Top 10 Tea Producing Countries

The results are in!  The top 10 tea producing countries in 2011 were:

1. China, 1.6 million tonnes
2. India, 1.0 million tonnes
3. Kenya, .4 million tonnes
4. Sri Lanka, .3 million tonnes
5. Turkey, .2 million tonnes
6. Vietnam, .2 million tonnes
7. Iran, .2 million tonnes
8. Indonesia, .1 million tonnes
9. Argentina, .1 million tonnes
10. Japan, .1 million tonnes

For those who like their measurements in pounds, a tonne is 2,200 pounds.  So, China and India combined produced 5.7 BILLION pounds of tea last year.  Holy Hot Beverage, Batman!

The top 10 country rankings are the same as they were in 2010 but Brazil dropped off the top 25 list and was replaced by Cameroon.  I don't know if Brazil's output declined, but African output is increasing  because its tea bushes are reaching the age of optimal production, says the Food & Ag Organization of the United Nations.

Data sources: FAOSTAT.com .

Tea Clipper Ships

"Thermopylae" clipper ship. Chromolithograph by M. Reilly (19th century)

It's exhilarating to imagine being a captain of a clipper ship.  My long, sleek boat skimming atop the waves as a stiff wind snaps the canvas sails into billowing clouds.  What a rush!

The heyday of the clipper ships was in the mid 1800's when American and British shipbuilders competed to build the fastest designs for bringing fresh tea from China.  Tea lovers on both sides of the Atlantic wagered on which boats would arrive first and captains commanding the fastest ships would win public acclaim and  monetary rewards.

Many ships names evoked images of speed and beauty:  Flying Cloud, Champion of the Seas, Hurricane, Flying Fish, Snow Squall, Stag Hound and Lightning.

The clippers could travel at speeds of 20 knots per hour and cover 400 miles in a 24-hour period.  By comparison, cargo ships of the time traveled at 4 knots per hour.  The route went around Cape Horn and took about 107 days.

The clipper ship era ended around 1869 when the Suez Canal opened and steamships made the trip in 50 days.

I'd like to someday see the last surviving clipper ship, the Cutty Sark.  For the last 6 years, it has been under renovation but was re-opened in April 2012 by Her Majesty the Queen.  The ship's home is at the Royal Museums Greenwich, London.

White Tea Review: Snow Buds

We had a lovely cup of Snow Buds white tea today at Temple Coffee & Tea in Sacramento.  Temple mostly sources its own tea, meaning they buy directly from a producer.

Snow Buds tea leaves are from the Fujian province of China and are picked when the leave and buds are new.

We steeped the tea for the recommended 3 minutes and found it a delightful and gentle brew.  Here are a few tasting notes:

Liquor  - a clear golden-yellow

Aroma  - vegetal/grassy 

Astringency - a noticeable but light astringency

Body/Texture - clean with a bit of fullness

Taste - surprisingly, the first tastes did not match the aroma.  The tea was clean and bright with a grounding undertone of nuttiness. After a few minutes, a grassy flavor became more prominent.