NEW DELHI: A company in India’s main tea-producing region of Assam has launched a new blend called “Zelenskyy” to honor the Ukrainian president who has become a wartime leader, inspiring thousands to fight for their country amid an ongoing month-long invasion by Russia.
War has led to an unlikely transformation for 44-year-old Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a comedian and TV actor whose only political experience before he was elected president in 2019 was when he played a fictional president in a satirical TV series.
As Moscow massed troops on the border to launch a full-scale invasion in February, many around the world feared Zelenskyy was out of his depth against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Zelenskyy’s calm presence in social media video messages after the Russian invasion and his refusal to evacuate with troops closing in on Kyiv — “the fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” he famously told US President Joe Biden who offered to move him to a safer location — have won him admiration both at home and abroad.
One fan is Ranjit Baruah, an entrepreneur in India’s northeastern state of Assam, the largest tea growing region in the world, who last week introduced a blend named after Zelenskyy.
“I’ve been really impressed by the way Zelenskyy rejected the US offer where he said he does not want a free ride … it shows his character, he didn’t run away from his country,” Baruah told Arab News. “Fighting against the mighty Russian forces is showing his strength.”
That’s why the new blend is described on its packaging as “really strong.”
“The character and strength this person has is in my tea,” Baruah, who owns the Aromica Tea company, said. “It is a strong Assam black tea … as strong in character as the Ukrainian president Zelenskyy.”
The screenshot taken on March 24, 2022 shows tea named after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (Aromica Tea company)
The tea is a blend of handcrafted orthodox teas with leaves that have gone through the CTC (crush, tear, curl) process — a new technique in which black tea leaves are run through a series of cylindrical rollers and pressed into small, hard pellets.
The CTC method, Baruah said, “gives the punch.”
The entrepreneur added that he wouldn’t mind selling the tea in Russia, the biggest importer of Indian teas, most of which come from Assam with its over 100,000 plantations producing 630,000 tons a year.
“If Russia does not have any problem with the name, I am willing to sell that tea to Russia,” he said — especially since it could inspire belief in the centuries-old notion that a pause for tea can give peace a chance:
“Many wars have ended in discussions over a cup of tea. Make peace, not war, and have a cup of tea.”
