Tea Museum

The Nilgiris is one of the pioneers in tea production and export. Railway lines were built to transport tea from Nilgiris to Cochin. A large number of Indians are ardent lovers of this beverage which originated in China. To all the chai lovers out there! How about sipping your favourite drink directly from its production centre, amidst the lush green hills? It would be an experience worth a lifetime! The Ooty tea factory situated four kilometres away from Ooty city also has a tea museum Situated at an altitude of 1839 metres and spread over an acre on Doddabetta Road, the tea factory takes you through the process of making tea right from plucking tea leaves to the packaging of tea powder. By visiting the factory, you will get to learn on the history of tea in India and its evolution in the Nilgiris hills. It will also tell you about the origin of different kinds of tea leaves used across the world. There is a tea museum inside the factory which educates you on the cutting, twisting, and curling (CTC) methods of tea leaves using machines. Each stage of tea production like withering, rolling, drying, and finally, the shifting stages are shown to the visitors with the help of a video. The tea leaves are dried in a stainless-steel container and are passed through crushers before passing through CTC. Souvenirs like tea cups, tea plates and t-shirts are available where the Tea museum logo is engraved on them. These products are handcrafted. While visiting the factory, you will also be served hot tea and you can choose which flavour you need among cardamom tea, masala tea, ginger tea, green tea and many other flavours. There is also a chocolate production section in the factory where we can see how chocolates are prepared from cocoa powder to chocolate paste and moulding in various shapes. You can also buy homemade chocolates like fruits and nuts, fig and honey, raisins and nuts, milk and coffee chocolate and sugar-free varieties. You can visit the tea factory between 10.00 am and 6.00 pm. The entry fee is Rs 20 per person. There is also an adventure club in front of the factory where you can try out adventurous sports like hiking, free fall with tied ropes and walking on a rope.