THE ORGANIC GROWER
Monica Griesbaum grows award-winning organic tea at her off-grid home, the Windy Hollow Tea Estate at Trinity Gask, Auchterarder, just north of the Ochil Hills.
President of the European Tea Growers Association, her seasonal teas Black Gold and Green Wander are bought-up faster that she can produce them, especially by her Chinese clientele.
She said: “My clientele is very international. I have sent my tea to customers in Hong Kong and Taiwan and to Chinese clients in Germany. My tea is sold in Eteaket Tea Shop in Edinburgh and there is always demand from tourists, especially Chinese tourists. Most of my customers are tea geeks – many from the US, and across Europe.”
From the moment she planted her first seeds she felt a responsibility for them. And because tea bushes can live for up to a century, she thought hard about where to put them. “I am passionate about the wilder side of tea growing so I tend to not prune, and I have organic certification. I am into biodiversity and making our growing areas more robust in the face of climate change.”
“I have planted a lot of native trees because I am establishing a really biodiverse 24 acres. My tea plants are all over. I have tea in the young emerging woodland of birch and wild cherry and I have tea plants in the meadow grass. I am comparing them. I want to see if one grows better.”
Griesbaum, who has travelled to tea estates across Asia to further her craft even studying under master organic tea maker she calls “Teacher Gao” and learning the ancient art of hand rolling, said: “With every batch of tea you want to be the best you can be.”