All the photos in this article are the courtesy of Marianna Varga
‘I see that more and more people are drinking tea in Hungary, and more and more people are interested in where tea comes from, how it is grown, and how it is prepared. People are open to better quality teas and are also beginning to understand that tea is very healthy. That is why I encourage everyone to drink tea regularly because it is a pure drink full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.’
The following is an adapted version of an article written by Orsolya Ferenczi-Bónis, originally published in Magyar Krónika.
Magyar Krónika asked Marianna Varga, tea expert and the first tea producer in Hungary, how to make truly delicious tea.
Marianna Varga is a qualified horticulturist, tea expert, tea ambassador of Hungary, and researcher of the Hungarian Tea Project.
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I imagine that someone who went from being an amateur tea drinker to an expert was fascinated by the world of tea already as a young child.
That’s right, I grew up in a tea-drinking family—thanks to my mum and grandmothers, we used to drink tea both in winter and summer. Indeed, I loved drinking tea as a child, and as a young adult, I was already interested in what teas were available beyond the ones you could buy at home. But before I could delve into the world of tea, I also had a little taste of wine culture. After graduating from the Faculty of Horticulture, I worked as a viticulturist in the wine region of Eger, then in Australia, and later as a wine laboratory technician.
How did you find your way back to tea?
After a six-month internship in Australia, I moved to London. At the beginning of my stay there, I went into a huge tea shop with a long history, where I found at least 150 different types of herbal tea on the shelves, types I had never even heard of, let alone tasted. I was so enchanted by this world that I immediately asked if I could apply for a job in the shop. They said yes. The British passion for tea, if that’s possible, only made me more fascinated. Everything I know about real tea and tea culture, I learned during the six years I worked there. Through internal training, tea clubs, and tastings, I gained a wealth of knowledge, becoming a qualified expert in the art of tea. Besides, I owe a lot to my masters there and my colleagues and friends from all over the world.
Why did you decide to move home?
I wanted to be able to pass on the knowledge I had acquired in London to Hungary, but I was faced with the fact that there were no big tea companies at home, so I would not be able to find a job in this profession. However, this did not deter me, and I decided to create my own job. I started as a sole trader and then built up my own small business.
As a first step, I held tea-tasting workshops to pass on my knowledge, to show that there are many different types of tea and how to make them to bring out the best flavour.
The participants not only enjoyed the teas they tasted very much, but also asked where they could buy them. Since they were not available at home, I decided to open an online shop. Through this, I was found by a Dutch company that had created a new hybrid of a Chinese tea, Camellia sinensis, and was looking for nurseries across Europe to test it.
‘I held tea-tasting workshops to pass on my knowledge, to show that there are many different types of tea and how to make them to bring out the best flavour’
What can you tell us about this new hybrid?
It is a cold-tolerant version of the original Chinese tea, bred under laboratory conditions. It is intended for cultivation in Europe, so garden centres on the continent have been sought to test the cold tolerance of the tea plant in their own country’s climate. Since my webshop’s introduction stated that I was a horticulturist, they thought I knew a thing or two about the tea plant itself as well. I was curious, so I said yes and went to the Netherlands for a one-week training course on how to plant a tea plant, how to harvest the leaves, how to process them, and how to make green and black tea from the leaves.
Is that what started you on the path of tea growing?
Yes, at first, I planted a few seedlings in my parents’ garden just for them as a test. Then, I became so interested in them that I planted more and more. Meanwhile, more and more people who follow my work came to me to see the garden, because they had never seen how tea is grown and, as consumers, they could not even imagine what a tea harvest is like, what part of the shrub is used, how the leaves are picked, and how tea is made from them. It occurred to me that it would be nice to have a separate garden where I could invite people to visit, so I started looking for a garden suitable for tea growing. Finally, I managed to buy a plot of land on the outskirts of Vác, where I created a tea garden that was not only open to visitors but also had enough space to allow me to experiment, test, and compare different cultivation techniques.
What is on offer for visitors in the tea garden?
This garden is located in Törökhegy, on the outskirts of Vác, at 330 metres above sea level, with a microclimate that is the most ideal for tea cultivation in Hungary. The garden can be visited from the beginning of June until the end of October because it is during this period that tea can be harvested. I show visitors the tea bushes and the rows, tell them their history, and explain everything there is to know about them. Afterwards, they can try picking the tea leaves, and in the autumn, they can also pick the flowers as that’s when tea blooms. Then we settle down on the terrace with a beautiful view over the Naszály Mountain, where I hold the tea tasting, during which we taste Hungarian teas grown in the garden as well as European ones that are not available elsewhere. Leaf and flower picking is an unrivalled experience for a tea connoisseur, topped off with an outdoor tea drinking experience and an extraordinary atmosphere.
Winter is a typical time for drinking tea. How true is it that Hungarians mostly drink this succulent beverage in winter, and what characterizes Hungarian tea-drinking habits in general?
I see that more and more people are drinking tea in Hungary, and more and more people are interested in where tea comes from, how it is grown, and how it is prepared. People are open to better quality teas and are also beginning to understand that tea is very healthy. That is why I encourage everyone to drink tea regularly because it is a pure drink full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Both making it and drinking it are good for our mental health. In our country, most people associate tea drinking with the cold weather, indeed, and around Christmas in particular, but I always try to communicate that we should drink tea all year round, not just in winter and autumn, but also in spring and summer.
There are so many different types of tea available that we can choose a different one for each season, and they give us a whole new experience when prepared in different ways. That’s why summer garden tastings are so good, as they allow everyone to experience how good a lighter, fresher, softer tea tastes at this time of year, while in winter, it’s better to have a full-bodied, warmer, stronger, spicier tea. It’s worth trying as many different types as possible so that everyone can find the one that suits them best.
‘There are so many different types of tea available that we can choose a different one for each season’
With your passion for teas and tea drinking, I assume you have new ideas as well.
Indeed, I always have new ideas. I’ve just published a book on tea making, in which I also provide a guide for those who feel like tending a tea plant in their garden or bedroom window and then making their own tea from its leaves. This book is aimed at private consumers, but my future plans are for courses for professionals.
You mentioned that at the tastings, you also show how to prepare the teas to make them the best. Are there any tricks that anyone can use?
I believe that in order to become a regular tea drinker, one needs to be able to make tea well, so in my tasting workshops, we practice the right way to make tea. By following a few simple basic rules, tea drinking can be a real experience at home as well. The most important of these is that we shouldn’t brew our tea with 100-degree boiling water but wait a few minutes—four to five minutes for green tea—for the water to cool down a little and then pour it over the tea leaves, so that the antioxidants and vitamins in the tea are not destroyed. The other very important rule is not to steep for more than two or three minutes because tea leaves contain a lot of tannins, a natural compound that, if it leaches out, makes the tea taste bitter. Everyone should try to make their tea with these two tips in mind, as the result will be a much better quality and softer tea, with a delicate floral, fruity, and delicious flavour.
‘I see that more and more people are drinking tea in Hungary, and more and more people are interested in where tea comes from, how it is grown, and how it is prepared. People are open to better quality teas and are also beginning to understand that tea is very healthy. That is why I encourage everyone to drink tea regularly because it is a pure drink full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.’
