Importance of Origin:

Like coffee and wine, over time certain geographic origins have developed reputations for producing tea with certain flavours and characteristics. Factors such as soil type, climate and altitude, the variety of tea plant, cultivation and preparation methods may all contribute to the development of these characteristics.

The Tea Plant

Let’s start with the plant. All tea comes from an evergreen plant of the genus Camellia. There are two main species of this plant used to make tea:

Camellia assamica (India): A tree that can grow 45 ft high or more, with leaves 6”-14” long. Commercial plantations, however keep the trees pruned to manageable heights. It prefers tropical climates.

Camellia sinensis (China): A large bush that can withstand cold temperatures and can live for up to 100 years. Its leaves grow to about 2” long.

Both species enjoy moderate temperatures, a moist climate, and high altitudes. These factors slow growth and thereby intensify the flavour in the leaves. As with coffee, different soils and other particular conditions contribute to the tea quality and regional characteristics.

Herbal infusions: True “teas” are only those that contain leaves from the Camellia plants. Although it is common to refer to “herbal teas”, they are more properly called herbal infusions. Pure herbals do not contain caffeine. They are prepared by drying the herbs to a stable level of humidity and then breaking them down to an appropriate size for steeping. The exact process varies depending on the type.

Bridgehead sources lemongrass from its fair trade suppliers in Sri Lanka, and the rest from small gardens in the Fayoum Region, Egypt.