The Real English Breakfast
I recently came across and interesting article in 'Tea and Coffee Trade Journal' that made me chuckle. The article was about a certain kind of British Tea, but not the typical English Breakfast.
For all you English breakfast enthusiasts out there who define English Breakfast tea by certain origin and taste standards (some people say Keemun is the only true English Breakfast) check this out: Britain now grows it’s very own tea. Not that I am a fan of the “standard” English Breakfast, but at least now the Tregothnan estate in Cornwall can say they have the only true English Breakfast tea. Apparently the climate is similar to Darjeeling, and there are 30 different cultivars grown and processed there. They plan to produce a ton of tea per year until 2010 and develop a business focused on quality and sustainability.
Interestingly enough, the tea is grown and thrives by organic standards and the area is naturally free of the insects that normally cause tea farmers to use pesticides in other parts of the world. Though free from insects, the rabbits, deer and pheasants seem to love the young tea buds as much as humans. Pheasants in particular can pick a whole bush bare. Those must be some energetic little pheasants!
Cornwall, in southwestern England, is known for its attractive botanical gardens and until 1999, The Tregothnan estate was one of these. According to the article, Jonathan Jones, now the head gardener at Tregothnan suggested the idea of growing and processing tea to be sold on the English market. After researching tea plants already growing on Britain, he set off to study tea growing in China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Korea as well as some other tea growing regions around the world. On may 3rd 2005 after the tea plants had matured enough to be picked for a commercial crop the first tea was picked and processed. After the processing was finished it was shipped to London to be sold there as what is most certainly the freshest tea ever sold in England.
According to Jones (as stated in the article mentioned above), Tregothnan is going to start producing micro-lots to study which cultivars and processing techniques produce the best quality tea. Tregothnan has recently cleared some new area on steep hill sides to bring their total area of tea bushes to 30 acres.
The Tregothnan single estate tea goes for 28 British pounds for 50 grams of tea. That is about 50$ for 50 grams. That actually comes out to around the same price as the Da Yu Ling. They also offer tours around the estate for those interested in seeing the true English Breakfast growing and being processed.
For all you English breakfast enthusiasts out there who define English Breakfast tea by certain origin and taste standards (some people say Keemun is the only true English Breakfast) check this out: Britain now grows it’s very own tea. Not that I am a fan of the “standard” English Breakfast, but at least now the Tregothnan estate in Cornwall can say they have the only true English Breakfast tea. Apparently the climate is similar to Darjeeling, and there are 30 different cultivars grown and processed there. They plan to produce a ton of tea per year until 2010 and develop a business focused on quality and sustainability.
Interestingly enough, the tea is grown and thrives by organic standards and the area is naturally free of the insects that normally cause tea farmers to use pesticides in other parts of the world. Though free from insects, the rabbits, deer and pheasants seem to love the young tea buds as much as humans. Pheasants in particular can pick a whole bush bare. Those must be some energetic little pheasants!
Cornwall, in southwestern England, is known for its attractive botanical gardens and until 1999, The Tregothnan estate was one of these. According to the article, Jonathan Jones, now the head gardener at Tregothnan suggested the idea of growing and processing tea to be sold on the English market. After researching tea plants already growing on Britain, he set off to study tea growing in China, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Korea as well as some other tea growing regions around the world. On may 3rd 2005 after the tea plants had matured enough to be picked for a commercial crop the first tea was picked and processed. After the processing was finished it was shipped to London to be sold there as what is most certainly the freshest tea ever sold in England.
According to Jones (as stated in the article mentioned above), Tregothnan is going to start producing micro-lots to study which cultivars and processing techniques produce the best quality tea. Tregothnan has recently cleared some new area on steep hill sides to bring their total area of tea bushes to 30 acres.
The Tregothnan single estate tea goes for 28 British pounds for 50 grams of tea. That is about 50$ for 50 grams. That actually comes out to around the same price as the Da Yu Ling. They also offer tours around the estate for those interested in seeing the true English Breakfast growing and being processed.
Labels: breakfast tea, england, english tea