Hameed Tea — شاي حميد
Lush green tea fields in the South Indian highlands

The Hameed Tea Journal

Tea reading, from the hub.مجلة الشاي

Informative articles on tea origins, world markets, auctions, blending and the craft of the trade — written from our vantage point in Muscat, with links to the primary sources.

Markets7 min read

Inside the Mombasa Auction: How East African Tea Prices Are Made

Every week, thousands of lots of Kenyan, Burundian, Rwandan and Ugandan tea change hands in Mombasa. Here is how the auction works and why its prices echo across the world market.

18 October 2026Read →
Markets6 min read

Reading the World Tea Market: What the FAO Outlook Tells Traders

The FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea publishes the most authoritative picture of global production, consumption and prices. Here is how to read it — and what it means for buyers.

11 October 2026Read →
Origins8 min read

Ceylon Tea Grades Explained: From BOP to Silver Tips

Sri Lanka's tea grades read like a code — BOP, FBOP, OP, Pekoe, Silver Tips. This guide decodes the letters and explains what each grade means in the cup.

4 October 2026Read →
Origins7 min read

High-Grown Teas of South India: Nilgiris, Munnar and Wayanad

The Western Ghats produce some of the most fragrant teas in the world. A tour of the Nilgiri blue mountains, the high ridges of Munnar and the estates of Wayanad.

27 September 2026Read →
Origins6 min read

Kenya's Smallholder Revolution: The Engine of Black Tea Exports

More than half of Kenya's tea comes from hundreds of thousands of small farmers. How the smallholder model made Kenya the world's leading black tea exporter.

20 September 2026Read →
Origins6 min read

Burundi: East Africa's Rising Tea Origin

Small, landlocked and mountainous, Burundi produces high-grown teas that regularly top the Mombasa auction price lists. Meet the origin the blending world is waking up to.

13 September 2026Read →
Trade6 min read

Why Oman Is a Natural Tea Re-Export Hub

Deep-water ports, free zones and a position between the producing East and the consuming West: the logistics logic behind Oman's growing role in the tea trade.

6 September 2026Read →
Craft7 min read

Understanding Tea Grades: From Whole Leaf OP to Dust

Orange Pekoe has nothing to do with oranges. A plain-language guide to the grading alphabet used across the black tea trade, and what each grade does in the cup.

30 August 2026Read →
Climate7 min read

Climate Change in the Tea Garden: What Growers Are Seeing

Shifting rainfall, hotter afternoons and new pests are rewriting the rules of tea growing. What the science says and how origins from Kenya to Sri Lanka are adapting.

23 August 2026Read →
Craft6 min read

CTC vs Orthodox: Two Ways to Make Black Tea

Same leaf, two machines, completely different teas. How the crush-tear-curl and orthodox methods diverge — and why the world market needs both.

16 August 2026Read →
Markets6 min read

Karak Chai and the GCC Tea Market

Strong, sweet, milky and boiled — karak chai is the Gulf's everyday drink, and it shapes one of the world's most valuable tea import markets.

9 August 2026Read →
Craft6 min read

The Blender's Craft: Building Consistency Across Seasons

A famous blend must taste the same in January and July, in drought years and glut years. How professional blenders use multiple origins to hold a flavour constant.

2 August 2026Read →
Trade6 min read

Keeping Tea Fresh at Sea: Shipping and Storage for the Trade

Tea travels thousands of kilometres before it is brewed. How the trade packs, ships and stores tea so the cup in Muscat tastes like the garden in Munnar.

26 July 2026Read →
Markets7 min read

What Moves Tea Prices: Weather, Auctions and Currency

Tea prices can swing sharply within a season. The FAO has studied the volatility — here are the forces every buyer should watch.

19 July 2026Read →
Trade7 min read

From Bush to Cup: The Tea Supply Chain Explained

Plucker, factory, broker, auction, trader, blender, packer, shelf. Follow a kilogram of tea through the eight hands it passes before it reaches your teapot.

12 July 2026Read →