If you've ever dreamt about growing your own tea, then you'll want to read this. In our latest video, Bella Percy-Hughes of Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall explains how to pick tea leaves and how they are processed.

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Bella advises looking for the younger and lighter leaves: "We're looking for lovely, fresh green shoots and what we're looking for is the top two leaves. These are young waxy leaves – nice and soft."

Once picked, the leaves will need to be oxidised to make black tea. You can start by rubbing the leaves between your hands – this starts the oxidisation process.

She recommends putting some of the leaves in your coat pocket and squeezing them as you walk about. Within a week or so you should have a nice pocketful of tea!

You can read more about our visit to Tregothnan Estate in In The Moment issue 12 – out in the UK on 1 May 2018.

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Tea picking in October
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Photography by Jane Orme and Tregothnan Estate.

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