Tornike Shekiladze (Tea Gezruli)
Location
Gezruli village, Imereti region
Contact Information
Tornike can be contacted on his Instagram page @tea.gezruli, by WhatsApp on +995 551 23 37 23, or by email at torshekiladze@gmail.com. Tornike speaks English and Georgian.
Tea Tourism
Besides producing fantastic teas, Tornike also operates a full-service guesthouse in Gezruli village, which he constructed and furnished all by himself (being a master carpenter as well as a master teamaker!) It's possible to just drop in for lunch and a tea tasting, but guests can also stay overnight very comfortably – it's even possible to take a tea bath! The region of Imereti, where Tornike is located, is famous for many
local gastronomic specialties which are impossible to find in any city
restaurant, and Tornike's guests can taste his homemade wine and his family's incredibly delicious home cooking.
Gezruli is located in the heart of a vast forest, in a truly unique ecological condition. According to Tornike, there is not a single source of pollution within the radius of 20 kilometers, creating an excellent environment for tea and all living beings. The forest is frequently full of mushrooms, and Tornike offers his guests the chance to go mushroom hunting or on other adventures in nature. Despite all this, Gezruli is about a three-hour drive from Georgia's capital city of Tbilisi, and its accessibility has been improved by the recent completion of a well-paved road to the village.
Types of Tea
Wild white tea
Harvested only once in spring from plantations rewilded over 40 years, these bushes are now deep in a deciduous, native
woodland ecosystem. Due to the deep shade where they are grown, they have exceptional sweetness and long, vertical leaves. One leaf and a bud picking standard. The leaves are processed very delicately and have a magnificent green colour. They yield a long, developing flavour experience, good for many infusions as a session tea.
Wild black tea
Harvested once per year from the same rewilded forest as the white tea. Long Imeretian style twisted leaves which yield an excellent light red infusion, gently tannic.
Cultivated teas: white, green and black
As well as his wild forest-grown teas, Tornike has restored some of the highest plantations in Georgia. He makes two grades of tea to cover all budgets: a one leaf and a bud grade and a two leaves and a bud grade. Two leaves make up and tend to give stronger flavours and can be cheaper as there’s more weight for the same amount of work. For delicacy of flavour, a single leaf is often the preferred choice.
Wild blueberry leaf tisane
Gathered from wild leaves of Vaccinium arctostaphylos and rolled and oxidised according to black tea procedures, blueberry leaf tea is a classic and relaxing traditional preparation in west Georgian villages. Tornike's take on it is rich and fruity with mild citrus-like acidity. A caffeine free beverage.
Clockwise from top: Tornike's wild black tea, wild spring white tea, and wild summer white tea.
Tornike's Story
Tornike is the go-to guy for white tea, a man who can talk about the effects of sunlight and weather on the
chlorophyll content of tea leaves with incredible passion.
Tornike’s village is high up in the mountains and the site of former Soviet tea breeding research plantations. Here he is blessed with the hardiest Georgian cultivars, Kolkhida I and II, as well as the old Chinese and – unusually for Georgia – Japanese cultivars, from which they were bred.
As well as his plantation, Tornike harvests tea from old plantations which have rewilded since their post-Soviet abandonment. Whereas most abandoned plantations overgrow with bracken and brambles, conditions were right here for native forest trees to grow up between the bushes. 40 years on, these form a total canopy, creating a complete, mature woodland ecosystem.
Tornike spent several months studying in China in 2019. White teas are his real passion and it shows in his teas and the care he takes in the processing. Gezruli village is one which supplies miners to the polluting manganese industry of Chiatura; Tornike now employs up to 15 pickers seasonally who, he half-jokes, have finally understood and become enthusiastic for his strict picking standards.
Tornike is a member of the Georgian Organic Tea Producers’ Association, a regenerative agriculture certification scheme, and grows tea according to its principles; the organization does not have international organic accreditation, but is nonetheless a guarantee of a quality, clean product.
Above: Tornike gathering wild tea in the forest and preparing it in the factory.
Pricing and Shipping
For detailed information about pricing and shipping, contact the teamaker directly.
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