Bigalow Tea Plantation

There appears to be one tea plantation in the USA and it is just south of Charleston.  Besides seeing the evergreen tea bush fields where the top 8" of the bushes are cut from April to October to yield the new tea leaves; a tour of the processing facility was also given.  Actually a very simple process, we were suprised to find that Green, Oolong, and Black teas all come from the same plant.  The only difference is the drying time allowed. Green tea is steamed, ground. Oolong tea is wilted, ground, and dried (oxidized)  for 15 minutes. Black tea is wilted, ground and dried for a longer period. Their custom harvester was also very unique, an elevated cutting bar with a blower for collection. Considering the amount of tea I've drank in 50+ years, it seemed like it was time to see what I've actually been drinking.