The meaning of terroir as it relates to growing and producing tea

The Tea Detective
Uncovering and Exploring the Facts About Tea

Terroir of Tea-The Magic of "Place" on
Tea's Growth

The Camellia sinensis or tea plant is grown in dozens of countries around the world and is pro-
cessed into six main types of tea - black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong, yellow, and pu-erh.
And even when taking into account the many different manufacturing styles, why does an
oolong tea grown in similar conditions in China, and let's say, Taiwan, which is just a hop, skip,
and jump away, across the narrow Taiwan Strait, taste totally different?

Both countries use similar manufacturing methods.
In fact, today many Taiwanese residents are actu-
lly Chinese immigrants who learned how to make
tea in their native China. So, if you were to com-
pare a tieguanyin oolong from China, with a Tai-
wanese tieguanyin, you'd expect them to taste
pretty much the same, right?

Presumably yes, but they don't and the reason
they don't is because of their terroir.

Terroir (pronounced terr-WARH) is a French term
that comes from the word terre (meaning "land"),
originally developed by the French wine industry
to describe the impact that a growing location and
type of plant has on the final flavor of a given food
or beverage. It is now applied to the tea, coffee,
and chocolate industries worldwide.

As it applies to tea, I like to think of terroir as the "magic of place," with all
the factors coming together to determine tea's growth and character.

While there remains major disagreement all around on what exactly terroir
is, there is a general consensus that a good overall description is that it's
"those natural elements generally considered to be beyond the control of
humans."

These natural elements determine the final product, the flavor, character,
the amount of vital vitamins, minerals, and other healthy compounds con-
tained in the leaf, and even the cost of your daily cup of tea. These factors of terroir include the
following:

Climate - aspects of climate include the temperature and amounts of sun, wind, and rain affecting
teas growth. The tropical paradise of Sri Lanka is roughly the size of Indiana, yet it's the
World's fourth largest tea producer. With its near perfect climate of sun, wind, and rain, tea
grows abundantly there year round.

Another very different aspect of climate affects Uva, a high-grown region in eastern Sri Lanka,
that experiences dry Cachan winds from July to September. The hot, dry Cachan winds cause
the tea bushes to react as though from draught, closing up their leaves. This also initiates an in-
ternal change within the cells of the leaves to replace lost moisture.

The teas produced during this period are especially flavorful and command higher prices, all due
to the unique climate or terrior of Uva. No where else on earth will you find the exact set of
climactic circumstance.

                                             Topography (Relief) - the topography of a place is the altitude and
                                              degree of slope of a particular location, determining its exposure
                                              to weather, hours of sunlight, shade, and drainage. In the case
                                              of Darjeeling tea, its terroir is not only responsible for the flavor
                                              and character, but its high cost as well.

                                             The Himalayan Mountains, home to India's Darjeeling tea is one of
the highest altitude tea growing regions in the world. There the native China tea bush
flourishes at elevations ranging from 1,800 feet in the foothills, to nearly 8,500 feet at Tiger Hill.

In the higher elevations cool, thin air slows leaf growth and maturation, yielding half that of leaf
grown in lower, more temperate elevations. Together with steep slopes, some as much as 60
to 70 degrees, Darjeeling's topography is directly responsible for the lower yields and difficulty
harvesting tea, and the resulting high production costs reflected at the register.

Once again we look at Sri Lanka and their unique topography which
is the base from which their tea is grown, determined not by season
or even climate, but rather by elevation with three distinct tea types:
low-grown, mid-grown, and high-grown teas, with each elevation
lending itself to its own unique character and flavor profile.

Geology - these are the physical properties of the soil and the rocks
from which it's made. The make-up of the soil is important, especially in regard to the amount of
water received and drainage abilities.

The Wuyi shan region in China's northwestern Fujian Province looks like it's straight out of a fairy
tale with tall, rocky limestone peaks, winding rivers, and lush vegetation, with steep, winding
roads and sheer cliffs. High atop the limestone peaks the tea bushes are heavily shaded by
clouds and mist, with only a few hours of sunlight each day.

This is home to Wuyi shan "rock teas" or "cliff teas," so called for the thin layer of soil anchoring the tea bushes. The
thin rocky soil contains vital minerals and nutrients that give these teas unique flavor, making them famous for
providing vitality and good health to all who drink them. Wuyi shan teas are precious and rare, grown in a 35 to 40
mile area whose terroir can never be duplicated anywhere else in the world.

There is much more that goes into what terroir is, but looking at the big picture, think of it as the part that "place"
plays in the making and growth of tea. It is why a green tea from Japan differs so much from a Chinese green tea,
after eliminating all human components, such as differences in manufacturing, plucking styles, and types of tea grown.

As mentioned earlier, terroir is all those natural elements that go into the tea before it undergoes any type of human
intervention. It is the rich, red volcanic soil in Kenya, the crisp, clean mountain air in Nepal, and the hot, dry Cachan
winds of Sri Lanka. It is the uniqueness of place that goes into growing and producing the most flavorful teas from all
around the world. Enjoy.

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