Growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, Jenny Tse knew all about the region’s bitter cold winters, which can dive to as cold as -35°F.
“People asked me, ‘Are you going to start a tea farm in Alaska,’ and I said, ‘No, that’s crazy. Where would it grow?’” recalls Tse, the founder and owner of Sipping Streams Tea Company in Fairbanks and also a certified tea specialist.
But then Covid hit, and she found herself mailing a tea plant to each student in her online tea classes in lieu of leading tours to tea plantations around the world. “I actually mailed them all a tea plant (as part of the instruction),” she says. “Plus, houseplants were a big thing during Covid.”
That's when she had the thought: What if she grew those trees herself?
This is how the tea company’s geothermal tea farm was born. It’s the world’s only tea farm powered through geothermal energy.
Partnering with Bernie Karl, a family friend who co-owns Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks, which is home to Alaska’s only geothermal plant, cemented the location. It’s a popular site for both locals and tourists to soak in the outdoor hot springs and, during winter, view the Northern Lights.
In 2020, Tse planted Camellia sinensis plants (its top leaves are picked, then rolled and crinkled, followed by a drying process to produce tea) in a high-tunnel greenhouse—sixteen years after launching Sipping Streams Tea Company. “It can’t be growing outside (because) Fairbanks gets to 40 below,” explains Tse. The plants were procured from Christine Park, a grower of Camellia sinensis plants in North Carolina and founder/owner of Camellia Forest Tea Gardens.
Forty plants are in each row and the 45 or so different varietals are suited for cold weather, such as Sochi (from Russia) and another one from Korea. The natural hot springs radiate heat.
Chena Hot Springs is the only place she could think of to establish the tea farm. With most greenhouses that are hydroponic, there’s concrete flooring. But Chena Hot Springs Resort features a dirt floor in the greenhouse. Tea plants thrive in soil, of course, and the greenhouse’s tubes beneath the soil help keep the dirt warm, as if it were a summery day.
The process has not been without challenges. In that first year, there was a forest fire near Chena Hot Springs Resort, closing down the roads to access the resort and the tea plants. Thankfully, staff on site assisted with watering and checking in on the plants.
“The coldest we can make it is in the upper 40s. If it’s too cold, it could possibly ice up on the outside of the greenhouse. A chunk of ice could tear up the whole greenhouse,” says Tse.
Another surprise was how hot the greenhouse gets in summer, when outdoor temperatures in Fairbanks can occasionally spike into the 80s.
But the taste of these tea leaves has won Tse over. So far, she’s crafted white tea and green tea from the plants, and the flavor profile impressed her. “[It has a] creamy, mineral-y, and vegetal type of taste because all the water is in the hot springs … but it doesn’t taste like sulfur,” says Tse. “That was the most surprising thing I didn’t expect about the tea taste itself. I was so worried about growing the plants.”
As the full maturation period for these plants is between five and 10 years, right now it’s a waiting game.
“We call it more of an experimental tea farm,” says Tse. “It’s been an experiment because it’s super hot in Fairbanks. That’s one thing we were not expecting. We knew about the 24 hours of sunlight (in summer) and that the plants would welcome that and want all the sunlight they could get.”
Built-in misting systems, similar to what’s in grocery stores’ produce sections, ensure the plants get enough moisture. Grow lights keep the plants warm during winter.
Growing one’s own tea almost always saves money. You don’t need to buy the tea leaves from someone else to create blends. In Sipping Streams Tea Company’s case, they’re also piggy-backing on an existing infrastructure, not spending money to get the operation to where it needs to be.
“One of the biggest cost savings for us is we don’t have to pay for this land and this infrastructure,” says Tse. “We don’t pay to have our tea plants there or have to drive out there. That is a huge cost savings.”
Staff who live at the resort check on the plants, but because Tse wants to be involved in the growing process, she visits the plants regularly.
Even for a tea company that pays for its land and infrastructure, growing tea plants allows for greater control and experimentation as you’re there every step of the way, guiding them to maturation. This attachment to the growing process also provides a new marketing angle as few, if any, tea brands are growing tea plants and that “farm-to-table” aspect is what consumers are often drawn to.
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