TEA PLANT to TEA POT

Standing about waist high, the dense green bushes—sprinkled with small white blossoms—stretched as far as the eye could see.  Once a week, workers with baskets slung over their backs begin plucking the top two or three light green leaves.  They're followed by workers carrying a portable cutter to trim the next 3 inches of darker, more mature leaves.

Tea leaves of only slightly different ages produce differing tea qualities—age changes their chemical composition. In Mauritius, the new, fresh tips are harvested for green tea and the next layer for black tea, however the very same plant could be used to produce white, yellow, or oolong tea!

 After picking, the leaves of “Camellia Sinensis” are taken inside the tea factory where they are spread out and allowed to "wilt" and oxidize for 24 hours.  The leaves turn progressively darker as their chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released; also losing 70% of their moisture, this enzymatic oxidation process is known as fermentation in the tea industry. The darkening is stopped by sending the leaves along a conveyor belt through a hot oven for a quick bake. 

This deactivates the enzymes and finishes the drying to 100%.  Next the leaves are chopped, then stems and veins removed by a clever use of static electricity, and finally sifted and sorted by size into bags.

 After spending the next 3 months in the factory silo (where the tea “ages” like fine wine) it is ready to either be bagged or “flavored.”  Tea greedily absorbs surrounding aromas, so with only a small spritz of mint extract or vanilla powder followed by a 15 minute fluffing in the tumbler—viola—flavored tea!

The afternoon Damon, Jena, and I spent touring the Bois Cheri Tea Factory was rainy and cool, but we quickly warmed up when we began the tea sampling.  The Bois Cheri Green Tea and Vanilla Tea emerged as our all-time favorites. 

Vanilla is also grown in Mauritius and we sweetened each cup with locally grown cane sugar !  

Ahhh…beautiful misty vistas and a hot cup of sweetened vanilla tea … a Mauritian winter afternoon through and through!