When one thinks about where tea is grown, many people would think of places such as India, China, Japan, basically, places in southern and eastern Asia. If you think of the same thing, you would be right. These are the places where tea production is among the highest. The climate and soil types are right for growing tea.
However, there is one place no one ever thinks of when it comes to growing tea. And this is the place I want to discuss. It is the Dagomys Tea Plantation, located near Sochi,Russia.
Many might be thinking "Russia growing tea"? Actually, a small portion of the nation has some tea growing. This is located around the Sochi area. This is the northernmost point in the world where tea is grown, at 43 degrees North latitude. Now, at this latitude, there are many places where tea growing is not suitable because of very cold winters. However, Sochi does not fit this rule. An explanation in the next paragraph.
This is Sochi's location.
The region where tea can be grown, is in the southernmost portion of Russia, and on the Black Sea coast. This influences the climate. The very cold winters found in the rest of Russia are not to be found along this part of Russia. Being a coastal city with the Caucasus Mountains behind it, the sea moderates the temperatures and blocks out the cold winds from further north. This portion of Russia has a subtropical climate, which is conducive for growing tea.
So, there you have it, the northernmost location in the world where tea is grown, the Black Sea coast of Russia, around the Sochi area.
Sources:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Russia/Krasnodarskiy_Kray/Dagomys-638353/Things_To_Do-Dagomys-TG-C-1.html
http://ussa.org/foundation/about-sochi
It's a bit of a cheat as it is in greenhouses... but there is another plantation further north: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipton_Institute_of_Tea
ReplyDeleteIt is cheating when you really think about it. It's in a greenhouse. Tea can grow around the Sochi area without greenhouses, and the size of the greenhouses, that is another question to consider. What is grown in the Lipton Institute is under controlled conditions, and it isn't for commercial growth. Dagomys is the northernmost location for commercially grown tea.
ReplyDeleteI would read this: http://www.burntridgenursery.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NSTESOC
ReplyDeleteIt talks about southern Russia being the northernmost region for commercially grown tea.