Do any of you guys grow tea? I mean tea (camellia sinensis) ive been checking out burnt ridge and raintree, as well as camforest.com. there appears to be a few varieties that are somewhat cold hardy, Im a big tea drinker I just never thought about growing my own and whether or not itll grow here in zone 6.
Travis

Tea is beginning to be re-introduced in South Carolina, near Charleston. You might research in that direction.  :-)

Start here:

https://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/

That would be zone 8B  / 9a

you'll need to research processing, which is very important.i can't stand chinese which is steamed to stop oxidation,
but i love japanese which is roasted to do the same.

you must take one of these steps if you wish tea thru the winter.

black teas of course are fermented, but blacks are icky anyway.

That's the reverse, wrt chinese and japanese.

I am, of course, drinking 11yo puerh right now.  Puerh is done at a lower temperature...too hot and it's green tea, too low, and it eventually turns into bad black tea.

I either want a puerh air layer from one of those ancient trees, or one of the new varietals, the new purple leaf stuff sprouting everywheres, or one of Taiwan's new Assam-based varieties.

thank you for the correction, shah.

travis, you should probably taste every tea you can find, to decide what you want to do.

Susie, I've been drinking white tea a lot, trying to cut down on coffee a little bit, and I really enjoy it. I'm aware of it needing to be heated to be kept. Just wondering if it'll be worth my time to grow my own.

not sure if it'll be worthwhile, total harvest-wise, but if you enjoy fiddling around with figs, i bet it'll be fun.

now that you mentioned the possibility, i'm gonna look into it myself.

you will need many plants as you only use the tip.  and it will take up lots of room to grow the plants. still fun i have only 5 bushes.

thanks for the site, travis.

 eithieus, i wish you'd talk about your experiences

Travis, I grow tea. So far my plants are small, but you definatly need cold hardy varieties for Z 6. Camellia Forest Nursery is a great place to buy cold hardy plants or seed. The small leaf Japanese variety is cold hardy, and they have others that may survive your zone. They really got to test cold hardiness this year, so perhaps they will have other suggestions. The Sochi tea sold by them and Burnt Ridge should be cold hardy, it certainly is one of the most northern grown teas of the world. My tea plants are from various places, and many were killed to the ground this winter (Z 7). A heavy mulch and the proper site can help with survival. If you see folks growing Camellias in your area, then you are likely in the right zone for some variety. Also, they like acid, well drained soil.

I love all forms of tea. I drink it all day, mostly green tea. There are so many variations, flavors and different preperation techniques that I could never get bored. You will often hear that all tea is made from the same plant, and this is partially true, but just like other plants bred for certain purposes, some varieties work better for certain teas. In general though, you can produce green, white, black, yellow, oolong and Pu'er from any tea plant, but may not get the same flavors or quality. I like to taste the new growth on my plants in the spring to see what flavors are there, and my goal is to find tasty, cold hardy varieties for my area. Making tea can be labor and space intensive, but I think many homeowners can grow enough for the families consumption. Many small tea farms are now in the US. The farm in SC is the longest survivor, and others have tried and failed. Hawaii probably has the best chance of producing high quality tea, as many select varieties adapt there well. Im sure in time high quality varieties will be selected for growning in the continental US. Right now, it is in its infancy, so like figs, it will take time to find out what survives where, and what tastes good. There is also the problem of labor in the US. The best teas are hand picked, but there are now machines that gently pluck the new tea buds, so perhaps it can become commercially feasible.

If your interested in other "tea" with caffeine you can grow, you might also look into Yaupon holly, a US cousin of yerba mate and guayusa. I think it survives to Z 6, and makes a good, healthy drink, and very easy to grow.

https://m.facebook.com/usltg

If anyones interested, the US league of tea growers has some ex soviet georgian tea seeds available that are supposed to be pretty cold hardy. Not sure if theyd be hardy to zone 5 or 6 but possibly the most cold hardy tea available. Check out their facebook if interested.

Travis
Thanks for sharing the link! 
How long does it take to grow a tea plant from seed before you can harvest the tea leaves? 

I have been a tea drinker my adult life. I once thought of growing my own but decided my clumsy processing would result in something that was not reliably standard. Tea is a morning ritual and hence for me has to be really good. So I buy a favorite loose black tea. I coincidentally just ordered some today from the UK. It'll take a month to get here. Nothing exotic, but it's what I like.

I'd never heard of puerh tea so just looked it up. After reading about the variations and processing, I know I'll never be able to grow and make my own. But good luck to those of you who may try.  Interesting topic. :)

There are three crops possible from Camellia sinensis:

1. white tea -- fresh stems and leaves, and sometimes unripe berries, less than 6 months old
2. green tea -- mature leaves
3. black tea -- ripe berries, set out to mature like raisins and incorporating local fungus (rot)

Does anyone know how the taste of the Sochi tea compares to the regular tea that is less cold hardy?

i grow the tea plants  and the best part are the tips of the plant. we have also used the bigger  leafs of the plant and its still a nice tea to drink. better then fig tea . imo  enjoy