Growing tea in Australia
Australian tea is mostly grown in the rich volcanic soils in the pristine highlands of north Queensland’s wet tropics and is highly prized by tea connoisseurs. The high rainfall, humidity and altitude of this region make the Daintree perfect for growing tea.
Australia’s wet tropics is an ancient land that dates back 165 million years ago to Gondwana when Australia was joined to South America and formed a huge landmass covered with thick rainforest. The soils and the plants of far north Queensland, particularly the Daintree rainforest north of Cairns, have remained relatively unchanged since that ancient time.
Tea has been grown in these ancient rainforest soils in the tropical highlands near Cairns since the late 1800s and more recently in the soils of the Daintree rainforest since 1978 and is sold, produced and packed as Daintree tea. Tea from these plantations is pure and free from any build up of pesticides caused by years of commercial farming. Australia’s strict quarantine laws means that the tea plant grown in Australia has no natural pests. Tea grown at the Daintree tea plantations in north Queensland is also cultivated without fungicides or artificial chemical fertilisers. This purity of Australian tea, which is also very low in caffeine, is what makes it so valued for its flavour, aroma and its health benefits.
The health benefits of Australian tea
Australian tea (black, white, green, and oolong) all comes from the camellia sinensis plant. The leaves contain tannins or polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants or ‘cell protectors’. These antioxidants are vital for our health and are believed to boost the immune system and prevent cell damage by neutralizing free radicals. Research has shown that drinking tea, along with a healthy lifestyle, can help prevent cancer, heart disease and stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease and premature aging. Green tea and white tea contain the most potent antioxidants because green tea goes through minimal fermentation while white tea goes through none at all. Tea also contains about half the caffeine found in coffee. An amino acid in tea called L-theanine also counters the effect of caffeine as it produces the calming effect that people experience when drinking tea.
Australian tea is harvested with care
The potency of the antioxidants or life force in tea is made all the more powerful when it is harvested with care. In Australia, tea is harvested mechanically and processed in modern factories with strict hygiene controls. The whole process from harvest to fermentation, drying and sorting takes about 20 hours which ensures optimum freshness to lock in the wonderful aromatic flavour of tea.
Tea is also unique in that it can both warm and cool the body. In Australia’s tropical north, tea is consumed to help the body sweat and this sweat helps regular body temperature. Australian tea can be enjoyed with or without milk and while it is believed that milk reduces the antioxidant properties, more research is needed to prove this. But whether you drink green tea or black tea, with or without milk, drink Australian Daintree tea grown in rich organic soils and free of chemical residues– a tea which is the envy of the world.
