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In the recent years, especially in Europe, there has been a big boom in beer crafting. Craft beer became the most sought for hobby, which more than often turned into a lucrative and fun business. The opportunity to name your own beer, to try different recipes, to give a personal touch and to have a lot of fun during the whole process is, what is attracting passionate beer drinkers to test their crafting skills. Tea drinkers finally got their chance to do the same thing. Is craft tea a new trend?

Artisan Producers

Tea crafting has a much wider meaning. Even the biggest tea producing countries slowly started turning into crafting. They no longer wish to produce mass market products, but carefully made tea from hand-picked leaves processed using their own special methods. Unique artisan teas have become widely available and no longer do they follow strict rules on how and from what plant should each and every type be made. Experimenting with cultivars and roasting levels, blending and aging, brought a wide variety of new and extraordinary loose leaf teas to the market.

Are Tea Drinkers Bored?

At the same time, this means that the tea market has been flooded with thousands of different types and variants of loose leaf tea. Flavored teas  make choice even more difficult. While most of tea lovers still appreciate high quality loose leaf tea, they also want to get their hands on crafting. Camellia sinensis plants have become widely available all around the world. Camellia sinensis still needs special conditions to grow and produce high quality leaves, special climate and soil, which is usually solved with experimenting with varietals and greenhouse growing.

Tea Production is Everywhere

Tea can now be found in almost every country in the world. Small tea gardens or even the whole tea estates are flourishing and proudly offering their own European, Australian or American grown tea. Many of them grew into a serious tea producers and invest a lot of effort and passion in improving their teas. The best example might be Scotland and Australia, both countries that took tea production very seriously and produce teas with amazing characters.

Is Craft Tea a New Trend?

However, tea making has become a sort of a hobby as well. Many of small private producers make tea only for their own purposes or enjoyment. In the recent few months making tea has also become a favorite pastime of many individuals that don't have the necessary land or a greenhouse. Special tea cultivars have been created that allow you to grow tea even at home, pick it, wither it, pan-fire it and store for you own purposes.

(Image Source: Tea Chronicles ©)

The new trend is undoubtedly here. How will it impact the large tea market, we still have to see. Would you grow your own tea if you had the opportunity?

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