Tea provenance

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Nigel at Teacraft 22 years ago

Traditionally and typically, tea is sold as deriving from a named area. This gives the buyer a prime clue as to type, character, and expected quality.

I have just noticed a news item that may give consternation to these traditionalists:

>snip>>>

The Zimbabwean tea company "Tanganda" has announced that it is to establish tea plantations in Mozambique as part of its expansion plans, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias". The company's managing director, Andrew Mills, revealed that Tanganda has completed feasibility studies, and has decided to establish the plantations in Mozambican soil, but the tea will be processed in Zimbabwe.

>>unsnip>>>>

Will this tea then be classified a Mozambican or a Zimbabwian? Is tea from Darjeeling grown leaf, transported by truck to, and processed in Assam - a Darjeeling or an Assam? I suspect the Tea Board of India would accept neither classification.

And as a quizzical afterthought - how many of the "Senchas" available now actually derive from China, processed in Chinese/Japanese joint venture built factories processing Japanese bushes growing in China? There are apparently at least 80 such factories.

Nigel at Teacraft

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crymad 22 years ago

The bulk of this China-grown "Japanese" tea is probably relegated to the enormous prepared tea industry in Japan -- tea beverages in cans and bottles, available everywhere. Bags of loose-leaf tea sold in Japan are clearly marked with the name and address of the producer. As to the origin of teas sold by online vendors in the US, well, that's something you'll have to take up with them.

--crymad

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DPM 22 years ago

Well, consider another food where origin is important - cheese. For example, in France a cheese may be made outside a name-controlled area, say Morbier, then shipped to that area to be aged. The manufacturer may label it as "Morbier", but the label must reveal the real place of origin. The unwary may buy it as real Morbier, but a careful examination will reveal the true origin.

I may misunderstand you, but are you implying that there are no international regulations that control the use of place names with tea, or is the problem that they are country-specific ? I know that Darjeeling is name controlled - the problem is that I have to trust my retailer (in my personal case, 99% of which are online), because I can't physically inspect the chest to see if the tea sold to me has the official designation. But then, I'd have the same problem if I bought cheese online.

I guess my conclusion is: as a consumer I need to carefully choose my vendors, because ultimately I will have to trust them to ask the hard questions, and label/describe the tea accordingly: "This tea was grown on the Wazoo estate in Mozambique and processed in Zimbabwe".

Regards, Dean

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Tea provenance

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