CHARLESTON, S.C. — There is nothing to cool the soul on a hot day in South Carolina like sweet tea.
From Arkansas to Alabama, from Mississippi to Georgia, sweet tea is, in a very real way, the table wine of the South.
People of every race, creed, social level and occupation drink sweet tea.
Sweet tea for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sweet tea at church, schools and receptions. It is, without question, the drink of choice south of the Mason-Dixon line.
It was my love for that irresistible nectar that got me REAL excited about my stop on this Chuck's Big Adventure: a visit to the Charleston Tea Garden.
This year-round tourist attraction is the only tea garden in North America where you can see thousands of tea bushes stretching as far as the eye can see. There is more here though, from tasting different kinds of North American teas to touring the farm and factory, this is a can't-miss stop for any tea drinker.
"It was founded in the 1960s by Lipton Tea. They were worried they wouldn't be able to bring tea into the United States. They had some other things they were doing, like dried tea and instant tea and things they were working on there," general manager Bryn Riley said. "At one point, 12 PHD's working there. 1987 comes along, and they're able to import tea from around the world. They didn't need this place anymore, so they put it up for sale, and a man named Bill Hall purchased it into a commercial operation."
Charleston Tea Garden
That brings us to now. Hall partnered with the Bigelow Tea family, and that is the current ownership. The Charleston Tea Garden is a fascinating place that draws nearly 75,000 folks a year. We visited in late January, but there was still tea growing even during the coldest part of the South Carolina winter.
Riley says Charleston is a good place, climate wise, to grow tea.
"It's got sandy drainage for the soil. It's got good wind, good rainfall. It does really well in the climate, and it just acclimated really well," Riley said. "We are not the first place to grow tea in the United States, just the one that has been around the longest."
Visitors here see black tea and green tea and may be surprised to learn there isn't a big health advantage to either, but that is just one of the topics tour guides address on the 45-minute trolley tour.
There is no admission fee to get in here, but you'll pay to take the highly-recommended trolley tour –where you can see a greenhouse, the plants up close and ask plenty of questions.
Mike Kennerly leads people on tours and emphasized that the processed tea at the plant – also on the tour – is grown without pesticides.
"Not at all. That's because the tea leaves contain caffeine. That is a natural defense mechanism for these plants that we happen to enjoy. Even the local deer population won't eat the plants because of the caffeine," Kennerly said.
The gift shop is full of free tea samples, tea produced here and everything from tea lip balm to tea shampoo.
Yes, the sweet tea here is fresh and delicious, but hot tea lovers have their shot at sampling and buying here as well.
A whole visit here can take about an hour and a half to two hours, but you will leave with a new appreciation for the South's most popular drink. I sure did!
More of Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston:
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: Old South Carriage Company
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: The Plantation Singers
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: Lowcountry Oyster Co. & cooking with Chef Kevin Mitchell
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: South Carolina Aquarium
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: Magnolia Plantation
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: Fort Sumter
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: Coastal Expeditions
- Chuck's Big Adventure in Charleston: The Gullah Experience