I have actually written a tell-all book about how I learned to grow and make tea. I wrote on it seriously for three years. It records the many experiments and failures I had along the way and even covers where the original Lipton tea plants were found and how my family tolerated my unusual hobby of producing tea. “The Grandfather of American Tea” is very presumptuous and most tea makers will be slightly amused. There are hundreds of tea makers in the USA whom I don’t know and they have never heard of me. I will wish I did not use that name one day but for now I think it fits just fine. Folks who have read the book are overly complementary, especially those who are growing and making tea. You can find in on Amazon.
Things are going along well this spring at the tea farm. As usual, the tea bushes are covered with a ton of new growth growing faster than I can pick and process it. We have made about 35 pounds so far which is a fraction of what we will produce this year. I started out with a large batch of whole leaf green tea buds for the gongfu drinkers which is a very nice tea, likely the best for the year. Then we have gone on the make small batches (6-8 pounds at a time) of green and black. I wish I could spend more time picking tea – as I enjoy doing it – but life and family obligations often get in the way.
Our farm tours are going strong now. My calendar gets completely booked up every week. I just hate turning people down but I can only handle a few people at a time. Our drive up tea business is going at a very brisk rate. I sell more tea to drive up’s than tea tours because drive up’s are repeat customers, already like our tea and know what they want.
Call and make an appointment and let us show you the art of tea craft. Folks are very complementary of our tours!
Donnie Barrett