Introduction to Tea: cultivation, composition and classification

Tea is the most popular and important beverage in the world. In China tea is a beverage known about for 3000 years. However, current distribution pattern of tea type originated in the area somewhere near ‘Irrawaddy basin’ from where it dispersed to South- East China, Indonesia and India. Tea grows at latitude  27° South (Argentina) to 42.43° North (Georgia) and from sea level up to altitude of 2500 m. The soil in which tea grow are widely alluvial (in Assam, India), podzols ( in USSR), volcanic ash ( in Japan), andosole (in Indonesia), red yellow podzols (in Taiwan), red soil ( in China) and sedimentary ( in Darjeeling, India). Read more