The Perfect Cup of Tea

The Southern Highlands are not only a good location for coffee growing (see blog entry below), but they are also renowned for their tea plantations.
The tea plantations are stunning: the vibrant green of the tea estates lend a sharp contrast to the dominant brown colour seen throughout much of the country at this time of year. As we rounded a corner on a bumpy farm track and discovered our first view of a tea plantation, we were struck by the beautiful colour and actually stopped the car to take it all in! Even the children appreciated the green!

The climate is much cooler up in the tea estates and after a long 6-hour drive in the heat of the day, it was great to wind the windows down and breathe in the fresher air.

During our holiday at The Farm, we had the opportunity to visit a tea plantation and see some of the process involved in getting the perfect cup of tea into our tea-cups!

First, the pickers work their way through the tea fields with baskets strapped onto their backs and are trained to pick the leaves at just the right moment- if I remember correctly, the ideal seems to be 2 green leaves on a stalk, with a small, curled green tip on the 3rd stalk (ever wonder where the name PG Tips comes from??).

Next, the green tea leaves are placed in giant drying areas under cover, with air gently blowing up underneath to dry them out to just the right temperature. Esther and Ben were quite amused by the channels of air coming up from under the leaves!

The workers then sift through and pack up the tea leaves into these bags, suspended here above drying coffee beans, and the bags make their way pon a moving ceiling belt into the factory, where a system of sorting, flattening and drying takes place, which can vary according to the type of tea required. We were told that the machines inside sift the tea a bit like an old fashioned clothes mangle dried out the washing.

When the process is complete, the happy customer can purchase ultra-fresh tea! Here is one such happy customer, with arm-fulls of tea to see us through for a little while! Apparently, this is the best time of year for the tea from this particular area of the tea-growing world and the very best quality too- so I have high hopes about the taste of my cuppas over the months to come (and watch out both of our Mums, we'll be sending you a fresh sample in the post as well!).