Tea & Honey
Tea picking at the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall
WORDS & FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY KAREN BURNS-BOOTH
A
fter an invigorating walk up
steep but bucolic country
lanes, winding past beehives
and over wooden stiles, we came to
the most beautiful view of
Cornwall's River Fal. We had
arrived at the tea terraces on
England's first ever Tea Estate.
Tregothnan Estate is near
Falmouth in Cornwall, and I was
lucky enough to be on an included
excursion when sailing on the
Viking Venus. Here we walked
amongst wildflower meadows,
ancient orchards and grassy
countryside tracks. Harvesting
Britain's first home-grown English
tea in 2005, and thus creating the
ultimate Britishness in every cup, it
has certainly become a must-visit
on every tourist's list.
16 years on, and over 20,000 tea
bushes are planted every year in
this new English tea garden, which
is wholly suited to the local
Cornwall microclimate. It's a
fascinating sight to see rows and
rows of tea bushes, something that
we may normally associate with
Ceylon, India or Kenya. I was
intrigued to learn that the flora
BIOGRAPHY
Karen Burns-Booth is a freelance
food and travel writer, as well
as a food stylist, and recipe
developer. Originally from South
Africa, she now lives on the edge
of Snowdonia National Park, UK.
around the tea includes the famous
pink Magnolia Campbellii that was
introduced from Darjeeling and
often heralds the spring in
Cornwall before it arrives in
Darjeeling.
I've been tea plucking in Sri Lanka,
but I never thought I'd be lucky
enough to go tea plucking in
England and as I wandered up and
down the terraces, I kept looking
over to the River Fal, as it snaked
its way through the nearby valley.
e sun glinted on the shimmering
water, soft clouds were buffeted
along by a gentle summer breeze,
and it was hard to believe that I
wasn't back in Sri Lanka harvesting
tea with the local tea pickers there.
After our walk we all enjoyed a cup
of Tregothnan Afternoon Tea with
homemade shortbread biscuits, taken
in the small but perfectly charming
tea garden. For a tea addict like me,
and as a recipe writer and recipe
creator, this was one of the highlights
of my cruise whilst on Viking
Venus. e trip even inspired me to
create new recipes using this iconic
British ingredient!
Tregothnan Tea Estate
viking.com
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