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Each tea freight is different as its quality depends on the country of origin and the harvesting and processing techniques. The consumer, however, always expects the same taste from his tea. The master blenders select the incoming tea brands to make up the tastes and fragrances required by consumers, according to the company’s strict regulations. Blenders sometimes use as many as 20-30 different teas for a tea blend.

The main tea producing countries or regions of the world are:

Assam

Assam of North-India with its 2,000 tea shrubs is one of the finest tea cultivating areas in the world. The tea coming from this region is a strong, corpulent drink with a specific character and a dark colour.

Darjeeling

The mountainous region of Darjeeling lies at the foot of the snowy Himalayas, at an altitude of 2,000 m. The excellent Darjeeling teas are the common result of the cool, moist climate and the high location, as well as the outstanding quality of the air and the soil. This tea is often called the king of teas. However, due to the mountainous location of the plantations, the harvesting period is short; it only lasts from April to October. The Darjeeling tea is less strong than the Assam.

Nilgiri

The Nilgiri Mountains in the most southern region of India are an ideal tea-producing region. The harvest here is undisturbed throughout the year. The teas coming from the Nilgiri Mountains are delicious and fresh, with a soft flavour.

China

A large variety of teas is harvested from the eighteen tea cultivating regions. The range of the Chinese teas includes green tea, half-fermented tea (the so-called ’pure’ tea or oolong), and, of course, the traditional black tea. These have different characters, ranging from the flower-scented teas (like jasmine) to herb teas and the strong, corpulent drinks.

Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

In this country lying on a completely flat land, the best tea types are harvested in the eastern region from late June to early September, and in the west of the island from early February to mid March. In the Eastern part of the country is situated Uva. The dry wind blowing here from June to September gives a particularly pleasant taste and flavour to Uva’s tea. Dimbula of the western region has to face the monsoon in August and September. The best teas here are obtained in the dry months, January and February. In this area, they switched over from coffee to tea production in 1870. Ceylon teas have a particularly nice colour, and a wonderful scent and flavour.

Indonesia

The two main tea-producing islands are Java and Sumatra. Java produces colourful, scented, delicious teas. The teas from Sumatra often have a metallic taste and a poorer quality.

Japan

In Japan, they produce non-fermented green tea as well as black tea. Japanese tea crops are almost exclusively consumed within the country, since Japan has preserved its tea drinking traditions to the present.

Africa

Tea growing in Africa dates back only to the early 20th century. The main producers are Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. In Kenya, they grow teas with strong colour and taste, which are similar to Assam teas. The tea production of the other two countries is less characteristic and poorer in quality.

South America

The two most important tea-cultivating countries are Brazil and Argentina. Most South-American teas have a neutral character and a specifically light colour.

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