Outside of China, most of the world's tea was planted by British
or Dutch colonists. Tanzania on the other hand holds the
distinction of being the only country where it was first planted
by the Germans. Germany's control of the country was relatively
short lived, lasting only from the 1880's until 1919. It was
during this time, in 1904, that tea was first planted
experimentally at the Agricultural Research Station at Amani in
the eastern Tanga district. This first experiment was a success.
Tea was next planted experimentally at the Kyimbila Mission in
the Rugwe District. When this second endeavor also showed
promise, it was only then that agricultural researchers began to
explore tea's potential in full. But even with these successful
experiments behind them, it would not be for another few years
that the German planters would expand commercially on a larger
scale. For that, another 20 years and a world war would come to
pass. In 1919, Britain took over from Germany as the colonial
ruler of the country. Still