Making Tea at Charleston Tea Plantation in Charleston, South Carolina

Tea is produced from the evergreen Camelis Sinensis bush, which is a member of the camellia family. Charleston, South Carolina's hot and humid climate provides ideal conditions for tea bushes to thrive. Our typical summer temperatures reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and we get an average rainfall of more than 50 inches annually. In response to these conditions, Charleston Tea Plantation's tea bushes remain active during the May through October growing season by 'flushing up' new growth every 15 - 20 days. These tender young leaves and buds are harvested to make American Classic Tea and my husband and I watched the remarkable process.

From the tea fields:

When we approached the tea fields, we were greeted by hundreds of thousands of well manicured tea plants growing under a canopy of oak trees. Growing in hedge rows, the Charleston Tea Plantation maintains their tea bushes at a height of exactly 40 inches. Really, the height of the tea bushes is precise; it's like a hard line rule across the top of dense green bushes. How, we wondered, is this exact height maintained?

During the factory tour we learned that Charleston Tea Plantation has a unique machine that straddles the hedge rows and harvests the new leaf growth via a horizontal sickle. This one-of-a-kind piece of tea harvesting equipment maintains the precision. It prunes the bushes to the same height, clipping off the fresh young tea leaves to use for tea making.

This tea harvesting machine has a blower mounted on the front which blasts the fresh tea leaf cuttings into a chute that runs into a collection bin on the back. These fresh cuttings are loaded onto a truck and delivered to the on-site production house every 30 - 40 minutes.

To the tea-making factory:

Once the fresh green tea leaves arrive at the factory, they are gently placed in a 12 inch layer onto a mesh belt. This slow moving belt - called a withering bed - is where the tea leaves rest for approximately 18 hours. This step in the tea-making process removes 15 percent of the tea leaves' moisture and the leaves become soft and flexible.

After the tea leaves have rested, they are passed through three roto-vane machines for shredding. Shredding and crushing the tea leaves exposes the leaf cells to oxygen, an all-important step in tea making.

Once the shredding is complete, the small pieces of tea leaves are again laid to rest in a two inch layer on an oxidation bed.

Determining tea types:

Interestingly, the amount of time the tea leaves lay on the oxidation bed determines the type of tea they become. Black tea, oolong tea and green tea all come from the same Camelis Sinensis bush; the difference is simply the amount of time the shredded leaves are exposed to oxygen.

If the ruptured tea leaves rest on the oxidation bed for 50 minutes, a complex chemical reaction naturally occurs which creates the color and flavor of black tea.

Leaving the tiny pieces of crushed tea leaves on the oxidation bed for 15 minutes produces oolong tea.

If the shredded tea leaves are not allowed to rest on the oxidation bed at all - and, instead, pass directly to the drying stage, green tea is produced.

The final tea making steps:

The oxidation process must be stopped at the specific time required for the type of tea being produced (50 minutes for black tea, 15 minutes for oolong and no oxidation for green tea). Once the tea leaves have oxidized for the designated time, they are passed into a drying chamber. In the drying chamber, which reaches a temperature of 250 degrees, the shredded tea leaves are gently agitated for 25 minutes.

The drying chamber removes 97 percent of the moisture and, therefore, 80 percent of the weight from the tea leaves. It takes 5 pounds of fresh tea leaves to produce one pound of finished tea.

A final combing through large sieves removes stalk and fiber from the tea leaves. And presto - the finished tea is ready for brewing and drinking.

Sweet iced tea is a Southern staple. We drink tea at every meal. Tea is so prevalent in the South that it's easy to take for granted. After this informative and surprisingly exciting day at America's only working tea farm, both my husband and I appreciate tea so much more. It's remarkable.

For more information about the Charleston Tea Plantation, click here.

Sources:
Personal experience
Bigelow Tea - Charleston: http://www.bigelowtea.com/act/