The Journey of a Tea Leaf into your Cup
All tea comes from the same plant, the Camellia Sinensis. There are more than 100 varieties of teas from that one plant. The secret lies in the different manufacturing techniques, variations in climate and altitude, type of soil, and the inherent characteristics of the tea. Did you know that tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water?
Tea plant is densely cultivated on hill slopes in contour rows and covers the entire extent of land much resembling green carpet. The tea plant generally grows like a tree to about 12 feet in the wild, but due to continuous harvesting of tender leaves (two leaves and a bud); it grows more like a bush. The height is maintained at around 3 - 4 feet. They are planted in rows, which allow the tea pickers enough room to maneuver and pick the tea leaves at harvest time. This is very labor intensive; and workers are trained to pick only the tender leaves, while leaving the mature leaves as maintenance for photosynthesis. Harvesting is done manually, as good leaf is the key to producing a good cup of tea.
The tea plant has two basic subdivisions - China Jat and White Jat. China Jat originated in China. It has a narrow dark leaf and is associated with high flavor and low yields. White Jat originated in the Assam province in India. It has a broad, less-dark leaf and is associated with high yields and relatively less flavor. By seed and vegetative propagation, many hybrids (clones) of these two subdivisions have been produced, combining special characteristics and thereby improving the quality of tea. Generally, a typical tea bush will produce about three thousand tea leaves a year. This is not to say that one can make a fortune from a tea bush, considering the fact it takes just about the same number of tea leaves to make one pound of processed tea. Workers carry baskets into which the plucked leaves are collected. When the baskets are full the leaves are weighed and then sent to the factory for processing. The processing steps taken will depend on the type of tea desired. - Source: Lalith Guy Paranavitana, Empire Tea Services