OTHER TEA PRODUCING COUNTRIES

While the five countries listed above produce the worlds most popular teas, other countries contribute nicely to the wealth of the global tea market. Most of the tea-producing countries other than those on the map above make black tea, which is the preferred type throughout Europe and the Americas, as well as much of India, Pakistan, the Arab countries, and Africa.

Russia: The teas grown in Georgia are pleasent, full-bodied teas with flowery overtones that are acceptable afternoon and evening teas. When the tea leaves are broken (BOP), they infuse into a typical breakfast tea. Unhappily, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgian tea estates have all but disappeared. We can hope they will be revitalized.

Vietnam: At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the French established tea estates in Vietnam, which never produced great quantities of tea, so that by the following century, they went into decline. Since the end of the Vietnam War, the tea estates have been revitalized and the country's tea industry is greatly admired for its rapid development and fine teas. Today, a soft green tea called Ha Giang is a popular Vietnamese tea. With ait undertones of fruit and hints of grass, the tea has been grown and consumed for centuries in Vietnam, although it is still nown elsewhere. This is a wondreful accompaniment to fruit-based desserts.

Argentina: Teas produced here taste earthy and steep to a dark red. They are typical morning style teas that are good with or without milk.

Turkey: Turkish teas are more closely akin to Chinese teas than to Indian teas. They are slightly sweet and are meant to be drunk unadorned in the late afternoon and evening.

Bangladesh: The black teas from Bangladesh are dark, spicy, and pleasingly aromatic. Consumed all day long, they taste good with milk or without.

Indonesia: Not suprisingly, teas from this part of the world resemble those of Sri Lanka: fill-bodied black teas that are delicious in the morning.

Cameroon: Grown at relatively high altitudes, these teas are flavorful and fare well on the world market. They can be drunk with or without milk.

Malaysia: The BOP teas from Malaysia are establishing a reputation as flavorful morning teas that stand up to milk.

Nepal: Considering the altitude of the counrty, it is not suprising that these teas are reminiscent of those from Darjeeling. The are full-bodied teas meant to be drunk in the afternnon without milk.

Kenya: Teas from this East African nation bear watching as they resemble the best of Assam teas. Their flavor is full and fruity and, when steeped, they are golden-hued.

China | India | Taiwan | Japan | Sri Lanka | Other Tea Producing Countries