Nestled on the shores of the Kyles of Bute sea channel in Argyll lies Glen Caladh Farm, where owners Islay and Duncan Henderson bravely battle the odds and weather to make Scottish-grown tea a reality. Photo credit: Zac & Zac Photography
When picturing a tea-producing country, Scotland is probably quite low on the list. With its northerly latitude and often harsh weather, it is not exactly well-suited to growing a plant that thrives in warm tropical and subtropical climates — and yet there are dozens of tea gardens scattered around the country.
These are not commercial tea plantations on the scale of those in more traditional locales, like India or China. The tea growers of Scotland are more modest, using walled gardens and smallholdings to experiment with growing and processing methods.
These passionate farmers bravely battle the odds — and the weather — to make Scottish-grown tea a reality. Production is low and sold in small quantities at high-end boutique retailers. The challenges are real, and most people grow tea as a complement to another business. The promise of a Scottish tea-growing industry is elusive, but it persists.
The Feasibility of Growing Tea Commercially in Scotland
Despite increased competition from coffee, tea consumption remains high in the UK, and interest in specialty tea is on the rise. This is especially true among younger drinkers, with those aged 25-34 drinking the most loose-leaf tea, according to a 2021 survey by Mintel.
Attempts to grow tea in Scotland date back to 2007, when Susie Walker-Munro began experimenting on her farm in Angus. This led to a small-scale supply deal with the Edinburgh-based tea seller PekoeTea. Since then, a number of farmers have come together to form grower collectives, such as the Tea Gardens of Scotland, to share knowledge and pool harvests, in order to achieve the amounts required for commercial production.
In 2016, Nigel Melican, a tea consultant from Teacraft Technical Services, produced a study on the feasibility of growing tea in Scotland. While acknowledging the difficulties — low natural light levels, a short cropping season, plant material not suited to local conditions, and high labor costs — the report nonetheless concluded that, with some caveats, it is possible to grow tea commercially in the country.
“While conditions are marginal compared to traditional growing areas, the knowledge and expertise to improve growing conditions and alleviate shortcomings generally exists,” Melican wrote. “We can modify soil where necessary, supplement rainfall, extend the season, and supplement lighting.”
The report concluded that, within these limitations, “small-scale experiments have shown that tea will grow under Scottish marginal conditions, albeit at high cost and at low yields.”
It’s this boutique, high-quality approach that has seen the most success, but even then, production has been small and inconsistent. In order to make it viable, most Scottish tea producers have another source of income, whether that’s a day job to pay the bills or an add-on like a cafe to bring in tourism and showcase the farm.
Quality, Character, Sustainability
A tea house with an attached tea garden is the approach that Joanne Holley has taken. Her business, the Scottish Tea House in Lanarkshire, south of Glasgow, offers afternoon tea, tastings, and tours of the tea garden.
Joanne Holley runs the Scottish Tea House in Lanarkshire, south of Glasgow, and offers afternoon tea, tastings, and tours of the tea garden to help supplement income for the farm. Photo credit: Scottish Tea House.
“These experiences allow visitors to learn about the process of tea-making, from field to cup,” Holley says. At the same time, she says, “Our tea garden is more than a growing space; it’s the foundation of everything we do.”
Holley is focused on small-scale production, having planted her first Camellia Sinensis bushes in 2018. The ones planted outside didn’t make it through the first Scottish winter, but those planted in a covered hoop house survived. Using those first bushes as a guide, Holley has since been able to produce and sell small quantities of “The Angels’ Share,” a completely Scottish-grown tea which she says “reflects the terroir of our tea garden and our production process.”
The Angels’ Share tea is an entirely Scottish-grown single-estate tea, reflecting the land's unique terroir and production process. Photo credit: Scottish Tea House
Fifty-five miles northwest of Holley’s tea garden, nestled on the shores of the Kyles of Bute sea channel in Argyll, lies Glen Caladh Farm, where Islay and Duncan Henderson have similar hopes. They, too, are in the learning stages of their journey, and like Holley, they have been able to produce a small amount of tea.
The process has not been without its setbacks, however. “There have been difficulties in a marginal climate,” Islay Henderson says. “We lost 2000 tea plants of a varietal that didn’t like the fluctuations in the temperature over winter a couple of years ago. We’re now working with plants from several origins, seeds and cuttings, and continuously experimenting.”
The owner of Glen Caladh Farm, Islay Henderson, works with other Scottish tea growers to combine harvests and increase production volumes. Photo credit: Glen Caladh Farm
Growing tea in these environments is especially challenging due to the often harsh weather. To counteract this, both growers have planted native woodlands to act as windbreaks — Holley also uses honeybees for pollination — and both have reconciled themselves to the slow progress. In fact, Holley looks on the bright side: “Scotland’s cool climate and shorter growing season mean that our tea plants grow more slowly, which actually enhances the flavor and depth of the tea.”
The Future of Scottish-Grown Tea
Whether the Scottish-grown tea industry can ever achieve commercial sustainability remains to be seen. There are myriad impediments, some less obvious than others — as well as the wind and cold temperatures, somewhat ironically, Scotland doesn’t receive enough rainfall to be an ideal tea-growing climate.
Despite this, tea growers such as Henderson and Holley continue to pursue the promise of a sustainable, commercial tea-producing industry in Scotland. Henderson says they are currently producing small batches of tea, both their own and in collaboration with other farmers from the Tea Scotland growers’ association, and hopes to offer tea tastings at the farm in 2025.
“It was the first year of our new tiny tea factory here at the farm, and I made tea for Tea Scotland and a small batch of the first-ever Glen Caladh single estate tea,” Henderson says. “We are so pleased with it, after seven years of looking after this plantation in a seemingly unlikely location in many ways, but a location we’ve hoped and dreamed will produce a fabulous tasting tea.”
Holley’s production is also small but increasing every year, which is in line with her long-term business plans. “Our goal is to expand in a sustainable way while maintaining the quality and character of our single estate tea,” she says.
Although it remains a very niche industry, both Holley and Henderson emphasize the positive collaboration and camaraderie between growers. In fact, Henderson’s work with Tea Scotland indicates a possible way forward — because each farm might produce only a kilo or two per year, it makes sense for several growers to combine harvests to ensure enough production to meet supply needs.
Scotland is an unusual tea-producing country and will undoubtedly stay very niche due to the sheer number of obstacles involved. But while a truly viable Scottish-grown tea sector might take a long time to establish, those involved are dedicated to making it work.