Tea comes from a plant named Camellia Sinensis. Sinensis meaning Chinese in Latin and Camellia coming from Rev. George Kamel who was a prominent Botanist and missionary (Carl Linnaus named the plant after Kamel to honour his name). The plant which is indigenous to China and India has green shiny leaves and produces yellow and white flowers. The best conditions for the plant to thrive are; a warm humid climate, 100cm rainfall annually and deep, light, acidic, well drained soil. White, green, oolong and black tea are all produced using the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis. Once picked the process to create each tea is different.

Fresh leaves from the plant will contain approximately 4% caffeine. Camellia Sinensis can grow to be 17m tall but are normally kept to be 2m tall by regular pruning. Leaf bearing shoots are produced every 7-12 days and are plucked by tea pickers. Hand picking tea is the traditional method and the tea leaves are placed in baskets carried on the tea pickers back. An experienced tea picker can gather up to 35Kg of leaves each day. Plants can remain in production for up to 50 years.