Understanding the Consumption of Tea: Black, White, Green or Oolong?

 

Different types of teas

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a beverage loved by people all over the world, though at different levels of affinity. I believe my love for tea started as a toddler who will wake up at the middle of the night to impress it on my aunties to make tea for me. Later in life, tea became something I drink only for breakfast. As I became a traveler, researcher and global learner, tea became part of my staple including the influence of my colleagues in the graduate school who always enjoy tea at any time of the day. On one fateful day during grad school, I remember ordering chai tea latte and Makau Nzuma informed me that the meaning of chai is tea so chai tea is a tautology (repetition). Moreover, in one of my essays, I alluded to the fact that we consume the same thing even though preparation and name my differ. Whether it is chai (e.g. Indians, Arabs, and East Africans), cha (e.g. Bangladeshis and Chinese), chay (Russians and Ukrainians), te (e.g. Italians, and Spanish), the (French) tsaa (Filipinos), these different ethnocultural groups are referring to the same beverage that is highly desirable to their gastronomy. To the specialty cafés and food franchises, chai tea latte is a blend of black tea and spices.

The story of tea started from China and has migrated to other parts of the world. The popularity started with matcha thus strengthening the Chinese tea culture. It was during the 9^th century that a Japanese monk, from China, started growing the plant in Japan and a unique ritual was developed around the consumption of tea. Dutch traders were the first set of people to import tea to Europe in the 17^th century. Tea was a major trade commodity during this period, thus leading to intense competition among the western countries to outcompete China. The competition was so stiff that Britain suggested a trade based on barter to exchange opium for tea, an arrangement that led to public health problems in China. To curtail the challenges associated with the consumption of opium, a cargo of opium was destroyed at the port of China and this led to the opium war. This war weakened China’s global power for more than a century. To further reduce the Chinese monopoly power, tea plants and experienced tea growers were smuggled out of China to Darjeeling, India under the British control (via The British East Indian Company). This spread of tea plantation continued across borders. In fact, an emeritus professor from Chennai, told me it was the British who moved a huge number of Tamils from Tamil Nādu to work on tea plantations in Sri Lanka.

Processed tea leaves

As my curiosity for consumption of desirable tea develops, I kept looking for teas that are sustainable for both the environment and the farmers cultivating the land. Based on my inclination and convictions, I made sure I buy and drink teas that are ethically produced, organic and artisanal. But the challenge is that it is difficult to monitor what operates along the value chain and certification is not necessarily a panacea. In other words, opacity and food authenticity are inversely related. Based on these challenges I decided to explore a sustainable tea farm, Renegade farm, in Imereti, Georgia as a plot adopter. This arrangement allows me to support sustainable production of tea, share the risk involved in tea production with the growers, contribute to biodiversity, and get a box of four types of teas at the end of the year. This is a variation of community shared agriculture on a global scale.

The Renegade Tea Estate was established in 2017 with the idea to build a platform where customers will drink tea that they were involved in the production. They have made adopters like myself to have an idea of the processes involved in growing our tea even though the farm is more than 8900 kilometers away. In five years, 2022, the farm has grown to 1500 families who have chosen to adopt their tea gardens. Adoption varies from more than 20 years to one season. The philosophy behind their activities is transparency, small production instead of mass production of food, and the practice of alternative agriculture.

Adopted tea plot: Renegade Farms

My box is packed with well processed, chemical free and handpicked tea from my plot as designated by the tea farm. I have these four teas in my subscription: [1]

1. Prodigy Mesame: oolong tea – floral, fresh and fruity.

2. Sunset Garden: green tea - mellow, fresh and intense (slightly bitter) taste as you swallow.

3. Georgian Breakfast: black tea – brisk, full bodied and

4. Imereti Summer: white tea – light, mild, fresh, and not strong.

I like the tea from Renegade because they have their specific taste and batches taste slightly different. What a privilege to be able to participate in this initiative. It is all about experimentation which is a very important concept in this century with respect to gastronomy. Furthermore, there is emphasis on no pesticides, herbicides and non-organic fertilizers.

I will continue to improve my tea consumption in a sustainable way by exploring specialty cafes and hanging with people from different parts of the world. As I mentioned earlier, people’s consumption of tea varies as a result of their culture, education, class, background and travel experiences. My observation in South West Nigeria is that consumption of tea is not that popular except among the elites. The general population prefer hot drinks from local grains like corn (maize), millet, or guinea corn. But the situation is different in East and Southern Africa where people consume several cups of tea in a day. This was based on my personal experiences in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Moshi, Mombasa, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban. In fact, during my stay in Arusha in 2008 teaching graduate students in economics from more than 10 African universities, I started drinking tea more than five times a day with hot milk (not water!).  As stated in the essay “A Somali Breakfast’ preferences for tea is a reflection of the influence of the colonization for most cultures and people.

If you ask for my preference, I will say I have acquired a taste for black tea, I tolerate white tea easily, I forget oolong is caffeinated and I still struggle to appreciate green tea.

 

Bamidele Adekunle|IRG & ECVOntario|SEDRD|University of Guelph.

 

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[1] All the teas have smoky aroma.