A budding Canadian tea industry?

Monday, November 3, 2014

According to the Canadian Tea Industry page on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's website, "Canada does not have the appropriate climate for growing tea." It seems someone forgot to tell that to Teafarm, a Cowichan Valley, B.C., company that has been growing tea since 2010 and expects its first harvest in the spring of next year, as reported in the Victoria Times Colonist.

Though an Internet search turned up a few foraged and wild tea companies, Louise Roberge, president of the Tea Association of Canada, is not aware of any other Canadian farms actually growing tea. She's visited Teafarm and says the 200 Camellia sinensis plants "are doing really well . . . it's very exciting for us."

Roberge cautions that, just because she hasn't heard of any other tea companies doesn't mean they don't exist. "It's no different than 40 years ago, when we never thought that we had so many wineries across this country. Now we have wineries everywhere. Who knows what can happen?"

Though Roberge points out that most tea is grown in equatorial regions, she does mention a U.K. company growing tea in a comparable climate to ours. Since flavour is determined by the soil, air and water where the tea plants are grown, Canadian tea will have its own distinct taste (which Roberge can't wait to try).

Will tea become Canada's new wine? The verdict may depend upon that long-awaited first sip of Teafarm tea. Until then, we'll just have to read it in the tea leaves. BF