On the green hills of Mauritius, prized leaves are harvested that are destined to conquer the world. This is one of the most prized varieties of tea globally, thanks to the growers who have been passing down the secrets of processing for centuries.
The island of Mauritius is dotted with patches of intense green that inland reach the highways. They are tea plantations, a drink whose consumption is so widespread in the country that it is said to flow in the veins of Mauritians. The government reports that the average annual per capita consumption of tea is one kilo, mostly black tea, with an average production of over 7,000 tons per year.
Mauritian tea is also gradually gaining an international market: South Africa, France and China are the main importers. These numbers hide the constant work of men and women who, during the harvest period, work hard to detach from the tea plant only the shoot and the two underlying leaves (the “two leaves and a bud” method) to put the most valuable tea on the market. In Mauritius, the harvest takes place all year round but is concentrated in the summer months, from October to March.
Once collected, the leaves are sent to factories, where they are processed in various stages that reveal all the magic of an ancient tradition. First of all, drying, which sees the leaves spread out on special tables for 24 hours in ventilated rooms where air at room temperature (warm) constantly circulates.
The leaves thus lose about a third of their water content and can therefore be rolled or cut without breaking. Mauritian black tea is in fact produced according to the cut, tear and curl method, unlike traditional black teas. Fermentation follows, a delicate stage that lasts about ninety minutes and transforms green tea into black tea in a natural way: the leaves, spread out on a mat, are ventilated with room air saturated with humidity.
The professionalism of the producer lies in knowing when the process must be stopped to release the aromas without changing the taste. To interrupt this phase, the leaves must be placed in ovens at a very high temperature. The tea is then spread on sieves of various sizes to obtain different qualities depending on the state of the leaves: whole, broken or crushed.
It is then time for flavouring, during which the tea varieties are mixed and the flavour is added with great care, to compose a tea that combines strength, character and taste. The most popular among Mauritians is black vanilla tea. Loose or in teabags, the tea is finally packaged with care.
The well-known brands Bois Chéri, Chartreuse and Corson are currently the three pillars of the tea market in Mauritius. Each factory gets its share of tea from small planters, the true artisans of a product that is consumed by the local population from the morning to kick off a day that will then be punctuated by other cups of the beloved drink.
A tradition that has its roots in 1760, when the tea plant known as Camellia sinensis was introduced to the island by a French priest, Father Galloys. It was not until the arrival of the English in the 19th century that tea cultivation was commercially promoted. But when Robert Farquhar, the English governor of Mauritius, left the island, the project was abandoned.
Nearly half a century later, another English governor, Sir John Pope Hennessy, revived interest in tea cultivation and soon plantations were established in the areas of Nouvelle France and Chamarel. Private plantations multiplied; the first large-scale plantation was created under the name of Bois Chéri Company in 1892.
A history and consequent tradition that lives on in the “Tea Route” has become one of the main tourist attractions of the country: it winds through three iconic sites of Mauritius: Le Domaine des Aubineaux, Le Domaine de Bois Chéri and Le Domaine de Saint-Aubin. These are the historic estates of the first tea producers and traders, who started an activity that the local population has somehow treasured. Bois Cheri, for example, a tea plantation born in the late nineteenth century that today includes about 250 hectares for a total of 700 tons of tea per year.
In reality, the “Tea Route” is a journey through the history and culture of the island, whose signs of colonial domination, first English then French and Dutch, are clearly visible even in everyday habits, such as drinking tea at 5 in the afternoon. (Valentina Giulia Milani/Africa) – (Photo: PIxabay)
