TEA

The principal tea cultivating countries are in the tropics and subtropics. Unlike green coffee beans and raw cocoa, tea is exported in ready-to-use form. It is a cargo which demands the utmost care. Shipping period starts approx. 6 weeks after harvest, with the tea shipped at the beginning of a season being the most valuable. Later varieties of tea are mostly of lower quality.

Tea consists of the fermented and dried leaves, leaf buds and tender stems of the evergreen tea bush of the Theaceae family. Tea is a high quality semiluxury item, the stimulant action of which results from its content of 2.5 - 5% of thein. At certain intervals, the tea bushes are cut back to a height of 1 m. Tea is always harvested as two leaves and one bud. Tea is cultivated in plantations (tea gardens).

Tea consists of the fermented and dried leaves, leaf buds and tender stems of the evergreen tea bush of the Theaceae family.