number one quality.

We only buy teas from tea gardens in Darjeeling who treat their workers well. Fair trade tea certified papers can sometimes be misleading and can prove to be just a marketing gimmick, but for locals like us, it reveals the true sense face to face because we live here, interact with the workers directly and know their true plight. Tea workers are shy to talk to other than locals and whatever information one gathers from them can be misinterpreted or misleading. Our local faces makes them comfortable to have a conversation and a true knowledge of their original life-status is known. So you can say that our teas are Fair Trade in the true sense.

5. Tea Laborer to Merchant

All of our forefathers were tea laborers in tea gardens. Our origin points to a remote area in Darjeeling region called “Chimney” which is an uphill climb from the town of Kurseong. All of ancestors were tea laborers in a particular tea garden then known as Majhua Tea Estate. Benoy’s father grew up there. Later we shifted to Darjeeling town and it’s here Benoy started the tea business. A facebook post made us answer a query relating to poor conditions of the tea workers of which we are including a screenshot. We have tried to answer in the most true sense. Do read it!

So, if you have read the answer to the FB query above, we just climbed a few steps more and became a merchant. You can call our company, Thunderbolt Tea, or our family history, the “Rise of the laborer into a Tea Merchant“. We wish all of our tea laborer brothers and sisters to have a decent way of life. A life, strong enough to support all their family members. Our Responsible Business ethics adheres to ourselves as well when thought about the changes it should have happened.