No storm in a teacup as research reveals climate change threatens the future of the UK teacup | Climate News

Climate change could be about to impact a UK institution – changing the taste of a cup of tea, the research has warned.

Extreme weather conditions and rising temperatures could affect both the amount of land available for tea growing and the climate needed to produce the leaves that are turned into black tea, according to a report by Christian Aid.

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the UK and Ireland drink more tea per person than in any other country in the world, with Kenya alone produces half of the black tea drunk in the UK.

But Kenya, the world’s largest exporter of black tea, faces more erratic rainfall, making floods and droughts more common and rising temperatures, Christian Aid said.

The charity’s report predicts that the optimal conditions for tea production in the East African country will drop by more than a quarter (26%) by 2050.

In areas where growing conditions are only average, production will drop by almost two-fifths (39%).

Other major tea producing countries, including India, Sri Lanka, and China, the world’s largest producer whose green tea is gaining popularity in the UK, is also facing rising temperatures and new extreme weather conditions, according to the report.

Not only is the quantity produced threatened, but so is the taste. The report states that more rain means inferior leaves and a decrease in the compounds that make the brew beneficial for health.

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Richard Koskei, 72, a tea farmer from Kericho in the western highlands of Kenya, said climate change was a “real threat”.

“We can no longer predict the seasons, temperatures are increasing, rainfall is more irregular, more often accompanied by unusual hailstones and longer droughts, which was not the case in the past,” he said. .

“If this …