The best destinations in the world for tea lovers
Aside from Churchill, the Queen and a good old fashioned pub, there’s nothing more British than a cup of tea. Those that left our shores to colonise America in the late 1700s even started a war because the tax on the beloved beverage was too high.
Here are a few destinations (some exotic, some not-so exotic) to give passionate tea drinkers the perfect excuse to travel.
Assam, India
Darjeeling is arguably the better know region for tea production in India, but it isn’t the largest. That honour goes to Assam – a remote region in the country’s north east. Assam grows three fifths of India’s tea in vast plantations that carpet the land.
There are places to stay amid the crop, such as Mancotta, a handsome estate house dating from the 1840s when the British were annexing Assam in pursuit of a tea bonanza.
Tregothnan, Cornwall
Thought you couldn’t take a leisurely stroll through tea leaves on our own fair isle? Think again. Just outside of Truro in Cornwall, the Tregothnan estate has been selling tea grown in its own garden since 2005.
The nearby 18-metre-deep sea creek, which travels almost seven miles inland from Falmouth, and the warm, misty conditions has provided the estate with a unique microclimate that enables the Camellia to grow here unlike anywhere else in UK.
While the entrance fee is pretty steep, starting at £65 for a private garden visit, tickets for this weekend’s Charity Garden Opening (21–22 April 2018) are available from just £10.
Corrientes, Argentina
It may surprise you to learn that the UK is not the biggest tea consuming nation on the planet – at number 12, it’s not even close. So which nation drinks more cuppas a year than any other? The winner of that honour goes to Paraguay. Followed closely by neighbours Uruguay and Argentina.
In these South American countries they drink Yerba Mate, also known simply as ‘mate’, a herbal tea – and therefore in the minds of many Britons, not ‘real tea’. While some may consider this cheating, the continent’s plantations would argue otherwise. If you’re keen to take a closer look at this popular drink and its origins, head to Las Marias in Corrientes, Argentina for a tour and a tasting.
The top 20 tea-consuming nations (including mate)
- Paraguay - 12.22kg per capita per year
- Uruguay - 9.66kg
- Argentina - 6.05kg
- Kenya - 3.24kg
- The Gambia - 3.22kg
- Djibouti - 3.2kg
- Kuwait - 3.2kg
- Turkey - 3.11kg
- Mauritania - 2.63kg
- Malta - 2.24kg
- Afghanistan - 2.17kg
- United Kingdom - 2.06kg
- Morocco - 2kg
- Brazil - 1.99kg
- Macao - 1.97kg
- Ireland - 1.88kg
- Taiwan - 1.85kg
- Iran - 1.83kg
- Kazakhstan - 1.81kg
- Chile - 1.61kg
Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
With a distinctly colonial feel, many say that Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands are a ‘home away from home’, but with a much warmer climate.
Popular with visitors bound for the capital of Kuala Lumpur, the Boh Tea Plantation is a favourite. On the free tea garden and factory tour, you’ll soon discover why the landscape looks different to other tea plantations in Asia. There are no tea pickers. This is because the bushes are cut down by machinery, rather than picked by hand.
Rize, Turkey
An unusual location for the growing of tea, the Ziraat Tea Garden on Turkey’s eastern coast in Rize overlooks the Black Sea and can be found next to the Çaykur factory. This produces tea on a much smaller scale than its Asian competitors.
Turkish tea is black, strong and if prepared in the traditional way, is steeped in a double pot and served in a tulip-shaped glass.
Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
Another colonial hub, Nuwara Eliya is known locally as “little England” and there are more than a few tea plantations here where you can while away your days – the most popular of which is the Pedro Estate, found near the centre of country.
Ceylon tea is rich with a golden colour and is the country’s most important export. A trip to the region’s hill stations offers stunning scenery as well as an insight into the intriguing history of the Tamil tea pickers.