America's Tea Plantation

When we were in Charleston at the end of May we visited America's ONLY tea plantation. I had no idea that there was only ONE. It seems most of the tea we drink is grown in other countries and marketed by name brand companies. Bigelow partners with Charleston Tea. This is the founder of the one in Charleston, SC

I have to say it was very interesting and educational. I had no idea that the plants look like shrubbery. There were rows and rows of them.

We were told that other countries grow their tea on hillsides for better drainage.

Charleston is flat and they had to make their own drainage system to protect the plants.

This is the machine that cuts the tea leaves. It's the only one of it's kind in the world. The other countries cannot use it on the hillside slopes. It is very tall and is actually riding above the shrubs of tea leaves. It takes only a couple of inches off and they repeat the process every 3 weeks. This way they are always getting new and fresh growth.

We just happened to be there on a cutting day. Lucky for us!

This shows the height of the machine. It rides between the narrow rows of shrubs.

See the leaves in the basket on the back of the machine.

We toured the processing plant next.

There are quite a few steps before we get the final product.

They had many different flavors and we were able to sample some of them, and of course I had to bring some home.

On many of the plantations in Charleston there is water and where there is water there is alligators.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour of the Charleston Tea Plantation and that you have a wonderful week!