Well, would you tea leaf it!

FORGET Sri Lanka, India and Kenya, the tempting cuppa known as Yorkshire tea could soon be just what it says - from Yorkshire.

Experts may soon be sourcing tea leaves for the nine million cups enjoyed each day from much closer to home.

The blenders of the popular brew have now planted their very own tea plantation - in not-so-tropical Harrogate.

Family tea merchants Taylors of Harrogate send their buyers all over the world to find the leaves that they blend to make England’s favourite beverage.

But in a small courtyard at their North Yorkshire base they have planted about 200 China Jat tea bushes - camelia sinensis - with the intention of making some specialist real Yorkshire tea.

It is anticipated it will take two to three years for the bushes to mature enough for the first harvest - and up to ten years for it to be truly viable.

And while it will be no mean feat to nurture bushes which usually flourish in the tropics, requiring hours of continuous sunshine each day, the experts are confident they can do it.

A tea garden is already successfully cultivating bushes in Cornwall, but Taylors believes its plantation is the most northerly in the world.

A special, slightly acidic soil, has been imported to grow the bushes in and professional growers from Darjeeling and elsewhere have given the project their seal of approval.

Head tea buyer Ian Brabbin said: “It probably couldn’t be done here on a proper commercial scale - a warm humid climate would be needed. We will get a crop, but not like those overseas.

“The recent heavy rains have given the bushes a battering, but nothing compared to the tropical downpours they endure abroad.”

The bushes are about a foot tall and, by careful pruning, will not be allowed to grow much higher than three feet - although they are capable of growing up to 50ft tall.

They will be used to show visitors and school groups the tea-making process and to make teas that will probably be sold through the Bettys chain of tea shops.

The bushes have been planted on mounds reminiscent, albeit on a tiny scale, of the tolling hills of the world’s best tea estates.

The courtyard was designed by award-winning landscape designer John Brookes, who has created famous gardens across the world.

This article was taken from: The Nothern Echo