Bringing Tea back from Indonesia

I’ll check on that but as far as I know for a normal amount (a kilogram or so) there isn’t any, but a suitcase full of tea could be a different thing since that would make it apparent that it’s not just a case of personal consumption. Are you visiting Java? I could mention a couple of plantations.

Thank you! I am visiting Java. I’ll be working in Jakarta and Bandung until late Thursday, when we’ll wrap up in Jakarta. Then I’m on my own until early Sunday morning when my flight leaves Jakarta. I was talking with Harendong but I just heard this morning that they have an inspection when I am available. Certainly open to other suggestions!

Thank you!

My friend Rodino lived in Jakarta for awhile, and was into tea then, so he visited lots of places. He never does fully answer how much tea you can bring into the US, if two large suitcases full of a dozen kilograms of tea is a problem related to paying an import tax or not, but he does touch on some other issues. It sounds like local travel logistics is going to be a main concern, so you should probably get planning as squared away as possible in advance. The two places I’ve liked tea the most from are Harendong and Toba Wangi, so you’ve already been in touch with one. His answer:

I don’t think it matters how much they leave with for Tea.
They might have to pay some sort of export tax, but it shouldn’t be anything crazy.
Toba Wangi and Harendong are far from each other.
About 8 hours apart. Mainly because of traffic and location more so than the distance.
Both are on opposite ends of the Greater Jakarta Area and have only one main road in and out.
It’s a mountain pass road and depending on the season or if it is a holiday, that can be a nightmare to traverse.

I also helped found and run an international themed tea group on Facebook; it might be a good place to ask such questions. There would be members there from the US and Indonesia, and lots of members would travel a lot. One problem is feed filtering for people on FB; if someone isn’t really active in that group they’d never see posts.

Also there isn’t much incentive for people importing and selling tea from Indonesia in the US to help other people do the same, since to some extent that’s helping support competition. An extra ten kilos of tea means nothing related to filling supply to address demand but if a half dozen people get in the habit of ordering from the same vendor they do to sell tea that might.

That group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1647370545538088/