Tambi plantation offers more than just a tea walk

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.