Explore the largest tea producing region in Indonesia: Java Island

There are various types of tea in Java Island, which are inseparable from the strong local tea drinking culture. The cultivation of tea in Java Island can be traced back to the period of Dutch colonial rule in the 17th century. In 1618, the Dutch colonial army captured Jakarta. The Dutch East India Company established a "Trade and Administrative Headquarters" in Jakarta, which became a transit point for the Dutch East India Company to transport tea from China and Japan to the Netherlands. Until 1825, the Dutch imported tea seeds from Japan and began to experiment with growing tea in Java. In 1829, the first batch of black tea in Indonesia was listed as a commodity.

Apart from Japan, Indonesia is the first region outside of China to carry out commercial tea plantation and production. As far as black tea is concerned, Indonesia is the world's first black tea production base outside of China. Later, a large number of tea species were imported from China. In 1835, there were more than 2 million Chinese tea trees on Java Island, and all the black tea produced was shipped to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. In 1872, Indonesia began to introduce Indian Assam tea species, continuously expanding the planting area and gradually replacing Chinese species. Before 1900, there was a tea industry mainly in Java Island. In 1900, tea gardens were opened in Sumatra Island to produce tea. The most famous tea garden is the Arrow tea garden. Tea became a commodity for the Dutch colonial government to obtain high profits in Indonesia, and tea trees became one of the species that must be planted by Indonesian aborigines.

During World War II, Indonesia was occupied by Japan, and a large area of ​​tea gardens were ordered to be planted with cotton by the Japanese invaders. Many tea gardens were destroyed by the war, and some tea gardens were abandoned. The Indonesian tea industry suffered a catastrophe. The tea trade was completely paralyzed. At the end of World War II and Indonesia's independence, the government issued a policy to revitalize tea, expropriating the tea gardens of the former Dutch colonists, and encouraging private plantations to develop the tea industry. At present, the largest tea industry base in Indonesia is still the island of Java, which accounts for about 75% of Indonesia's total production.