Drying Tea Leaves

Jeff and I both grew up in New England but consider ourselves Southerners after living in South Carolina for the last 34 years. My beloved grandfather was a huge tea drinker. No matter how hot the weather, he drank hot tea even in his unairconditioned house, saying, “Ah, good tea”, after the first sip.

I’ve been fascinated with tea since we bought our house in the Tea Farm area of Summerville in 2011. Most people from this area know the story of Dr. Shepard and his tea plantation. If not, there is a lot of the history to be found online. Although nothing remains of the original Pinehurst Tea Plantation, the area still has some active tea plants and is the finest place in the area to find mature Camellia plants. We have more than three dozen camellia plants growing on our one-acre lot that are breathtaking in beauty. They bloom from October until April with each variety blooming at different times. I have yet to figure out how many different varieties we have, but it is well over a dozen. In addition to that, when the tea olives bloom, I literally close my eyes and stand still and sniff the air to take in as much as possible.

We took a trip to the Charleston Tea Plantation, now the Charleston Tea Garden, a couple of years ago to learn more about the history of tea in this area and visit the very plantings that came from Summerville’s tea farm. We had a great tour of the place, learning a lot about the effort that goes into growing tea. We purchased some loose tea and tea ball infusers before we left, which I use regularly.

About that time, my husband and I talked about growing our own tea plants. We did some research, reached out to a neighbor with a blooming tea plant and retrieved some cuttings from his plant. We did our research and steamed the leaves, cooled them with water, dried them in the oven and stored them, but when we tried to make tea from them, we found it lacking in flavor. Obviously, not enough research was done. We planted some cuttings in our greenhouse, but since we were not living in Summerville full-time, splitting our time between Aiken and here until this year, the plants did not fare well. Although our first try didn’t work, we plan on trying again sometime soon. In the meantime, I’ll keep using my tea from the Charleston Tea Garden and my infuser, and living in the sweetest part of Summerville to us, the Tea Farm!

For more information about the Charleston Tea Garden, visit https://charlestonteagarden.com/

For more information about the history of tea in Summerville, visit https://south-carolina-plantations.com/dorchester/pinehurst-tea.html

Pictures:

1   Sign on Tea Farm Road tells of the history of the Tea Farm

2   Side two of the Tea Farm Road sign

3   Some of the Camellia varieties in our yard

4   Signage at Charleston Tea Plantation (Garden)

5   Sign at Charleston Tea Plantation recognizing Summerville’s entry into the Guinness Book of Records in 2018

6   Signage at Charleston Tea Plantation regarding Summerville’s tea production

7   Loose tea available for purchase at Charleston Tea Plantation and an infuser

8   Tea cuttings from a neighbor’s tea plant

9   Planted the cuttings

10  Steam the leaves for 1-2 minutes and then cool with cold water immediately to stop heating

11  Roll the leaves and place in oven for heating at about 220 degrees for 10 minutes, turning halfway through

12  Dried leaves after heating

13  Store in a sealed glass container