Sweet Tea Dreams

I love a good story and if it includes tea, it's even better!  My daughter came over yesterday and told me about Ben & Erin Napier's newest episode on their HGTV program, Home Town, on Discovery+.  She knew I'd be interested because it's about a tea farm three miles outside of Laurel, Mississippi, where Ben & Erin renovated and transformed a 1926, six generational, farm house into a Tea House or "Gathering Place" for tea tastings and tea events for the Longleaf Tea Company.

I know you'll enjoy watching it too so I wanted to share it here.  It's Season Six, Episode 8 that just aired a few days ago on March 6th.  It's called Sweet Tea Dreams, hence the title of today's blog post.

[Internet Photos]

The company was formed in 2018 when owners, Thomas and Hillary Steinwinder, planted 1,500 tea plants on property Hillary inherited from her family. The farmhouse had been vacant for several years until the couple decided to turn it into a gathering place for their tea farm.

Ben and Erin on the front porch of the newly renovated house.

A brief history on how the tea farm all began... Thomas was based outside of Shanghai as an engineer between 2010-2012.  While there, the couple spent time traveling the countryside sipping the world's highest quality tea.  When they returned to the States, Thomas began researching the process of growing tea for seven years before they decided to try growing it themselves in Mississippi.  

It takes three years for tea plants to mature for harvest, so they got their first harvest in 2021, all plucked by hand.  

Ben and Erin inside one of the rooms before the reveal.

~ Another tasting room ~

Photo taken before the reveal with Thomas and Hillary.

And lastly, a photo of Ben & Erin with Thomas & Hillary in an outdoor gathering place behind the tea house.

We tend to think of tea gardens and plantations in China, India, Sri Lanka and other far-off places, but a quick search revealed there are at least 60 tea farms and plantations in 15 U.S. States, and most of them started since 2000 or later.

Most tea drinkers are familiar with the Bigelow tea plantation near Charleston, South Carolina because it's large and fully mechanized.  But below is a list of other States that are producing tea.  It may not be inclusive since the resource I used is from 2017.

     Alabama [two tea farms]

     California [one tea farm]

     Florida [one tea farm]

     Georgia [two tea farms]

     Hawaii [13 tea farms]

     Maryland [2 tea farms]

     Michigan [1 tea farm]

     Mississippi [3 tea farms]

     New Jersey [1 tea farm]

     New York [1 tea farm]

     North Carolina [1 tea farm]

     Oregon [1 tea farm]

     South Carolina [2 tea farms]

     Virginia [1 tea farm]

     Washington [1 tea farm]

I'm raising my teacup in celebration, and I wish much success to Longleaf Tea Company!