taxation without representation by dumping three ships’ cargos of tea into the waters of Boston Harbour. While the American colonies fought for independence, tea became stigmatised as a symbol of English tyranny. So while tea continued to grow in popularity in England, coffee became the beverage of the American everyman, a trend that persists today. In Australia and New Zealand the tea market is estimated to be a 6 billion dollar industry and expected to grow by 5% each year. 75% of Australians and New Zealanders drink tea daily which makes it highly consumable. Tea is primarily grown in China, India, Argentina, Indonesia, Japan, and Kenya, but there are many other countries that also produce it. In the U.S., there are a few commercial farms in Hawaii and South Carolina. China is the largest consumer of tea in the world at 1.6 billion pounds per year, but in terms of per capita consumption, the world’s biggest tea drinking country is Turkey (almost 7 pounds of tea per person each year), followed by Ireland (4.8 pounds) and the United Kingdom (4.2 pounds). or white tea. If they are allowed to fully oxidise into black tea, which takes about 50 minutes, the leaves change into a sort of orange or rusty colour. Oolong tea is produced by stopping the oxidisation process about halfway. Finally, the leaves are rolled and dried. It takes about five pounds of freshly cut tea leaves to produce one pound of dried tea that is ready to be brewed.
Tea was first cultivated in China, and for about 3,000 years, China was the only country that consumed it. Buddhist monks loved tea, praising its abilities to help them stay alert and focused. They were the first ones to introduce it to other countries, too, bringing seeds to Japan in the 9th century. Tea became a huge part of the culture in both countries. Tea was first introduced to Europe in the 17th century by Dutch and Portuguese explorers and traders. England came late to the party, first introducing the aristocracy to the strange brew in 1664, but tea quickly exploded in popularity there. In fact, tea became so popular that a massive black market was spawned to avoid the heavy taxes on it. By the 1770s, half of the estimated 3 million kilograms of tea sold per year in England was illegal. The black market collapsed in 1784 when William Pitt slashed the taxes and tea became more accessible to the masses. It was around the same time, in 1773, that England’s little colony across the pond decided to protest HOW TEA IS MADE: Just the top two or three leaves are plucked from the plant. Depending on where it is grown, there are usually two harvest seasons in the spring and summer each year. The leaves are then withered or wilted to allow oxidisation, which allows enzymes in the leaves to break down chlorophyll and release tannins. Oxidisation is stopped by steaming the leaves. The leaves can be steamed right away to prevent oxidisation, producing green
TEA FACTS: China is still the world’s biggest tea consumer at 1.6 billion pounds per year, but if you look at the average per person, they fall to a distant 19th place. Surprised? The ten countries leading in average annual tea consumption per person in pounds are:
Turkey: 6.9 Ireland: 4.8 United Kingdom: 4.2 Russia: 3.0 Morocco: 2.6 New Zealand: 2.6
Egypt: 2.2 Poland: 2.2 Japan: 2.1 Saudi Arabia: 1.9
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MAY 2017 | MELALEUCA.COM
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