Brew: Growing Your Own Tea

If you are a tea drinker, you may enjoy growing your own tea plant. Today's tea drinkers get their tea from local shops, in tea bags or in canisters. You may find it rewarding to drink your own freshly picked, dried, and brewed tea leaves.

Camellia sinensis is the Latin name for the tea plant that provides the world with green, black, and oolong varieties of tea. Tea surpasses even coffee as the world's favorite infused water drink. To be properly called "tea", the main ingredient needs to be leaves from the Camellia sinensis plant, a native of east Asia.

The origin of tea is buried under many layers of history and legend. Generally, the Chinese are considered to have been the first drinkers of tea and they credit Shennong, a legendary emperor, with its discovery. India and Japan claim that Bodhidharma, a monk of India, discovered the tea that they cultivate. Tea, as we know it in British culture, was not imported until the 1600s. Europeans migrating to the United States brought their tea with them, which has spawned a derivative mainly popular in the southern United States - sweetened iced tea.

You may be able to get seeds or plants at your local nursery, but if you can't find any, you can always order seeds online. One place that sells grown plants is greenteaplants.com Although the tea plant is mainly associated with Asia, its area of origin, it can grow happily outside in the U.S. Hardiness Zone 8 (Texas, Georgia, northern Florida, etc.). Acidic, well-drained, sandy soil is the home of choice for the tea plant. You'll also need to invest in some kind of pruning shears, because tea will grow quite large and bushy without prudent pruning to keep it manageable.

If you don't have the climate or the space to plop your tea plant outside, you can grow it in a pot. Mix some sphagnum moss in with the potting soil for additional acidity. You can also make your own soil for tea plants with a mix of sphagnum moss, bark shavings, sand and regular potting soil. It may seem ironic, given the destination of the leaves, but do not over water your tea plant. The soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings. As the tea grows, you will have to either repot the plant or thin out the roots if you want to keep the plant in the same pot. Potted tea grows best in rooms between 65 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Growth will slow or stop at much below 65 degrees, so warm, sunny rooms or greenhouses are best for tea growth.

Growing tea is only the first step. In order to enjoy your tea, you need to know when and how to pick and dry the leaves. Tea plants take some time to grow to the point where you can harvest their leaves. For all teas, you will want to pick the youngest leaves and buds on the tea plant.

For green tea, let them dry in the shade for a few hours. Steam them on the stove like vegetables for about 1 minute. Then, spread on a baking sheet in the oven at 250F for about 20 minutes.

For oolong tea, let them wilt in the sun for about 45 minutes. Then, bring them inside to sit at room temperature for a few hours (make sure you stir them up every hour to help them along). When their edges turn red, pop them into the oven for 20 minutes at 250F.

For black tea, crush the leaves with your hands until they turn dark red. Then you want to spread them out on a tray for a couple of days in a cool location. Finally, you complete the drying process with 20 minutes in a 250F oven.

All teas should be kept in an air-tight container. For different tastes, mix herbs, spices or flowers in with the tea leaves. Enjoy!