10 tea-producing countries

The countries that will be discussed below are leaders in tea production, the second most popular drink in the world.

It seems that coffee is the most popular warming drink that people consume, however, the world is actually crazy about tea. After water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. Tea was discovered thousands of years ago; tea is believed to be originated from China, where it was originally used as a medicinal potion.

During the 17th century, tea spread to Britain, appealing to the British - and, judging by the established British expression "a cup of tea", this drink has retained its popularity. If there is a need to meet with someone, the British choose teahouses. And numerous herbal caffeine-free teas help to relax after a hard day.

It becomes clear that in order to satisfy all the many desires in various types of drink, the production of tea must be huge; Also, the requirements for enterprises in terms of the number of production of various varieties of tea are constantly growing. let's consider 10 world leaders in tea production... Also take a look at the article on the 7 most delicious teas in the world.

10. Argentina (69,924 tons)

Although tea production is now a significant part of the Argentinean industry, seeds for teas grown for Russia and China were not introduced to Argentina until the 1920s. In 1950, low tea prices, as well as the government's imposition of a ban on imports, made the tea industry a slow-growing in Argentina, however, as a result, due to the diversity of climatic conditions and soils in the country, tea production entered the world stage.

Much of the tea industry in Argentina is devoted to black tea due to the subtropical climate, which provides the reference conditions for growing Indian and Assamese tea hybrids. Mate, a traditional herbal infusion made from holly leaves, is a popular drink in Argentina and is its trademark.

9.Iran (83,990 tons)

Until the end of the 15th century, Iranians preferred coffee when choosing hot drinks, but due to the remote location of Iran from the main coffee producing countries, there were great difficulties in the delivery of beans. It was easier to buy tea thanks to the overland trade route that ran through China and was called the Silk Road.

The acceptance of tea grew and tea seeds from India were purchased in 1882, which marked the beginning of the cultivation of tea in Iran, led at the time by Prince Muhammad Mirza, who was also the first mayor of Tehran. He is also known as "Kashif al Saltane".

Saltane, being the Iranian representative in India, then a British colony, knew that Britain kept the secrets of the tea industry very vigilant, as it was one of their main industries in India. Saltane went to India under the guise of a worker from France to get to the plantations and learn all the secrets of growing tea, and later brought a number of different varieties of tea to Iran.

He dropped them off in Gilan, one of the regions of Iran. This was the beginning of tea cultivation. Today, tea plantations have allocated 32,000 hectares of land, most of which are located in hilly areas.

8. Japan (88,900 tons)

Of the four main Japanese islands, three are favorable for tea cultivation. Every year Japan produces 88,900 tons of tea, but the Japanese nation is so fond of this drink that, despite the large production volumes, Japan exports less than 2% of all production.

99.9% of the tea industry is made up of various varieties of green tea, which are so beloved by the Japanese that they are now their undisputed choice in drinks.

Japanese green teas, predominantly steamed, are the most popular along with the bancha variety. However, other tea varieties such as sencha, gemmaitha and hojichya are also grown in Japan.

7. Vietnam (116,780 tons)

The tea industry in Vietnam began in 1880, when the French built the first plantation in Phu Tho. This industry began to develop rapidly, and after 50 years, Vietnam began to export tea to European countries and Africa.

The war made changes to production and slowed it down. In 1980, the Vietnamese tea industry was revived and until 2013 the Vietnamese annual tea production was 116,900 tons.

The Vietnamese tea industry consists not only of large companies using the latest technology and equipment, but also of individual entrepreneurs who harvest small quantities of tea by hand.

Various types of tea are grown in Vietnam: almost 60% of Vietnam's tea production is low-grade black tea, which is processed by a mechanized method, 35% is green tea and 5% is gourmet teas such as jasmine or lotus tea.

Vietnam also specializes in a special type of tea called Shan Thuet, made from trees of the indigenous fauna found in only a few places in Vietnam.

6. Indonesia (157,388 tons)

Indonesia began its tea industry in 1700, it became acquainted with the tea culture, being in the status of a Dutch colony. However, the new drink was not accepted by the local population, as was usual for other colonies; in 2013 Indonesia produced 150,100 tons of tea, 65% of which was exported from the country.

The tea industry in Indonesia focuses primarily on black tea, but a small amount of green tea is also grown. It is also worth noting that many varieties of indigenous Indonesian teas are not very common in the world, one of the reasons for which is that they are mixed with other teas in Indonesia.

5.Turkey (174.932 tons)

Incredibly, almost all tea production in Turkey is located in a small region near the city of Rize. The humidity of the climate, geographical location and proximity to the Black Sea create ideal conditions for growing tea culture.

Turkey produces mainly black tea, also commonly known as Turkish or Riza tea. Although Turkish coffee is famous all over the world, the tea culture is also widespread in Turkey, with a special brewing method for Turkish tea. By tradition, Turkish tea is brewed in a samovar to a highly concentrated brew, which is then diluted with water when serving the tea.

What is Turkey's secret of maintaining such a powerful industry despite not producing fancy teas? Mainly due to the fact that there is a tariff of 145% for the import of goods to local markets of foreign origin.

4. Sri Lanka (295,830 tons)

In 1867, James Taylor, a British planter, set up a tea plantation in Kandy, Sri Lanka. With only 19 acres, James was leisurely improving his plantation, and with it the tea industry as a whole.

Ceylon tea exported for sale attracted the attention of the famous writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. The plantation area has grown from the original site of a few acres to over 188,175 hectares today, and the tea industry has become one of the largest national producers.

Tea in Sri Lanka is grown using contour planting, in which tea bushes are planted in a line with an aisle between them. In this case, you can choose a convenient outline of the lines. Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, grows three main types of tea: Ceylon black, Ceylon green and Ceylon white.

3. Kenya (303.308 tons)

Compared to many countries that produce an impressive amount of tea, Kenya does not have large plantations - almost 9/10 of the tea is grown on small farms, which are less than an acre. The skill of the Kenyan workers inspires respect: in 2013, Kenya was able to produce 369,400 tons of tea.

To maintain its position in the global tea race, Kenya has focused on innovation, research and industry development. She became a leader in the selection of new varieties of crops, for example, those on which more leaves grow, or others that are not very demanding on weather conditions, an example is single-leaf artesian tea.

2. India (900,094 tons)

India is the second largest tea industry in the world, producing an average of 900,000 tonnes of tea per year.
Commercial tea production began after Britain imported tea from China. The British East India Company began cultivating tea in its East Asian colony.

India produces a large amount of tea, which is very important, since the Indian nation has more than a billion drinkers, more than 70% of the tea grown is consumed by the population itself. India also produces the most popular varieties Assam and Darjeeling.

1. China (1,000,130 tons)

Without a doubt, China is the leader in tea production, in 2013 alone it produced 1,700,000 tons - when compared with world production, this amounted to 30-35% of all production.

Such results in the production of tea should not be surprising, because if you plunge into the history of this drink - the legend says that tea was cultivated in China by the emperor and herbalist Shannong in 2737 BC. Tea was used everywhere, both as a drink and as a medicinal potion, and has always been at the center of numerous national rituals.

Many types of tea are grown in China, such as green teas, oolong teas, puer teas, yellow teas and jasmine teas. But, of course, the list of names is not limited to these species.