For All of the Tea in China, You Have to Go To England

“Nearly a third of our black tea consumption is Earl Grey, and we feel Tregothnan’s is outstanding compared with other brands.” Tea is tea is tea, and for centuries it has been an essential part of both Asian and English cuisine. And as you probably knew, the importation of tea from China and other parts of Asia to England formed one of the very first bonds of trade between the Eastern and Western worlds. Okay, so much for history, which is always evolving anyway and is often filled with irony. Because for one small company in England, the love for tea has led to a mastery in growing, harvesting and processing the precious leaves into a product which is very much coveted and sought out by tea connoisseurs in Asia. Tregothnan Estates in Cornwall produces numerous varieties of tea, including Earl Grey and Darjeeling, for which some high-end consumers in China and Japan have developed a taste. In Japan particularly, English Earl Grey has become a very popular beverage as casual Japanese cuisine has become more westernized. And apparently having a sip of English Breakfast tea is not all that uncommon these days among the more affluent residents of Beijing and Shanghai. So in an interesting flip-flop of history, at least one English tea company is making and exporting tea to the birthplace of those lovely leaves. As we said, history is not without a sense of irony. (CNNGo – English Tea For China)