Quick Answer Tea is made by harvesting the young leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and carefully processing them. The main steps are withering, rolling, oxidation (or preventing oxidation), drying, and sorting. The way these steps are performed determines whether the tea becomes green, black, oolong, yellow, white, or another style. Despite the many varieties of tea, they all begin with the same plant. It All Starts With Fresh Tea Leaves Every true tea begins with Camellia sinensis. While there are many cultivars grown around the world, the journey starts the same way: harvesting fresh leaves. The quality of the finished tea depends on many factors, growing conditions, including the season, weather, the age of the leaves, and how...
Quick Answer Tea plants can produce small harvests within 2–3 years, but they generally require about 5 years to reach full production. During those first few years, the plant focuses on developing a strong root system and healthy branching rather than producing large quantities of harvestable leaves. At The Great Mississippi Tea Company, we've experienced this firsthand. Growing tea is a long-term investment, but the patience pays off with healthier plants and exceptional tea for decades to come. Good Tea Takes Time When people think about tea, they often picture a steaming cup. What they don't see is the years of care that go into producing those leaves. Unlike many annual crops that are planted and harvested in the same...
On May 6th our tea farm got the blend we never wanted. We were struck with one long track E3 Tornado in Brookhaven, MS. The tea farm would be heavily impacted. Image Credit: Storm Chaser Aaron Rigsby In the early evening our phones started to blow up with Tornado alerts to take cover. The Tea Shack is the most secure building on site so we loaded up all 6 of the dogs and all three humans and headed to the Tea Shack to wait it out. The storm could be felt and heard. We thought the windows were being blown out. After it all ended, we stepped out of the Tea Shack to what looked like a disaster zone from...
