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I recently took a field trip to the Charleston Tea Plantation (http://www.bigelowtea.com/plantation.aspx), along with more than a dozen other members of the East Cooper Newcomer's Club. I've always wanted to visit "America's Only Tea Garden," and I wasn't disappointed. "The Charleston Tea Plantation is the home of American Classic Tea, the ONLY tea grown and produced in America," the website boasts. Surprisingly, the process from plant to cup is relatively simple.
All tea, no matter what color or flavor, comes from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The plant does well in hot climates, but it does require a significant amount of rainfall. The hot temperatures in the South bode well for tea plants, as do the humid weather and sandy soil. The plants grow so fast that a new crop is available every 20 days or so during warm months.
To make tea, the bright-colored new leaves at the top of the bush are cut. Most tea plantations do this by hand, but the Charleston Tea Plantation has a unique machine called "The Green Giant." The leaves are then laid out on a withering bed to dry. As the leaves lose moisture, they become soft and fragrant. Oxidization to heat the leaves is next, and the length of this process varies depending on what type of tea is being made. A shorter oxidization period produces a weaker tea, such as green tea; and a longer period of oxidization makes a stronger tea, such as black tea. The leaves are then cut or crushed to release their natural flavor, or sprayed with oils for faux flavors such as peach. Packaging the loose leaves is the final step.
I've been a tea drinker all of my life; first the cold variety as a child. A huge glass pitcher of iced tea was always present in my grandmother's refrigerator, no matter what the season. Then in my later years, feeling a cold coming on or simply weary from a day with two small children, I began relaxing with a cup of steaming tea. And now that my children are grown, I find it comforting and warming on cool evenings in front of the TV or while reading a book.
Since the Charleston Tea Plantation is the only one of its kind in all of North American, American Classic Tea is served at the White House. Quite impressive, I think. I'm giving this Lowcountry specialty to all my friends and family in Indiana this Christmas.
