#forgottenstories

Lao Jin Jao was the person who brought and developed tea culture in Georgia. According to the archives, he arrived in Batumi on November 4, 1893 with nine Chinese tea experts. Lao himself notes that one of his companions returned to homeland and the rest died of malaria. Lao’s plantation was photographed by the renowned photographer of Russian emperor's court, Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky. The photos are currently kept in the US Library of Congress. Lao brought a large amount of tea seedlings and tea seeds from China. The humid climate of western Georgia proved just warm enough to sustain tea bushes, but chilly nights and lengthy winters meant the plants grew slower than their sun-drenched cousins in the tropics. It was this slow growth that gave the tips of Georgia’s tea bushes a uniquely sweet, mellow flavor. The hills of western Georgia were best suited to producing small amounts of high-quality tea.

Lao Jin Jao's hard work had a huge success and gained worldwide recognition. In 1900, the tea produced by Lao Jin Jao won the gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris.

If you want to learn more about the work of Lao Jin Jao and the development of the Georgian tea industry, visit the Adjara Museum – Nobel Brothers Technological Museum.

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