Koba Shekiladze (Teamo/Velveti)

By the late Soviet period, the Chiatura countryside was covered with tea plantations and a big factory in the town, otherwise known for manganese production, gathered the harvests together. Highland tea such as that grown in Chiatura and Tkibuli regions was particularly prized for its quality, thanks to the extra-long winters that help the tea bushes to rest and stay healthy. Koba began working with tea as a young man and by the time the industry collapsed, he was the head of quality control at the Chiatura factory. Like most of the rest of Georgia, Gezruli's plantations sat silent for a few decades, slipping into the expanding forests.

Koba was the first tea maker in the whole Chiatura region to start making tea again. He'd never forgotten his well-earned knowledge and connections with tea, and in 2008 started producing from a small plot he'd cleaned up, using machinery of his own invention –some of which he still uses. From 2017, a series of grants from GRETA, an EU program financed largely by Sweden and Austria, helped Koba to expand significantly, allowing him to buy more modern equipment and put more plantations into use. Although he prides himself on quality, Koba is generous with his considerable expertise, and has helped many younger tea makers in the Imereti region to perfect their craft.

Koba is a certified organic producer, holding an accreditation from a German oversight body. As such, his plantations are managed completely by hand. Like many other tea makers, Koba says he could easily expand his production if the orders were there for it, but for the moment, he produces around a ton of tea per year, along with 600 kilograms of blueberry leaf tisane, under the brand names Velveti and Teamo.