Countries of producing black tea

The total tea production in the world of 1998 was 2,963,000 tons. Among them 22,400,000 tons were black tea (75.6% of the total tea production). The countries produce black tea are approximately 40. Here are the top 10 countries of producing black tea: India Indian tea comes from three main areas- the north-east for Darjeeling and Assam , north-west, and South India for Nilgiri. The estates of Darjeeling cling to the foot hills of the Himalayas, and the tea is grown at the land up to 2,000 meters height. Assam is world largest tea-production region. Assam tea is grown at flat area with preferable climate conditions. Shade trees are intentionally planted near the Assam trees to protect them from strong winds and direct sun. Nilgiri farms are located on the hillside (1200 to 1800 elevation) of the South edge of India. Bangladesh Tea fields are located close to the home land of Assam. Estates are also located on the flat area. Their production tea has very similar taste and characteristics as Assam tea. Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, tea is grown in the southern island. The estates are located on the mountain areas at high elevation. The teas produced in Sri Lanka are classified by what elevation the teas are from. They are classified to high elevation grown tea(higher than 4000 feet), medium elevation grown tea, and low elevation grown tea(1000 feet and less). Eastern slopes of the mountain receive Monsoon rains during January to March, and during the rainy season tea production is stopped temporary. Fine quality teas being produced during the dry period of August and September. Teas on western slopes of mountain receive Monsoon rains May to September, and from Jun to March, fine quality teas are produced. Kenya and Malawi Keniya located in the highland of East Africa near the equator. Although the history of producing tea is fairly short there, Kenya became a large tea producing country. Their rich soil, favorable weather conditions, and the availability of labors helped Kenya to grew a big tea producing country. Malawi is located South of Kenya. Indonesia Indonesia has long history of tea plantation. Plantation started by the Dutch in Northern part of Sumatra island and in Western part of Java island. Their produced tea has similar characteristic as Ceylon tea. Turkey and Iran Tea in Turkey is grown Eastern area of black sea coast. Tea in Iran is grown on the Caspian sea coast. Both teas from Turkey and Iran are mostly consumed within their countries. Argentina Tea estates are located in the north-eastern tip of the country. This area has a great temperature difference between daytime and nighttime. The temperature difference ranges from 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. China Black teas are produced in provinces of Hunan, Guandong, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Guangxi, and Guizhou. Also at the Hainan island, some amount of black tea is produced. Keemun is the world well known tea brand produced in China.

(Kiyoshi Iwaasa)