Growing and Preparing Tea

I’m not a big tea drinker.  After visiting a tea plantation and factory, I also found out I knew nothing about tea.  As we came into the Charleston Tea Plantation, we drove past bushes.  I thought it was something like a maze they had made.  I even wondered who had spent all the time trimming the plants so flat on top.  Turns out these are the tea plants.  There is a big piece of farm equipment that comes along and trims 5-6” of the new growth and stores it for transport.

 

In the factory, the withering machine has big blowers underneath it to start the drying process.  The next stages cut into the leaf cells releasing oils to bring out flavors and dry the leaves better before letting the leaves oxidize.  The dryer completes the process by both stopping the oxidation and removing the moisture.  There was a sorting and packaging area too.

I know there are all types of tea.  I thought there were a green tea plant type and a black tea plant type.  Turns out these are the same plants that are treated differently with different times in the various processes.  The leaves for the green tea are treated quickly so that the leaves don’t oxidize.

So much to learn!  I still think they could make a great maze with the tea plants.