Tea

People grow tea plants on large pieces of land called plantations. The plants need a lot of rain and they do not like too much sun. The plants grow more slowly on high ground, but the tea tastes better.

People grow different tea plants in different countries. Different tea plants have different tastes. India, China and Sri Lanka are the most -famous tea- growing countries. Darjeeling is in India. It is at the bottom of the Himalayan mountains. Many people say, 'Tea from Darjeeling is the best tea in the world.' There are different types of tea. One of the most popular ones is black tea. It is dark in colour and it is strong. Most people in Europe like black tea. Many of them drink it with milk

and sugar. Some people also like lemon in their tea.

Green tea is also very popular. It is brownish-green in colour and it is not as strong as black tea. People in China and Japan like green tea very much. They usually drink green tea without milk.

People usually make tea in a teapot. People in different countries use different types of teapots. There are some very beautiful teapots, and some very funny ones, too.

Tea pickers work on tea plantations. They water the tea plants and prune them. When the plants are three years old or more, they choose the smallest, youngest leaves from each tea plant. They pick the leaves quickly but carefully from the plants to make tea.

Some people have used machines to pick tea-leaves but the machines broke the plants and they could not choose the best tea-leaves.