Tea cultivation: how are tea leaves harvested?
Black tea, green tea, white tea… Do you know how tea is grown? This drink, which is now an integral part of our daily lives, is rich in history and its harvest follows a very specific protocol subject to several conditions. In this article, Fauchon explains everything about tea harvesting.
Tea: what are its origins?
Tea has its origins in China more than 5,000 years ago. Today, this beverage is the second most consumed drink in the world after water and continues to seduce many people internationally.
There are several legendary stories about the birth of tea. The most famous is that Emperor Shen Nong invented tea by chance. While boiling his water under a shrub, leaves fell into the water while the emperor was sleeping. Tasting this drink when he woke up, Shen Nong decided to develop the cultivation of this shrub, the tea plant, because he found the tea so tasty. This initiative was a success, and tea cultivation spread throughout Asia. It was only later that tea was introduced to Europe by the Dutch.
From then on, tea became a flagship drink, particularly in England , where Queen Anne Stuart drank it for the first time during her breakfast: the beverage was so appreciated that today it is a must-have in English culture. Tea is an integral part of breakfast and afternoon tea, the famous “tea time”!
Tea: when should you harvest it?
Tea picking is based on two species of camellias:
- Camellia assamica : a tea plant originating from the Assam plain in India, known since the 19th century;
- Camellia sinensis : a tea plant native to China, this variety is the only one cultivated in China and Japan today.
Tea cultivation and harvest times depend largely on the latitude of the tea gardens, i.e. the number of hours of daylight and nightlight in a day. Harvesting can take place at any time except when the tea plant goes dormant , i.e. when it is exposed to less than 11 hours of daylight in a 24-hour period for at least 6 weeks.
Therefore, when the tea plant is put to sleep , the harvest must be interrupted : this dormant period includes in particular the regions far from the equator. Because in fact, concerning the regions closer to the equator , such as Sri Lanka or India, the tea plants never go dormant. Thus, the harvest of the tea plantations can take place all year round in these geographical areas, while paying attention to the monsoon periods.
Tea: how is the harvest going?
Tea plants are grown in plantations that are also called gardens . In these gardens, tea picking is mainly done by hand , and this is the case in the majority of producing countries. Depending on the tea plants' dormant periods, picking generally takes place up to 4 times a year . However, there are also tea plants that grow in wild and very difficult to access areas , particularly in certain mountains of Vietnam. The harvests from these trees thus produce beverages comparable to fine wines.
Other harvests of great teas that are easier to access are also eagerly awaited each year, particularly those of spring in Japan and Darjeeling : the teas from these harvests generally produce vintages with an unparalleled aromatic richness. However, the summer, monsoon and autumn harvests are also very important and each of them reveal very specific tea notes.
During the harvest, the pickers focus on several parts of the tea plants , in particular on the pekoe , which also means the bud. Located at the end of the branches of the tree, the latter contains the richest aromatic notes of the tea (tannin, caffeine, etc.): thus, the pekoe contains a strong potential and must be harvested very carefully. The pickers will then focus on the young leaves, often light green in color: rich in theine and tannins, they should not be neglected during the harvest.
Thus, three types of harvesting exist to ensure the production of tea:
- Classic picking: This method involves picking the pekoe and the four leaves closest to it. This method is used for entry-level trains.
- Fine picking: During this picking, the pekoe and the two closest leaves are harvested. Often practiced for high-quality teas, this practice allows the richest tannins and essential oils of the plant to be extracted.
