Tambi plantation offers more than just a tea walk

Slamet Susanto, Wonosobo, Central Java

Without doubt, tea offers enormous pleasure when brewed and sipped at the right time in agreeable company. Before tea leaves are picked from the plants on high ground, the plants provide pleasant scenery, while the fresh, hill air where the plants are grown is also bracing to inhale.

That may be the concept that state-owned tea plantation company PT Perkebunan Tambi, located on the slopes of Mount Sindoro, Wonosobo, Central Java, is trying to popularize. The firm not only tempts visitors with the landscape but also provides a hint of the ambience from the Dutch colonial period.

The plantation was established during that time -- in 1865 to be precise -- and was then taken over by the Indonesian government in 1957, which later renamed the company PT Perkebunan Tambi. Although it has been in existence for over 100 years, its colonial appearance is still evident. Some of the production machinery still dates from that era, adding to the colonial nuance at the plantation site.

Company public relations manager Titik S. Bayu said that with an output of 1,800 tons to 2,000 tons of tea per year, the company currently produced only black tea, 80 percent of which was for export, mainly to Europe.

Tambi tea is well-known for its characteristic aroma and sepat (strong, pervasive) flavor, thanks to the height of the plateau where the plantation is located, some 1,800 to 2,000 meters above sea level.

"The quality of tea partly depends on the elevation at which the plant is grown. The higher the plant, the more strongly flavored the tea will be," Titik said, adding that the location of Tambi plantation enabled it to produce high-quality tea.

Of no less importance in producing such tea, said Titik, was the tea leaves picked. In Tambi, she said, only the three youngest leaves at the top of a tea stem are picked, to produce good tea. The leaves are then sent directly to the rolling chamber to be processed in an open-top rolling machine to prevent the sap from evaporating. The rolled leaves are then placed in the cutting machine and sifted before being put in the enzymatic oxidation room.

"Everything is done naturally. We only control the temperature. The workers are not allowed to directly touch the leaves, either. They have to use sterilized gloves to prevent contamination of the tea," Titik said.

Starting in 2000, PT Tambi offered three different agro-tour packages for tourists visiting the plantation. Offered under the name of Tambi Agro Tourism Facilities, the standard, executive, and super-executive packages range from Rp 50,000 to Rp 300,000 per package per person.

The standard package offers a sightseeing trip around the plantation and factory, plus snacks. The executive is basically the standard package plus lunch, while the super executive is the executive package plus an additional service of outward-bound team building activities.

"The packages are open as either individual or group tours and focus on nature as much as possible to delight visitors," Titik said.

In addition to the tour packages, PT Tambi has also prepared 12 rooms for rent and three cottages equipped with complete facilities for participation in outward-bound games.

Thanks to all the facilities that PT Tambi offers to tourists, Salim, 45, a Wonosobo tour agent, said he often sent guests, mostly foreigners, to the plantation. "Almost every week I send guests there. Most of them say they are satisfied by the visit.

They enjoy the black tea very much, as well as the colonial nuance of the plantation," he said.