Charleston Tea Plantation

In late April, I visited the Charleston Tea Plantation - enjoying the beverage samples in the gift shop and the tour on a trolley around the place. I enjoyed the sign that pointed out how far this tea plantation is from the major tea production centers of the world. Growing tea requires warm and moist conditions - not found in the US in many places. Wadmalaw Island is one of the few places where is it possible. The plantation may be a little out of the way from other attractions around Charleston but it is a pleasant drive on a road bordered with large trees….and it is a unique experience.

The location and the flatness of this plantation make it usual for a tea plantation. The flatness here allows for automation that is not possible in mountainous terrain where tea is grown elsewhere. The one-of-a-kind machine shown below clips the new growth from the top of the bushes and collects the cuttings as it rolls down the rows of tea bushes 8-10 times a season.

The processing of the leaves into black, oolong and green tea is done on the plantation too. The factory can be viewed from two sides via big windows and filmed vignettes explain how the equipment operates to produce tea.

A factoid: Once tea bushes are established, they grow so densely that few weeds grow.