Mukachevo, Transcarpathia, Ukraine
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| Oct 2022 Foto R.Kish |
The history of unique Ukrainian tea plantation has begun in 1949, when a team of All-Union research institute of tea and subtropical agriculture (Georgia), supervised by Dr. I. I. Chkhaidze, started works on the base "Zhornina Mountain - Chervona (Red) Mountain" near Mukachevo. The same time, there were founded other experimental areas in six Trans-Carpatian regions. All those initiatives were implemented within a great project of National Academy of Sciences of USSR; in 1950, they got together into United complex expedition for tea culture development. There were some attempts to acclimatize tea on territories of Moldova, Trans-Carpatia, Crimea, Primorsky Krai, South Sakhalin and Kunashir Island.
The main aim of the project was "...full satisfaction of Soviet people’s needs for domestic tea", because successfully implemented in Georgia in the period 1930-1940 similar project gave about 30% of consumed in USSR tea. Trans-Carpatia was considered in USSR as the second (after Georgia) region to produce tea.
That great project has been canceled since 1953. Among all experimental areas founded in Trans-Carpatian region only Red Mountain’s persisted. In 2000, tea bushes 1.5-2 m high continued to grow, bloom, and give seeds here. After canceling financial support to the research, the plantation has been abandoned: lots of tea bushes were dug and cut out, only roots remained. Thanks to the efforts of foresty workers tea bushes still grow, but there was not enough opportunity to develop the plantation. However, the previously formed bushes were destroyed and only root shoots 20-50 cm high remained.
Despite this state of the plantation, our team started in 2015 experimental developments of semi- and full-fermented teas. Ones demonstrated according to experts’ opinions the great potential of the Trans-Carpatian tea. During this period and until recently, we collected no more than 1 kg of raw leaf.
A new, important stage started in the summer of 2019. A group of local activists, with the support of local businesses, cleared one area of the plantation from invasive vegetation. This made it possible to carry out agrotechnical activities and experiments. The combination of an academic tea school and bold experiments made it possible to revive 300 tea bushes and grow them to 1 m after numerous pruning over three years.
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| The same place. Fotos M Malyhin |
In 2022, the development of technology for the production of highly fermented longitudinally twisted oolong “Chervenyi Sharkan” (“Red Carpatian Dragon”) was completed. Since we plan to continue to form bushes and rows, we do not expect an increase in the amount of raw materials in the coming years.
The plantation is located on the territory of a protected area, so all the tea collected is not subject to sale. Our team has been organizing tastings annually for the past five years.
Until 1999, the Zhornina tea plantation was the northernmost in Europe. After emerging such plantations in Germany (Tschanara Teagarden) and Great Britain (Tregothnan), the plantation lost that status, but there is the most frost resistant culture of tea worldwide (up to -26 C for the entire period of the plantation’s existence and up to -19 C in recent years).
Previously in "Tea across the world" series of articles were published:
Тяньлошань: чай в каменном веке (Китай) [Russian]
Через океан в Южную Америку [Russian]
Звідки на Закарпатті чайні кущі Camellia sinensis [Ukrainian]
