Whoever says all of Africa is dry and desertic should come to Kenya. As I visited a tea farm not far from Nairobi today, I was once again struck by the lushness of the vegetation
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We got a thorough explanation of the culture, harvest and treatment of the tea leaves. Kenya ranks third in the word at tea export. Tea grows in the higher terrains, where it is cooler and more humid. As only the top 3 leaves are harvested the process can be repeated every two to three months around the year. It is labor intesive as each stem must be broken off by hand. Usually by women who carry the leaves in big baskets on their backs. The leaves must be carefully sorted and quickly sent to the plant for processing. There they go through several dryings and although only the top unfurled leaf is used for white tea, the rest of the leaves can become either green or black tea. The difference is not in the original leaf but rather in the way they are processed. The darker and finer the end product (for black tea) the better the quality. Just like wines, teas are “assembled” by mixing leaves from different productions to attain the taste the wholesaler is looking for.
I did not get close to the pickers but they are the tiny dots of color in the field.