Research into a tea culture said to have had its origins somewhere in the region of 2727 BC locates the practice in the traditions of the older civilizations of China, India, and Japan, prior to its more recent association with the Drawing Rooms of the European middle and upper classes. Perhaps not unexpectedly, over time, tea became an acquired taste in the colonies of Europe, Guyana being no exception to that rule.
If Guyana is by no means regarded as a tea-manufacturing mecca, the practice has emerged, albeit in a limited way here, enabled by the wide range of tea-related bushes some of which still grow ‘wild’ in open spaces across the country. This has been supported by the emergence locally of an expanded agro-processing sector which, over time, has demonstrated a flair for experimentation and innovation.
