Tea Culture
Hawai'i's other brewed beverage

By Sonia Martinez

Kona coffee is widely known and prized among gourmet coffee connoisseurs worldwide. Can Hawai'i-grown tea also make the big time?
That is the aim of a very small group of Big Island tea growers. For the last few years, several small farmers and other enthusiasts on the east coast of Hawai'i Island have been planting small experimental plots of Camellia sinensis, the 'mother of all teas'. Some started with just a few bushes and others already have an acre or more of established plants.
Dwight Sato, the extension agent with the University of Hawai'i, College of Agriculture in Hilo, and Francis Zee, a horticulturist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center, have been involved in the Big Island tea growing project since its inception about six years ago.
Tea was grown commercially in Hawai'i from 1887 until about 1892, when it died out. Today, growing tea in Hawai'i is a small niche market, according to Eva Lee, president of the Hawai'i Tea Society.
A way of life
Lee and her husband, artist-potter-photographer Chiu Leong, have planted tea on about a quarter acre of the property surrounding their home and studio in Volcano Village.
Tea has always been an important part of their lives. Chiu is a practitioner of the Chanoyu Japanese tea ceremony; Eva practices the Chinese Kung Fu Cha style. They include aspects of these arts in how they grow the tea plants.
In their agro-tea business, Tea Hawai'i, they offer tours of their garden and tastings of organic Hawai'i-grown tea - served in Chiu's handmade tea bowls. Their tea presentations are poetic experiences that are also an education on Hawai'i's developing specialty tea industry.
Another Volcano artist-turned-tea-grower, woodworker Mike Riley, is the "tea guru" on whom many local growers rely for information, resources, encouragement and moral support. The enthusiasm of Francis Zee, whom Sato calls the "godfather of Hawai'i-grown tea", has inspired this little band of growers to accomplish a great deal in a short time. Riley is already harvesting the first quarter acre he planted and just put in another quarter acre. Eventually, he hopes to have two acres producing tea.
Making it happen
His enthusiasm and love for what he is doing are unmistakable. He notes that this year, for the first time since this project started, many of the original growers have advanced beyond the initial stages of planting, growing, fertilizing, learning about their own environments, and are finally moving into the processing stage.
"Processing is the art. Each farm will have its own unique tea," he said. "Like wine, though made with basically some of the same grapes, each vintner's product has its own identity. Tea grown in the different farms will each have their own personality. The essence of tea is in the processing.
"This is a labor of love. It has to come from the heart. I'm comparing where we stand now as growers with the progress made by a child. We are now taking our first steps. Looking to the future, tea grown in Hawai'i is a viable crop for small farmers. I think we will do it through cooperation, not competition."
Rob Nunally and Michael Longo started their tea farm overlooking Onomea Bay near Papa'ikou in 2003 and currently have nearly an acre planted. Their goal is to have 3 acres under cultivation by 2009. Right now, they only produce enough tea for themselves and friends, but to produce a commercial crop soon.
"We both feel that the growth of the tea industry will be a boon to Hawai'i," says Longo. "Hawai'i is a wonderful place for tea farms as well as all aspects of tea culture. It will not only enhance the growth of clean, chemical-free agriculture in our state but also provide opportunities for diversified tourism and local experiences.
"We envision many more tea farms, tea presentations, tea houses, B&Bs providing tea experiences, not to mention a wide variety of tea products and value-added gift items that both tourists and locals will be able to find at local shops and markets.
"Our intention is to create a small, family operation that grows, hand-processes and markets our own organic, green, partially-oxidized, as well as black teas. Our dream includes a small tea house on our property that could provide a market place for our teas and other Hawai'i-grown teas and value-added products, as well as offering tea-cultural experiences to the public.
"Camellia sinensis grows well in Hawai'i at all elevations, and tea growers here are already processing some very fine teas. We see ourselves as pioneers and facilitators in Hawai'i for people to learn about and experience the joys and health benefits of tea."
Nadao Honda considers himself a small tea grower. He joined the Hawaii Tea Society in 2004 and planted 64 Camellia sinensis plants in Honoka'a; he eventually wants to grow 100.
Honda, who calls himself "a beginner," is excited about the possibilities of experimenting with different flavored teas in the future by adding other island-grown products such as ginger, vanilla and the essence of tropical fruits to the tea blends.
Artisan tea
Although today tea is grown commercially in South Carolina, many believe Hawai'i farmers could enter the market in the foreseeable future - but as a niche, rather than large commercial, player. All the growers agree that because of the higher cost of producing "artisan tea" (tea that is picked by hand, rather than harvested by machine), the local product must develop a special cachet with connoisseurs and specialty markets in order to succeed commercially.
Around 1744, a farmer near Charleston, South Carolina, is thought to have planted the first tea in North America, but it remained a fringe product for more than a century - with failed crops far outnumbering successes. Then, the 1960s, Lipton Tea established an agricultural tea research station in the state.
Hawai'i growers generally don't see other tea farmers as competitors but associates who share the same interests and rely on each other for encouragement and support. They share plants, planting and fertilizing tips, and their enthusiasm generates even more interest and support.
What has thus far been a limited, under-the-radar activity is steadily gaining attention. The Hawai'i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training has implemented an Educational Ex-ploration tea tour with the visitor industry and plans future collaborations, including with the Hawaii Tea Society. n
On the Web
Hawaii Tea Society
hawaiiteasociety.org

On Sunday, October 29, the Hawaii Tea Society met in Hilo to conduct its very first taste competition. Cupping, as it is called, is a very precise ritual in which a specific amount of water is heated to a certain temperature and an exact amount of tea is measured for steeping. The tea leaves are then steeped for precisely 3 minutes before the sipping or tasting is conducted.
Winners of this year's cupping were:

Black Tea: Onomea Tea Co. Mike Longo and Rob Nunally (Onomea).
Oolong Tea: Tie-Mike Riley (Volcano); Eliah Halpenny (North Glenwood).
Green Tea: College of Tropical Agricultura and Human Resources (CTAHR). Dwight Sato (Mealani).
Creative Tea: Onomea Tea Co. Mike Longo and Rob Nunally (Onomea).

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