Tea Warrior of Pasir Canar

Ferri Kurnia racked his brains and decided to buy farmers’ tea anyway, even though they had not fulfilled his criteria. He left the tea outside his factory compound.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Ferri Kurnia places tea leaves into a chopping machine on 27 June 2019 at his factory in Pasir Canar, Jayagiri, Sukanagara, Cianjur regency, West Java.

Concern sometimes arises from memories. At least this was the case with Ferri Kurnia, 40, who returned home after traveling the world to collaborate with fellow villagers to raise the renown of the tea grown in his village. Today, they have improved their lives using their knowledge about tea cultivation.

The trail bike roared as Ferri gunned the throttle at the end of June 2019, climbing the steep path to the tea plantation belonging to Nanang Suharman in Pasir Canar, Cianjur regency. Yan Yan, 46, and his peers were picking fresh leaves at the plantation for processing into a specialty tea made of the topmost leaf (bud) and the two leaves beneath.