TEA

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A must visit TEA ESTATE

Whoever thought tea could grow in New Zealand, and fine tea at that? Charmian Smith discovers Zealong, the country’s only tea estate.

THE TEA CEREMONY AT ZEALONG.

Driving into Zealong’s tea estate just outside Hamilton is almost a surreal experience. A white sculpture representing the three top leaves picked for tea, the pristine white and glass building behind, housing shop, function rooms, offices and factory, greets you, then you notice a row of giant bronze teapots with a dragon’s head and tail, and behind it all well ordered blocks of rounded tea bushes march meticulously over the lightly rolling Waikato landscape.

Zealong is the only tea grower in New Zealand, the inspiration of Vincent Chen who saw a neighbour’s camellia bush flourishing in their Hamilton garden and realised that Camellia sinensis could grow well here.

Coming from a family of tea growers in Taiwan, he selected 1500 cuttings from the best cultivars to bring to New Zealand, but only 130 survived the 10 months of quarantine. Now, more than 1.2 million plants are flourishing here.

Zealong offers various tours and tastings, including learning about how tea is grown, picked and processed, a tea ceremony, a walk through the gardens along the trail of sculptures depicting the history of tea both in China and New Zealand. At the teahouse you can enjoy high tea with sweet and savoury bites alongside a bottomless cup one of Zealong’s many styles of tea.

Tea is normally produced at high altitude in warm countries such as China, India, Sri Lanka or Japan, but Waikato’s hot days, cool nights, and misty winters suit tea as well, says Sen Kong, general manager.

Because of our regulations, growing and processing tea in New Zealand means it has the highest standard of production in the world. Zealong tea is organically grown and every batch is fully traceable, he adds.

They pick three times a year, selecting only the top two leaves and the bud between them which are then dried and withered in a climate-controlled glasshouse, ensuring no risk of contamination from birds or insects - something unusual in the world of tea.

While all tea, green, black and oolong, come from the same camellia species, the way it is processed - how the leaves are bruised, oxidised, roasted or rolled - determines the style of tea. Tea can be as complex and intriguing as wine to connoisseurs, and even as expensive - Zealong’s 2021 Spring Tea is $259 for 200g, about 10 times the price of their regular teas.

Some of their teas have botanicals added to create flavoured teas such as their Lady Gatsby blend of rose, manuka and cinnamon, or Green Heart with jasmine, lemongrass and kawakawa.

However, at the heart of Zealong’s teas are their oolongs or black dragon tea.

A step up in flavour and body from the light, floral Green Tea, Pure Oolong is the lightest of the oolongs, fragrant and slightly nutty.

Aromatic Oolong has more flavour, hints of toasted nuts with a little more aftertaste, while the Dark Oolong is delicious, a bit more smoky, again with hints of nuts and toast, having been roasted at a higher temperature and for longer than the others.

They also produce a fully oxidised and roasted Black tea, light in flavour with an almost honeyed sweetness and not at all bitter. Sen says that after drinking it he feels he should eat some chocolate!

In Zealong teas the leaves are whole, so when you pour water on they uncurl (sometimes known as the agony of the leaves), and, unlike supermarket teas which are finely chopped and even dusty, you can re-brew them again and again.

Amy Reason, in charge of R&D and quality assurance at Zealong, pours boiled water over the leaves in a teapot with an infuser, then removes the infuser with the leaves. Hot water can be poured over the leaves several times - in fact in the tea house they give you a kettle on a small burner by your table so you can re-brew your cup of tea as often as you want.

Traditionally in China, where the leaves could be contaminated by all sorts of things, from pesticides to dirt, the first brew was for your enemy, she said.

“The amount of nutrients, additives, whatever we want to call them, that is being added to these tea bushes internationally has become quite a problem, so they wash the leaves to remove any residues. That’s why the saying is the first brew is for your enemy, so if they drop dead you know you’ve washed the leaves appropriately!”

The first brew gives you the top notes, the easy volatiles - floral sweet, almost fruity flavours, then with subsequent brews the leaves cook and you get more of the flavonoids that are locked in the leaves, she said.

You certainly can’t do this with commodity supermarket teas which are cut so finely that they taste bitter and stewed when re-brewed. They are blended so every batch tastes the same, unlike fine, single estate teas such as Zealong,

“What we praise and glorify here is that our harvest this year is going to taste completely different from our harvest next year. It still tastes like tea, but there are going to be nuances and flavours that come through or don’t come through,” she said.

Visit zealong.com 

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INDEPENDENT LIVING – HELPING YOU LIVE LIFE YOUR WAY

Independent Living is committed to making daily living easier for older people and those with physical limitations. And because they are a not-for-profit organisation, their focus is on maximising your enjoyment on life – not their bottom line.

THEIR online store and 3 Auckland stores offer a huge range of daily living aids, walkers, and scooters.

The free mobile service can come to your community group. Offering everything from advice and demonstrations of scooters and mobility devices, free scooter safety checks, through to presentations on maintaining mobility, this service is very popular with clubs, retirement villages and community groups.

Most importantly, Independent Living find solutions to keep life rewarding as you age. You’re assured of honest, caring and free advice from a team with a personal understanding of age-related disabilities. From offering a tried-and-tested range of daily living aids, to finding out how to navigate the health and disabilities sector or accessing funding options – the team at Independent Living are there to help you continue to follow your own path in life.

And, as a charity, their products are at very competitive prices.

Independent Living’s information services are free and available to everyone.

Visit them at:

• Botany store: 308 Te Irirangi Dr • Royal Oak store: 14 Erson Ave • Browns Bay store: 13 Bute Rd • www.ilsnz.org • Call 0800 625 100 for impartial and free advice

Know of a group that would enjoy a free informative presentation, or scooter demonstration in the wider Auckland area? Call the friendly team on 09 625 0322 