TEA

Black tea, refers to tea which has been fully oxidised or fermented and yields a hearty-flavoured, amber brew. Darjeeling tea (grown in the mountain area of Darjeeling, India. It produces a unique full bodied but light flavour with a subtly lingering aroma reminiscent of Muscatel); and Orange Pekoe (a blend of Ceylon teas that is the most widely used of the tea blends).

Important varieties of tea are black tea, oolong tea and green tea.

There are around 1300-tea specimen and 2000 tea flavors. The aroma and flavor is normally associated with the growth origin, age of the leaf, time of plucking and the processing techniques.

Usually, tea plant takes five years to be ready for plucking and seven years to mature. Tea plant is considered most productive between the years of 15 and 35. However, the plant continues to be productive up to 70 years.

Tea requires warm and humid climate; plenty of well distributed rainfall and long sunny days. It is normally grown in equatorial regions. Soil types can vary from sandy loam to heavy clay with plenty of humus. It can be grown on the slopes of the hills as well as plains.

the tea tree rises to a height of 10-15 m and flowers like any other perennial semi-deciduous tree.