Happy International Tea Day (Again)

Happy International Tea Day!

“But wait, Emeric,” I hear you musing. “Didn’t you already wish us a Happy International Tea Day sometime back in December?”

Indeed, I did, because there are two different International Tea Days: December 15 (the original date) and May 21 (the newer date). Rather than play favorites, I’m choosing to celebrate them both…plus all the other National Tea Holidays out there.

On this particular day, we’re here to celebrate tea by focusing on the different countries and regions where Harney teas are grown. So with no further ado, let’s roll up our sleeves and get to globe-trotting.

China
In China, the birthplace of tea, some of the main regions we source our tea from are Anhui, Fujian, Yunnan, and Zhejiang. Each of these district provinces has its own unique climate and terrain that helps to shape the flavors and other characteristics of the teas that grow there.

Anhui Province, in Eastern China, is known for its beautiful scenery, largely provided by the ethereal Huangshan and Dabie mountains. That mountainous terrain, paired with rich soil, a humid climate, and frequent mist, has also made the region famous for growing tea…including Keemun black teas, and many wonderful green teas.

Hao Ya “A” is an intense black tea with light chocolate and toasty flavors, enhanced by an aroma with strong notes of cocoa and apricot. Harvested after the famous Mao Feng green tea in early May, the young leaves and buds are carefully graded, with the finest tips (containing more essential oils, caffeine, and amino acids) becoming Hao Ya “A.”

Another tea sourced from Anhui Province is our Royal Chrysanthemum, a mild, soothing caffeine-free tisane that uses dried blossoms to brew a striking cup of royal yellow liquor…one with a delightfully floral flavor and aroma.

Aesthetically pleasing, fragrant, and full of exquisite flavors, the thin, twisted strips of black tea and russet in our Keemun Mao Feng tea produce beautiful dark cocoa aromas when infused.

Fujian is a coastal province with hilly terrain, high humidity, frequent mist, and fertile, acidic soil.  Widely known as the birthplace of white tea, Fujian is also well-known for its oolong,  jasmine, and black teas.

Panyang Congou, one of China’s great historical teas, offers a rich, beautifully complex blend in which toasted notes are complemented by undertones of baked apples and spring hay.

One of Panyang Congou’s lighter, sweeter sister teas is Golden Monkey. Made from mostly golden tips with some long, slender black leaves, its flavor holds notes of cooked stone fruit and semisweet chocolate, along with the mellow, nutty finish of roasted pecans.

Golden Blend is a combination of two golden-tipped teas: Golden Monkey (seen above) and Assam FTGFOP. Lighter than most black tea blends, this caffeinated brew includes flavors reminiscent of apricot, cocoa, and honey.

Originating from the Wuyi Mountains, Lapsang Souchong is prepared by slowly withering tea leaves, then smoking them over a pinewood fire. As you’d expect, this process creates a distinctively smoky flavor (plus notes of fruit and spice)…and an aroma that reminds some customers of good times shared around campfires

Yunnan Province, a landlocked area in southwest China, is considered to be the birthplace of tea itself. A geographically diverse area, Yunnan has snow-capped mountains in its northwest, subtropical low elevations in its southeast, and rich, red soil that’s more than hospitable to tea plants. Specifically, the region is known for its Yunnan black teas, as well as Pu-erh teas: ancient fermented teas (and, for that matter, the only truly fermented teas) that are traditionally offered as a compressed cake or brick.

Though some traditional forms take years or even decades to ferment, our Pu-Erh (available in loose leaf or sachet form) has undergone a process called “wo dui,” in which oxidized leaves are piled in moist rooms to accelerate the fermentation process. The flavor of this dark, murky brew is singularly earthy, somewhat like a simple Burgundy red wine.

A similarly earthy flavor is offered by our 2019 Shu Pu-Erh, a medium-bodied brew in the shou style that we receive in large cakes (as per the traditional pu-erh method), then break apart into more manageable chunks.

Our Lao Ban Zhang Pu-Erh, too, is in cake form…albeit a small cake, weighing 96 grams. This smaller size is an easy way for Pu-Erh novices to sample the tea’s distinctive fermented flavors without committing to a larger quantity. This tea offers a flavor like that of green grapes, and an aroma with bright fruit notes (think grapes and apricots).

Though much of the tea in Yunnan is aged to make Pu-Erhs, the area is also known for its distinctive black teas. Our Tippy Yunnan is an excellent example. Slightly twisted leaves, dark black leaves, and golden tips combine to yield an assertive, earthy flavor that’s found in many Yunnan teas…but with hints of spice and maple-ish sweetness. 

Zhejiang Province is China’s leading tea-producing region, and its capital city, Hangzhou, was once the largest city in the world. As with all great tea-growing climates, Zhejiang’s is primarily subtropical and wet, with cold winters. This province is home to the National Tea Museum (which I’m proud to say includes a tin of Harney & Sons in its collection) and is known for producing some of the best green teas anywhere.

Jin Shan is one of those green teas, loaded with silvery tips and the delicious flavors of citrus and roasted vegetables like sorrel. This flavor is created during production when the tea is finished in hot woks and charcoal. 

Another world-famous Zhejiang tea is Lung Ching (also known as Longjing or Dragon Well. Sometimes called the “queen of green tea,” this pan-roasted green tea (with an aroma like that of steamed boy choy and toasted walnuts) yields a brew with a mild, sweet, and almost nut-like flavor.

Across the border of Zhejiang Province, on the tiny Dongting peninsula of Jiangsu Province, is where we source Bi Lo Chun: the most northerly grown tea in China. This light green tea offers a wonderful mixture of sweetness, vegetal flavors, and a bit of smoke. Dried in a hot wok, the aroma carries the roasted sweetness of brown sugar over a roasted vegetal base note. That same roasted vegetal note is present in the tea’s flavor, as well as the faintest hint of flowers. 

Taiwan
Though Taiwan makes black, green, and white teas, it’s best known for producing some of the world’s finest oolong teas. The Formosa tea region, in particular, is famous for its tea’s complex flavors, floral aromas, and smooth textures…and it’s our privilege to pass these remarkable teas on to you.

Ali San Oolong is a mountain-grown, balled-style oolong tea. Offering gardenia and lilac aromas with notes of fresh citrus, this medium-bodied tea is among the creamiest of oolongs. Its delightful flavor presents some butteriness, along with hints of lime and a quiet, underlying vegetal flavor.

Our Formosa Oolong is a style of brown oolong (it’s oxidized to about 75%, hence the darkness) that generations of Americans have appreciated for its nutty, toasty aroma and a flavor that holds subtle, sweet notes of peaches, roasted carrots, and toasted walnuts.

Li Shan, hailing from one of Taiwan’s highest mountain regions, is widely regarded as one of the finest oolongs in the world. The green leaves, rolled into balls by special machines, produce a very light green-yellow liquor; a sweet aroma like flowers, pears, and lemons; and a creamy flavor that tastes like lemons and pears, with underlying vegetal notes.

To give our Taiwan Honey Black tea its uniqueness, growers use a singular production process: they encourage insects to attack their tea plants. The plants then repel their attackers by releasing special enzymes and compounds…which, curiously, end up giving the tea an aroma and flavor like that of honey (plus a few floral notes). 

India
After China, India produces more tea than any other country. The principal tea-growing regions here include Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri.

Assam is the largest tea-growing region in India, and its teas derive from Camellia sinensis assamica, a large-leafed tea variety that thrives in this region’s wet, humid conditions. Among the most assertive and brisk of black teas, Assams typically offer malty flavors with sweet notes of honey (which come from the plants’ tips).

Our Organic Assam is a rich, medium-bodied black tea with a slightly lighter liquor than other Assams (due to the tea’s organic nature), a subtly malty aroma, and the flavors of bittersweet roasted malt with hints of honey.

CTC Assam is processed in a “cut, tear, and curl” machine (hence the “CTC” acronym) that reforms tea leaves into pellets, which oxidize and turn brown very quickly, yielding an especially brisk tea. Much loved in Assam itself, this intensely astringent, espresso-style tea features a striking amber color, an aroma like roasted sweet onions, and subtle flavors of roasted malt. Many drinkers add milk before drinking this strong, full-bodied tea.

Made exclusively from the tea plants’ pure golden tips, Assam Golden Tips has a lighter, sweeter flavor than most other Assams. This light-bodied tea offers subtle aromas of roasted malt and honey, complementing a caramel-buttery, slightly malty flavor with hints of tropical fruits.

The Darjeeling region is one of the highest-altitude tea-growing territories in the world. To be called a “Darjeeling” tea, a tea must be grown, harvested, and processed here, in one of the world’s highest-altitude tea-growing territories.

Our Organic Darjeeling is sourced from a single estate each year (depending on which producer offers the highest quality tea). Our latest arrival offers pleasant aromas of plums and peaches, complemented by the slightly astringent flavors of red fruits and chestnuts.

Teesta Valley is on the eastern edge of the Darjeeling region, and our Teesta Valley 1st Flush is one of the best teas of its season. An appealing dark green liquor pairs with a bright grapefruit aroma and a flavor that offers mellow citrus notes (with a hint of steamed vegetables).

Yet another region of India that we source teas from is Nilgiri, meaning “blue mountain”. A whopping 70% of this district (one of the country’s most scenic) is given over to tea gardens.

Chamraj Nilgiri FOP is a mellow black tea, often taken with milk and sugar, that offers light citrus notes. At least one of our customers swears she can detect a faint whiff of flowers in the aroma (which is only appropriate, considering the Nilgiri region’s abundance of blooming flowers).

Our Organic Korakundah tea is sourced from the Karakundah estate, in the Nilgiri region’s highest area. Besides organic teas, this estate produces Fair Trade and Rain Forest Alliance teas. This particular tea is a light-bodied brew that features light citrus notes in both its aroma and flavor.  

Sri Lanka
Southwest of India, Sri Lanka is a small country that produces a large variety of black teas. The unique topography and climate here produce three types of tea, called Ceylons, that are differentiated by elevation. Where most tea regions have one peak spring season, the Ceylon Region has two, which enables them to grow tea nearly year-round.

We discovered our Wild Spiced Ceylon on a trip to Sri Lanka, where our friend Buddika blends wild black tea with locally grown cloves and cardamom. The results? A lovely, spicy aroma, and with a flavor to match.

Though most white teas come from China, Ceylon Vintage Silver Tips is the exception: an unusual white tea (made just for us) that hails from the mountains of Sri Lanka. There are no leaves in this tea: only slender, slightly curved buds that brew a cup with a subtle citrusy/spicy aroma, and flavors that hint at oranges, cloves, green grapes, and honeycrisp apples.

Another of our white teas, Artisanal Ceylon Argent, uses rustic, large silver buds that resemble our Ceylon Vintage Silver Tips tea, but offer a sweeter flavor (think maple sap) and a more complex aroma.

Amba Ceylon, a black tea mixed with camellia flowers, is grown on Amba Estate: an estate that’s on a mission to empower women in the tea industry. The aroma brings hints of honey, citrus, and dried fruit, while the flavor combines citrus with some sweetness, plus some subtle floral notes.

Our Uva Highlands is a Ceylon Pekoe that’s grown in (as one might guess) the highlands of Uva, an area where winds strip moisture from the tea plants’ leaves and concentrate their character. The result is a brisk, intense black tea with a cooling note of wintergreen (courtesy of a naturally occurring compound called methyl salicylate), and flavors that blend citrus with honey.

High above the small Sri Lankan town of Nuwara Eliya is a tea-growing area where the elevation and constantly changing weather gives teas like Lover’s Leap a flavor all their own, that edges toward the darker end of the citrus family. Excellent with tea and sugar.

Africa
Africa contains several notable tea-producing regions…especially Kenya, which has been cultivating tea since the early 1900s, when England established tea plantations in what was then a British colony. Now, as the world’s fourth-largest producer of tea (after China, Sri Lanka, and India), Kenya is known for its specialty Orthodox black teas (commonly developed as a blend in teas around the world).

The African word “milima” is Swahili for “in a high place,” and that’s exactly where the tea plants that produce our Kenya Milima grow…in the Kenyan Highlands, more than 6,000 feet above sea level. The cool air and rocky soil give this elegant black tea a flavor that leans toward citrus (especially orange), with slightly spicy clove notes.

Our Safari Breakfast tea, blended from robust African black teas, is a full-bodied breakfast brew with a rich aroma (reminiscent of charred onions) and a flavor not unlike stewed grains.

The South African tea region produces tea as well. Though some black tea is produced (mainly in the Eastern Cape Province, which has the country’s highest rainfall, the teas that South Africa is best known for are rooibos and honeybush: herbal, caffeine-free native teas grown in the Western Cape province.

Rooibos, known as “red bush” in its homeland, is a legume that yields an herbal beverage with no caffeine. Resembling black tea when brewed, our light-bodied Organic Rooibos has a somewhat earthy aroma and a refreshing flavor with hints of nuttiness.

Honeybush, while related to Rooibos, has a sweeter taste. Our Pure Wild Honeybush, harvested by hand northeast of Cape Town, has an aroma of cooked molasses and toasted grains, and a flavor like toasted grains with dark honey.

Japan
Tea is produced almost everywhere in Southern Japan, but we source from four major regions: Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Uji, and Wazuka.

Producing more than 40% of Japan’s tea, Shizuoka is Japan’s premier tea-growing region…favored with nutrient-rich volcanic soil from Mount Fuji; a warm, misty climate; a wide range of topography; and considerable temperature shifts in its mountainous areas.

Not all Sencha teas come from Japan…but our best-selling Japanese Sencha does. Its mild vegetal flavors (with light accents of citrus and toast) make this a pleasant, approachable green tea that you can enjoy every day (just as my grandfather, John Harney, did for more than 10 years).

Japanese Whisky, a personal favorite of mine, is a unique black tea from Shizuoka Prefecture. During its extensive processing, it’s finished with an eight-hour smoking over wood chips made from Japanese whisky barrels. Present in the smoky aroma and flavor of this medium-bodied tea are notes of heated peat and sweet honey.

Another Harney favorite is Sencha Scent of Mountains, a steamed green tea that originates from Kawane, Shizuoka’s highest tea region. Lighter-bodied than most Senchas (due to its lack of deep steaming), this brew has a delightful vegetal aroma and flavorful taste.

Kagoshima, another key tea-growing region, has a volcanic soil rich in potassium and magnesium, plus a warm subtropical climate. Besides producing roughly 25% of Japan’s tea (grown mainly on the region’s flatlands), Kagoshima also begins its first tea harvest in early April: the earliest harvest time in Japan.

Kagoshima Yutaka Midori comes from the southern tip of Kyushu Island, and is a blend of light and deep-steamed senchas made from the cultivar Yutaka Midori (meaning “intensely green”). Light steaming makes this a sweeter green tea, with an aroma like that of steamed zucchini and a flavor that may remind you of fresh cucumbers.

Our Organic Everyday Matcha also comes from the Kagoshima region…specifically, from the southern island of Kyushu. Made during the second season (June and July), this powdered green tea originated from tencha leaves grown in shaded organic tea fields. This summer harvest Matcha has some umami, giving it a good mouth feel (complemented by an aroma with light notes of casaba melon and lettuce). Add your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk for an even better experience.

With nutrient-rich soil, a temperate, humid climate, and misty river basins that create natural shading for tea leaves, the city of Uji, within Japan’s Kyoto Prefecture, is acclaimed for its unique “terroir”...a combination of environmental factors that makes it ideal for tea growing.

The area around Uji is considered by many to be Japan’s “matcha capital,” and our Jobetsugi Ceremonial Matcha (Thin Grade) strengthens that reputation. Hailing from the Wazuka Valley south of Uji, this powdered matcha is made from tencha leaves harvested in May, when the amino acids that create umami flavors are at their peak. This tea has a subtle aroma of honeydew melon and spinach, and a flavor reminiscent of melons and vegetables like spinach and lettuce.

Those who like matcha might also enjoy our Ground Hojicha, a caffeinated, dark brown powder that, like matcha, is prepared by adding it to a bowl and then whisking it into a foam. Unlike matcha, however, hojicha is made from toasted twigs and tea stems that come from some of Uji’s finest tea gardens. The compelling aroma is reminiscent of roasted coffee, with more notes of sweet caramel. The full-bodied flavor is like that of lightly toasted walnuts, with an ever-so-slight note of sulfur.

Gyokuro, a centuries-old favorite of Japanese aristocrats, is one of Uji’s most famous teas. Shade-grown for around three weeks, the tea plant produces extra chlorophyll, which produces a beautiful pale green liquor. This tea’s aroma is spinachy and seaweedy, and its flavor is like that of fresh-steamed spinach with lightly toasted walnuts. Overall, this medium-bodied brew is much fuller than other green teas.

Wazuka, a town in the Sōraku District of Japan’s Kyoto Prefecture, offers many qualities ideal for tea production, including mountainous terrain; rich, well-drained soil; temperature swings between day and night…and a consistent morning fog. The area around Wazuka has over 800 years of cultivation history, and continues to create high-quality fragrant teas.

Our Wazuka Guricha tea is made in Japan using a blend of traditional and modern methods. To preserve the strong umami flavor in the leaves of his plants, the farmer who supplies this tea has skipped the traditional sencha preparation’s rolling stage, which can reduce umami. The result is a unique, light-tasting green tea: one with a spinachy aroma and deep, satisfying umami flavors.

Early in the tea season, master tea makers prepare for tea contests later in the year by gathering the best young tea leaves by hand, so they’ll retain the highest levels of amino acids and EGCG antioxidants. Those green tea leaves are then carefully processed and stored until the contests in September. This special sencha brews especially well, which is why it’s been given the name of Master’s Mark Sencha. More delicate and subtle than most senchas, this tea offers light vegetal notes with subtle spinach and nori flavors. 

United States
Although we source ingredients from plants and trees in various U.S. states (including peppermint from Oregon and Washington), the only naturally caffeinated native plant we handle is Yaupon, a holly bush related to Yerba Mate. Though not a “true tea” produced from Camellia sinensis, Yaupon does contain antioxidants and L-theanine, and has been enjoyed as a beverage for thousands of years. As Yaupon stages a comeback across the nation, we’re proud to offer several products made with this local hero.

Sourced from a ranch in Texas, Yaupon Black is one of our leading Yaupon teas. Medium-bodied with an amber liquor, the caffeinated brew has a sweet, smoky aroma, and a flavor that carries notes of fresh maple syrup.

Indigenous people were drinking Yaupon tea long before Europeans arrived on these shores…and in 18th-century America, many colonists turned to Yaupon as an alternative to imported teas. As part of our partnership with Colonial Williamsburg, we’ve created Colonial Williamsburg Craft & Forget Yaupon Tea, which offers flavors similar to our Yaupon Black for a rousing taste of our country’s history.

American Buzz starts with Texas-sourced Yaupon, then blends it with Guayusa holly from Ecuador, shade-grown Yerba Mate from Brazil, and a bright twist of spearmint from Washington state. The spearmint lightens the earthy flavors of the hollies, and more than a few of our steady customers have added this singular tea to their morning rotation.

One good Yaupon blend deserves another! Our Yerba Mate, Yaupon & Mint - Focus pairs Yaupon holly, Yerba Mate, and spearmint, along with 20 mg of New York-grown CBD hemp extract. Because CBD isn’t psychoactive, the only effect you’ll experience is a unique combination of alertness (thanks, caffeine) and calm, as you move through your day with a more balanced energy. 

A Toast to Tea

Reflecting on the many regions we source our teas from always gives me a renewed gratitude for the business I’m in, as I realize how fortunate my family and I are to visit these incredible destinations, learn the stories of these quality teas, and share them with you.

On International Tea Day, I hope you’ll celebrate with your favorite cup…while reflecting on the many wonderful people and traditions around the world that make these everyday luxuries possible.