Kangra India

Where Does Tea Come From?

Tea Growers from Around the World

The tea plant camellia sinensis is originally from Yunnan province, China, but over its more than 4000 year lifespan, tea farms have spread from Southern China as far West as East Africa. There are thousands of sub-varieties and hybrids of tea plants, stemming from 3 main varietals: China bush (mainly grown in China), Assam bush (mainly grown in India), and Java bush (mainly grown in Indonesia). Tea became popular in the 19th and 20th century worldwide, and its popularity still grows today.  Below are the main producers of tea, ordered by yearly production:

China

China has always been the largest producer in the world, growing 1.27 million tons of tea in 2008.  They export a lot of their tea, mostly black, as the world as a whole drinks 97% black tea, with the remaining 3% to green and other teas.  Most of the other tea growing areas globally produce black tea, excepting Japan.  Yixing clay teapots and porcelain tea sets are also made for export in China, as these vessels have been traded for hundreds of years.

The varied geography and climate across China leads to varied types of tea.  In China, it takes about 5 years for a tea plant to reach maturity and be ready for harvesting.  The lifespan at this point is another 30 years.  Organic farming methods are the norm in China, so as not to disturb the delicate flavors with pesticides and chemicals.

Oolong tea comes only from China and Taiwan, as its production is the most complicated of all the teas, making it more expensive as well.  The green tea that China does grow is consumed domestically or exported to its green-tea neighbor Japan.

India

Since the British were embargoed from trade with China following the Opium wars in the 19th century, Britain, who had become both colonial empire builders and devoted tea drinkers, found other places to source their black tea. Already colonized by the British and used to grow the opium that the Chinese bought, India had plenty of areas that were suitable for the production of tea. These plantations still exist today and have made India the second largest world producer, growing mainly black tea. The main areas in India are Assam/Darjeeling in the foothills of the Himalayas north-east, Kerala in the south, and Kangra in the far north-west. Their different locations, varieties and conditions make them quite distinguishable, each area having a classic flavor associated with it.

Africa

Tea is grown in a number of African countries including Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi and South Africa, but Kenya has quite the edge on exports. Kenya has large highland areas ideal for tea growing, producing only black tea. Their exports were a respectable 350,000 tons in 2008, slightly less than half that of India. Most of the exported tea is destined for Britain and Western Europe.

Sri-Lanka (formerly Ceylon)

Sri-Lanka’s tea production is on a par with Kenya. Their plantations are at different altitudes due to the topography of Sri-Lanka and makes for the many different flavors available from this relatively small island. Referred to as “Ceylon tea” still, these black teas are popular throughout the world; growers are now branching out to produce different varieties such as green tea in recent years.

Turkey

It may be a surprise for Turkey to be the 5th largest tea grower, at 200,000 tons per year.  The main tea growing regions occupy the coast along the Black Sea.  Turkey has a unique tea preparation system, using a dual kettle to create a very strong flavor.

Vietnam & Indonesia

Vietnam seems an unlikely source for tea, but together with a few other Indonesian nations, produces a respectable 175,000 tons annually, matching the rest of Indonesia put together. Their teas are mostly used to blend with other teas and are not often found unblended.

Elsewhere

Other countries that produce tea include Japan, which grows it mainly for itself, with limited export to Western countries, and Iran and Bangladesh.  Argentina and Bolivia are also producing tea in South America.  As tea popularity grows, production should continue to increase in the coming years.

MAA ASHTBHUJA MANDIR DARSHAN, KANGRA, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA, CHANNELDIVYA

India – KANGRA Mug $10.99 This is a brand new custom made coffee mug imprinted using the latest sublimation technology. This process embeds the image permanently and gives it a smooth surface with a crisp and vivid image. Design is imprinted on a standard 11 oz white mug and it is dishwasher safe….

India – KANGRA Set of 4 Mini-Mousepad Coasters $8.99 Protect your furniture with this set of 4 mini-mousepad coasters. Each coaster is 3.5 x 3.5 inches (width & lenght). They are soft top made out of mousepad material (polyester surface, neoprene backing) and work well as coasters….

Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon: Himalayan Foothill Folktales $19.99 Oral tales establish relationships between storytellers and their listeners. Yet most printed collections of folktales contain only stories, stripped of the human contexts in which they are told. If storytellers are mentioned at all, they are rarely consulted about what meanings they see in their tales. In this innovative book, Indian-American anthropologist Kirin Narayan reproduces twenty-one fol…

The Kuhls of Kangra: Community-managed Irrigation in the Western Himalaya (Culture, Place, and Nature) $14.38 In the Kangra Valley of India’s western Himalaya, farmers have for centuries relied on community-managed kuhl systems – intricate networks of collectively built and maintained irrigation channels – for their rice and wheat farming. Over the years, earthquakes and floods have repeatedly destroyed villagers’ kuhls. More recently, increasing nonfarm employment has drawn labor away from kuhl maintenan…

The Kangra Earthquake of 4th April 1905 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, vol. 38) …