Place
Slope, altitude, soil, weather and season shape the raw leaf.
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Tea Atlas
Where tea grows changes what tea can become.
Country names are only the beginning. Region, altitude, weather, cultivar, harvest season and local processing traditions are often the more useful clues.
Plant
Cultivars and local selections respond differently to the same environment.
Craft
Withering, heat, oxidation, shaping, drying and roast turn place into a finished tea.
Major tea origins
A first route through the world of tea.
The Tea Atlas is designed to open up each country through its regions, seasons, cultivars, producers, local tea culture and the styles you can actually taste.
Origin
China
Fujian · Yunnan · Zhejiang · Anhui · Guangdong
China contains an enormous range of cultivars and making traditions, from Longjing and white tea to Wuyi rock oolong, Dancong and pu-erh.
Styles to look for
Green, white, oolong, black/red, yellow and dark tea
Origin
India
Assam · Darjeeling · Nilgiri · Kangra
Low, warm Assam and high, cool Darjeeling show how dramatically geography and seasonal flush can change style within one country.
Styles to look for
Black tea dominates, with growing green, white and oolong production
Origin
Japan
Shizuoka · Kagoshima · Uji/Kyoto · Yame
Steaming is central to much Japanese green tea production. Sencha, gyokuro, matcha and bancha express different cultivation, shading and finishing choices.
Styles to look for
Primarily green tea
Origin
Sri Lanka
Nuwara Eliya · Uva · Dimbula · Kandy · Ruhuna
The island’s historic “Ceylon” tea identity spans very different elevations and monsoon patterns, creating distinctive regional characters.
Styles to look for
Black tea with growing speciality production
Origin
Taiwan
Alishan · Lishan · Nantou · Pinglin · Hsinchu
Mountain oolongs, Oriental Beauty and roasted styles show the interaction between altitude, cultivar, oxidation and skilled finishing.
Styles to look for
Oolong, pouchong and black tea
Origin
Kenya
Kericho · Nandi · Mount Kenya highlands
Equatorial highlands support frequent growth and year-round plucking in many districts. Kenya is a major source for both blends and increasingly distinctive speciality tea.
Styles to look for
Black tea at scale, plus orthodox and speciality teas
Taste geography
Compare one variable at a time.
“Tea from China” is too broad to teach much by itself. Better comparisons keep the tea family similar while changing origin, or keep origin similar while changing season or processing.
Understand processingAssam vs Darjeeling
Same country, very different elevation, climate, cultivar mix and seasonal expression.
Uji vs Fujian
Two great tea cultures where heat-fixing and local craft lead green tea in very different directions.
Taiwan high mountain vs Wuyi
Both can be oolong, yet cultivar, mountain environment, oxidation and roast produce very different structures.
Atlas + Sip the World
Understand the region, then experience the tea culture.
The Atlas explains the growing place and production. Sip the World can connect that knowledge to gardens, tea houses, ceremonies, tastings and local preparations.