Charleston Tea Garden, America’s Only Large-Scale Commercial Tea Garden

Even though I’ve been to Charleston, South Carolina many times over the years, I only recently discovered there is a tea garden in the area. I’m a huge tea-lover so how I missed this little tidbit is beyond me. I blame it on poor marketing by the tea garden so here I am trying to spread the word about this fabulous hidden gem on Wadmalaw Island, about a 40 minute drive from Charleston.

First a brief history lesson. In 1888, Dr. Charles Shepard founded the Pinehurst Tea Plantation in Summerville, South Carolina (about 25 miles from Charleston) after he and others tried for many years unsuccessfully to cultivate the first tea bushes, known as Camellia Sinensis, which were brought to the United States from China in the 1700’s. In 1963, a 127 acre potato farm located on Wadmalaw Island in the Lowcountry of South Carolina was purchased and Shepard’s tea plants were transplanted from Summerville to the current tea garden on Wadmalaw Island. In 1987, William Barclay Hall purchased the land. Hall, a third-generation tea taster who received his formal training during a four-year tea apprenticeship in London, England, converted the research and development farm to a commercial operation and founded the Charleston Tea Garden.

In 2003, seeking additional financing, Hall reached out to his longtime friends, the Bigelow family. A partnership arrangement was worked out and the Bigelow Tea Company bought the garden. On June 9, 2020, the name was changed from the Charleston Tea Plantation to the Charleston Tea Garden. Despite the partnership with Bigelow, Bigelow Teas are not made from any of the tea leaves grown or harvested at the Charleston Tea Garden. They emphasize that Charleston Tea Garden Teas are the only teas made from the tea leaves produced by the Camellia Sinensis plants grown in the fields of the Charleston Tea Garden.

Factory tours are free and self-guided, with signage and videos explaining the process and equipment that you can view through the large glass windows where the teas are processed. The tours are up the stairs in the gift shop, where you can also sample several types of teas at no charge and purchase tea both in bulk and tea bags, along with tea pots, mugs, and other tea-related merchandise.

The only charge for anything at the garden unless you buy something from the gift shop is the trolley tour, which is $15 per person but well worth it. Although you don’t go far on the trolley, you get an in-depth explanation about tea bushes, the different types of teas, how they’re grown and processed, and you drive by the tea plants in the garden. When you reach the greenhouse, you go inside and see all of the baby tea plants and learn about the propagation process.

When I took the tour, it was emphasized that the Charleston Tea Garden is the only tea garden in operation in the United States. However, when I did my own research online afterwards, I found several places in the United States where they grow and sell tea, including Table Rock Tea Company on the northwestern corner of South Carolina near the border of North Carolina. There are also tea gardens in Washington, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, California, Georgia, Hawaii, and more but these all appear to be tiny compared to the one in Charleston and in some cases they don’t actually grow their own tea onsite.

Upon closer look at the Charleston Tea Garden website, they do state, “We’re the only tea garden in North America where you can see hundreds of thousands of tea bushes stretching out acre after acre for almost as far as the eye can see.” When I dove deeper, it appears that the Charleston Tea Garden is the only large-scale commercial tea garden (hence my very-specific title here) so perhaps our guide just embellished that a bit and made it seem like they were the only tea garden in the United States and left it at that. However, there is this sign that further confuses the matter:

Maybe the sign was posted before other tea gardens existed in the United States

Misleading propaganda aside, the Charleston Tea Garden was worth the short drive from Charleston to spend an hour or so in this peaceful setting. After trying every single tea that was available for tasting, my daughter and I both agreed we liked the raspberry tea the best, which is a black tea infused with raspberry flavor. I can buy Earl Grey, plain black tea, and some of the others they offered anywhere but there is no place near where I live where I can buy loose leaf raspberry tea (and certainly not from tea leaves grown onsite), so not only was it delicious, it’s something unique so I bought a bag to take home with us. I also bought my daughter a cute mug with a matching spoon.

Also nearby on Wadmalaw Island is Deep Water Vineyard, with self-guided tours for $15 from Tuesday through Saturday. In addition to their South Carolina-grown muscadine wines, they partner with a grower in California to produce many traditional wines like Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, but also some unique ones like Winter Blues, made with local blueberries, or Palmetto Pepper, made with fermented jalapeño peppers.

Finally, you should stop at Angel Oak Park on nearby Johns Island to see the enormous oak tree believed to be the oldest living oak tree east of the Mississippi at an estimated 300-400 years old. Angel Oak Park is open every day except holidays and has free admission. There is also a gift shop nearby. No food, drinks, blankets, or tripods are permitted on or around the tree.

Angel Oak

Have you been to the Charleston Tea Garden or did you know this place existed but you just haven’t been there? Have you toured another tea garden where they grow and sell their own tea like this one?

Happy travels!

Donna