Tea Grown and Produced in England at Tregothnan in Cornwall
TEA GROWING IN ENGLAND???
Knowing that:
The tea plant requires a tropical or sub-tropical climate to thrive
Europeans have been trying unsuccessfully for 400+ years to cultivate a tea growing operation in Europe
I was intrigued when I learned there was a small tea growing company in England.
As detailed in this article about Britain’s role in the colonial tea trade and this article on Britain’s desire to control its own tea growing and production supply chain to end its reliance on importing tea from China, being able to successfully grow tea in England is a triumph many centuries in the making.
LEARNING ABOUT CORNISH GROWN TEA IN LONDON
A couple of years back, a friend and I went for afternoon tea a short distance from London at Cliveden House, one of the historic country houses that dot Britain .
When looking through the tea selection menu I was quite intrigued when I saw two offerings that featured tea leaves grown in England both produced by British tea company Tregothnan.
Of course I had to try it.
Honestly it just tasted pretty generic like the black tea blends British developed to have a consistent, shelf stable flavor to produce in industrial scales in India and East Africa, but I enjoyed the novelty of the offering.
So when a year or so later visiting friends in Cornwall, I realized we were close to Tregothnan, and was excited to see for ourselves tea growing in England!
A MICRO-CLIMATE FAVORABLE FOR GROWING TEA
Cornwall, a region in the south west of England, has a local Cornish culture and language quite distinct from English culture.
I learned from the excellent book The Granite Kingdom, a Cornish Journey that because of Cornwall’s ancient history of regional trade, Cornish culture has more in common with other Celtic neighbors like Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany in France than England.
Long before Ireland; before Wales; before even the proper existence of England itself: Cornwall was the first territory claimed by an English state but home to people who were other than English; the first small piece of an empire. (page 28, The Granite Kingdom, a Cornish Journey)
In addition to having a distinctly different history, culture, and language Cornwall today also has a distinctly different micro-climate than the rest of England!
Cornwall has a micro-climate influenced by Gulf Streams making it one of the warmest regions in the UK which allows Cornwall to successfully grow tea and other subtropical plants.
Additionally the position of Tregothnan itself, on a deep sea water creek and inland away from salt wind exposure makes it especially favorable for growing tea and their famous camellia garden.
TREGOTHNAN CAMELLIAS AND CAMELLIA SINENSIS
The estate of Tregothnan, which has been in the Boscawen family since the 14th century, is also the seat for the family peerage title the Visounct of Falmouth. (Britain’s aristocratic system is still very much alive!)
It was at Tregothnan 200 years ago, that the first outdoor camellias were grown and cultivated successfully. As pioneers of growing camellias in Great Britain, Tregothnan has been known as an expert camellia grower.
As tea enthusiasts know, the tea plant camellia sinensis is a type of camellia plant!
So considering the history of camellia growing at Tregothnan it isn’t such a stretch that it became the first place to successfully grow the tea plant in quantity in England.
GROWING TEA AT TREGOTHNAN
We learned on the tour of the grounds and tea growing areas that tea growing at Tregothnan started after 1992 but the first successful harvest was in 2005 and yielded just 28g of tea.
Today they have 110 acres of tea plants managed by 7 gardeners and they use machines to pluck and prune the tea plants. (In many parts of Asia, tea leaves are still hand picked at harvest!)
The varietal of tea plant used at Tregothnan is Camellia Sinensis Assamica.
And while Tregothnan is trying to grow its tea operation, today most of the tea sold as Tregothnan tea is in fact blended with imported Indian teas to be able to sell at a commercial scale.
To me, the novelty of tea grown in England is the main selling point for Tregothnan’s tea.
But novelties are fun, you could even say novelTEA’s are great fun. (sorry I couldn’t resist.)
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