How Much Is “All The Tea In China”?
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
The largest tea producer worldwide is China who produced a staggering 1.27 million tons in 2008. Most of their exported tea is black tea, with world consumption divided between black tea at 97% of total production and green and other teas at only 3%. Most other tea growing areas of the world, except Japan, grow black tea. Along with tea, China produces clay teapots and porcelain teapots for domestic use and export worldwide.
In China tea production is varied depending upon the climate, altitude and soil types it is grown in. A tea plant in China takes approximately 5 years to reach a mature enough state to produce a viable crop. The plant can then produce usable tea leaves for up to 30 years. In China they use mostly organic fertilizers and do not use pesticides at all, preferring to remove the plant completely rather than affect the delicately flavored leaves with chemicals.
China and Taiwan are the only sources of Oolong tea worldwide due to the very technical nature of its grading and production. This also makes it more expensive, but its flavor is of exceptional quality. Green tea is mostly consumed within China, although quite a bit is exported to the main other green tea drinker, 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
Although tea is grown in many African nations such as Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi, and South Africa, Kenya is the leading African producer by far, producing around 350,000 tons yearly. It has terrain friendly to growing tea, such as high elevation areas. Kenya produces mainly black tea for export to 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
Turkey is another tea producer whose product is not really seen to be prominent on the shelves of the average tea room. Their tea is all of the black variety and is grown along the black sea coast. Their tea is prepared in a dual kettle system which makes the brew steep for a lot longer than in most areas of the world and makes for a far from delicate flavor – an acquired taste by all accounts…
Vietnam & Indonesia
Neighboring Vietnam and Indonesia grow a sizable amount of tea as well. Vietnam grew 175,000 tons in 2008, while Indonesia grew 150,000 tons. They occupy spots 6 and 7 on this list of tea production. The tea in these regions is the Java bush, which grows well in jungle and rainforest climates. However, the quality is not as good as the China bush or Assam bush (grown in China and India, respectively), and as such, teas from Vietnam and Indonesia are used for blends or lower quality bagged teas.
Elsewhere
There are other countries that grow tea including Argentina, Iran, and Japan, who grow just green tea for the domestic market, and Bangladesh, who supply black tea for blending. In general, worldwide production is ever increasing and varieties forever being added; with mankind’s propensity for enjoying tea this is likely to be an ongoing trend.