Understanding Organic Tea

People are talking and looking for organic tea.  But what does organic really mean in tea?  Is it only hojo_teawhen the tea farms are not using any pesticide?  Not exactly, because there are different way of manage the tea plantation to produce the quality that meets with organic standards:  

  • The best one is, of course, the wild tea plantation where they do not use any fertilizer or pesticide.  The discovery of wild tea plants are still on going in China.
  • There are very very small group of tea farmers who using self-composed fertilizer and no using pesticide.  Indeed the number of these kind of tea farmers is very limited because it requires their full commitment not only to the Mother Nature but also to their own health; the rish for the attack of insects is very high, the production is little.  Leaves are not perfect because of bites of insects but the quality definitely is pure and nature. .
  • To avoid poisoning the earth, nowaday there are tea farmers are using natural fertilizer, for example soya beans or milk and using organic pesticide.  The number of the tea farmers is increasing in Taiwan and China. But tea lovers should understand the cost for such quality is also very high. 
  • There are tea farmers using natural fertilizer, natural methods of reducing the harm from insects.  The Taiwan Tea Renovation Centre have discovered Telenomus can kill some harmful worms by laying their eggs in worms.  As you can imagine, the cost and risk for this kind of tea plantation management are very high; the price is still high because of limited quantity

You can, however, find many aromatic teas claim as organic tea.  Perhaps the tea base is from 1527291367_1714541679.220x220organic tea farm, but how about other flowers  or leaves they use to give the extra aroma and flavor?  The answer for this question goes back to the following questions :

  1. Can you tell the difference between nature vs. aromatic tea?
  2. What is the aromatic process? By blending or using essential oil (how it was processed)?

Enjoying a cup of tea is fun and how to select quality subjects to the type of life style you choose.