Charleston Tea Garden

This is my 2nd visit. The trolley tour is a fun way to learn the history behind this unique place. The free factory tour is quick but highly informative. There is a large gift area with many nice mementos. Don’t forget to sample the large selection of hot and cold teas also.

First of all, if you want to be one with nature, definitely stop by. If you love tea but don't know the process, you can learn more here. But I'm warning you, don't get your hopes up. :) It's a small business, and I'm sure they make more money from the gift shop and the troll tour than from the tea itself. The troll tour takes you to the tea fields, but since you can't get out of the vehicle, you only have to look at it from a distance. The gift shop offers hot and cold tea. However, I'm not much of a tea person, so I guess I didn't like it very much. (I've been on similar tours in England and Turkey before, and they were much better.)

The drive there was beautiful and the tea plantation was impressive. They offered free tea in the beautiful gift shop. You could sample all the available teas (about ten different kinds) and take your tea everywhere with you. They offer a free tour in their processing factory behind the gift shop. There was also a paid tour, which we did, on a tour bus through the plantation where you can find out about the intricacies of growing tea, it's history and ties to Lipton in the most amusing way under humorous disposition of the tour guide. The tea was amazing as well as the gift shop. For the tour I would advise if you are in a time crunch to book in advance. We didn't, and thus ended up waiting for about an hour. Despite that, the time flew very by and it was time for our tour. The tour was a little too specific on the plantation rather than informative for my liking, but definitely our visit wouldn't be complete without it.

This is a great place to stop by, the place is quiet, beautiful and knowledgeable. We got a great experience while we were here. They got a gift shop, where they allow you to have a tea sample, hot or cold while you waiting for a trolley tour or self guide tour to begin. But this is not a whole day visit, may be a couple hours was enough to stay and learn things here. But recommend to come and visit!!!

Wonderful place steeped in history. A low cost (or free without the trolley tour) stop with free samples of the tea and a direct look at the process of tea making.

Such a hidden gem! We had an amazing time sampling teas, shopping in the gift shop, and learning so much about how they grow and produce their own tea. We loved the trolly tour, and Andy's energy was contagious. She really made this an experience to remember.

Absolutely loved this tour! The staff was incredibly knowledgeable and very fun. We wanted to say a special shoutout to the one and only Andie!! She was so bubbly and was the life of the party. Thank you for showing up with so much passion and liveliness for your job. It really made our whole experience. We will be back again when the tea is in full bloom ❤️

A great side trip while visiting the area - the only team plantation in all of North America. They have bottomless free samples of hot and cold teas, a simple factory tour, a nice gift shop, and a trolley tour (though we didn't do that). Everything but the trolley tour (and what you buy at the gift shop) is free.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the only large-scale tea garden in the US! We love that the factory tour and hot and cold tea bars are complementary. The peach sweet tea was phenomenal! We took the paid trolley tour and learned many impressive facts about the great care that goes into growing, harvesting, and processing their delicious teas. We were pleased to learn that no harmful pesticides or chemicals are used in any part of the process - that's why they have no decaf offerings! Sean (Shawn?) was very knowledgeable and entertaining. The drive out to the tea garden is beautiful!

From one tea lover to another do not miss the Charleston Tea Garden. Only large scale tea garden in the US . They partnered with the Bigelow family in 2003. The trolley ride was informative and enjoyable. Steve was steeped with humor and tea facts . Bring your buckees it's a whopping $19.99 a piece. I was happy to pay just a little contribution back for the love of Tea. I know you'll be amazed by all the tea facts you'll learn while riding the trolley.

4.5 stars A little out of the way, but the scenery is gorgeous. It's one of the only working tea gardens in the U.S. (and it's free to walk around). There is a 15 minute video tour that shows what the operations are like during the on season. There's a little gift shop, where you can sample as many hot or cold teas as you want and sit out on the porch drinkin' sweet tea. My favorite was the sweet mint tea. To take the trolley tour around the gardens would've been $18. 2024 #10

We loved coming here! It's a bit of a drive but very beautiful. The tour was great. Not too long or short. I found it engaging. They have a cute store and offer all their teas to try which I really appreciated too. It got me in the spirit!

This was my first visit to the CTG, and it was tea-rrific! Yeah, I went there. I stopped in last week with a large group for a factory tour and loved this location. I will be back with my family soon for a trolley ride tour as well. It was so fun to see the tea leaves being put through the motions in the factory, and the video tour was very informative. Stopped in the gift shop on the way out, of course, and brought a few items home. The free samples of hot and cold tea is a very nice touch so you can really try before you buy. Can't wait to come back.

I hand t heard of this place but was told about it when my parents came to visit. Don't expect much but it was very interesting to see.

The highlight of this visit was the free endless samples of all the tea, both hot and iced! So amazing! Service was super friendly and many staff greeted me when I walked in the initial store and explained how everything onsite worked. Ambiance was welcoming. The tea warehouse tour was self-guided and a video prompt turned on every section to explain what you were looking at. A genius concept! I loved all the cute teapots and tea accessories for sale in the store! I only wish they sold more tea samplers instead of just boxed teas, but that's not a big deal. Pretty neat that you can do the self-guided tour part for free and see the place; the only up charge is if you purchase the trolley tour. There is not any food for sale onsite so make sure you eat prior to coming. A neat afternoon out. I have went once and probably wouldn't return since there's not a whole lot to do here after the free self guided tour, trolley tour (paid), and giftshop (where the free tea samples are), but it's definitely neat to see.

If you love tea please come and check this place out! It's the only team farm in America! We landed on the peach and raspberry tea. I enjoyed the free sample! It gave me a chance to really figure out what I wanted. If the wether had been over I would have taken the trolley around but I was honestly tired of being cold. I just enjoyed walking around their shop.

The Tea Garden is a great place to spend a few hours. It's free to park, walk around, and visit the guest shop plus factory. There are also free restrooms just outside. You can choose to pay for a tour on a bus run by the tea garden. If you choose no to, you can always walk around on your own. It's a pretty place that's worth your time.

Easy five stars! I love tea, hot or iced- I have been a tea drinker all my life. At the Charleston Tea Garden you can shop, sip various hot and iced teas, see the factory (which was in full production mode when we were there), buy a tour ticket and board a bus and really get your learning on! Number one consumed beverage in the world is water, number two- is tea! I got that trivia right ;) Green tea, oolong tea and black tea are all from the same plant! I did NOT know that! It's how it is processed. Green takes the least work, oolong a little more and black tea is hands down the most labor intensive. And... herbal blends aren't always actually tea! **side note, now I want to check my blends to see if they have tea in them! Bigelow partnered with Charleston Tea in 2006- the tea plants they grow and harvest there come from tea that was planted in 1888! Their story is one of rising and falling of US grown tea- success, failure and success again. I made sure to buy some of my favorite teas after sampling all of them! I loved learning about the process! Highly recommend! **The factory usually only is running one day a week depending on harvest timing, so you may not see the tea getting cut, sifted, dried, sifted again.... just fyi

What a beautiful setting for growing tea! This is a hidden gem in the Charleston area. I live 20 minutes away and need to get out here more often. Their tours are fantastic and today, I shopped for gifts in their charming shop. Tea - hot and cold - is free to taste while you're shopping. I picked up several unique gifts for my nieces and nephews. Staff are all friendly and helpful!

The largest US commercial producer of tea only has about 127 acres of which only half is productive. The Trolley ride was on but we decided against it given the factory tour was sufficient. We walked the premises. Shopped a few items and drank as much tea as we could---which was all free. Loved it. It was interesting to learn that all tea types all come from the same tea leaf but result from the differences in drying time. Amazing. While it's a little bit out of the way, from other mainstream tourist traps this one teaches one about tea production which is unique in the United States.

We saw a brochure for the Charleston Tea Garden at our hotel and wanted to check it out. It helps that you can view the tea gardens for free and there is all you can drink tea sampling of hot or cold tea. There is also a 15 minute video guide of the factory floor that shows the process of tea making. It was really fascinating and I won't give away too many details so you can enjoy it for yourself. :) It is a one of kind place and worth the drive. It's the only large scale tea farm and production in North America with 127acres. The whole place is so welcoming. The gift shop staff was welcoming and asked if we had been before and where we traveled from. We were told about the factory tour, trolley and open tea bar sampling made fresh every day. You can buy trolley tickets for a 45 min tour which is informative and draws you into the history and the process of tea growing and production. The ride can be a bit bumpy but had the windows open and we were protected from the listing that day. I'd say you'll want to plan about 90 min or so. There are rocking chairs on a covered porch and a cute chalkboard to write where you are visiting from.

Very informative tour. I learned a great deal about tea. Beware it is hot!! But it is worth it for the experience!

What an unexpected, fantastic, tour! A perfect place to take a day trip and to bring your guests from out of town. It's educational, but it's really fun! There is a trolley tour that takes you around the grounds and gives a close look at what it takes to grow and cultivate tea in America. You will also learn how tea is made during an informative Factory Tour. In addition to the tours, you can bring lunch and enjoy it under century old oak trees. There is an extensive gift shop, with all of the teas grown on site, as well as gifts to remember your trip. A must see tour!

We have learned a lot from our visit to the tea garden. Tea trees are difficult to grow, and the process from growing, processing and to finally having the tea in the tea bags are so labor intensive and tedious. We definitely have more appreciation when we drink our tea now . We love the Carolina mint tea that we bought.

It pays to ask the locals for unique things to do in a city! A shop owner told us about the Charleston Tea Plantation. What a surprise to find a working tea plantation in the US. (The only one, as we learned.) We had an absolute ball here. The gift shop was full of unique little treasures and we sampled hot and cold teas. You can walk back where the tea leaves are processed (I recommend going on a weekday, while it is running.) but they had videos playing at different stops where you see how the tea is processed from start to finished. For a small fee, there was a trolley ride through the tea fields with an amazing tour guide, full of energy and funny 'tea' puns. The grounds are very pretty with plenty of places for photo opportunities.

This place is a must see if you're in the Charleston area. I love tea and I was so excited to hear this was a thing, and even more pleased with our experience here. For about $15 you can take a guided trolley ride around the property, see the plants in all forms and learn some history about tea. Our guide Andy was very fun and charismatic. After the tour head back into the main building for the rest of the tea experience which is all free! Sample as much as you want of a dozen different hot or iced teas, sweetened or unsweetened, flavored or black. Pro tip: grab a glass of iced tea before the trolley tour so you can sip on the go. After sampling teas, wander around the gift shop for kitchen accessories, teas, mugs, teapots, local honey and more. Then head upstairs for a behind the scenes factory tour, which lasts about 15 minutes. After we explored indoors we headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and sip on our teas while snacking at the picnic benches in front of the gardens. Overall the tea tour and the vodka tasting at Firefly distillery were the highlights of my trip to Charleston and I will definitely be back when I'm here next.

My husband & I are big tea drinkers so this was something we were excited to check out during our trip to Charleston. Despite the rainy weather, we still enjoyed our time here. We did the trolley tour which was very interesting. Our tour guide/trolley driver was awesome. We also did the free factory video tour, which wasn't much but it was cool to see. Loved that they had complimentary tea tasting. I drank so much of the iced sweet tea & iced mint tea! This place was cute overall. Nice, chill, short, day activity if you are looking for activities in Charleston.

It was a great experience to visit the tea plantation. I enjoyed learning about and sampling the teas. The prices are super expensive. But You're not supporting the exploitation of the third world by buying the cheaper teas produced overseas by the sweat of non-American laborers.

Cool place to stop on the island. Only yea farm and manufacture in the US. Good tea to sample, free factory tour, and a trolley tour of the grounds that is for a fee. We did it all including shop at the cute gift shop. In total we spent 2 hours at the tea plantation. Very friendly staff and tour guides. Beautiful grounds to see and explore. Great history of the only tea plantation in the US. They are associated with Bigelow tea company. Recommend for a day trip.

It's a decent drive outside the city, but where else are you going to find a tea farm? Nowhere else in the U.S., according to them (at least not a big commercial one). They're quite generous with samples, and hot or cold, sweet or unsweet, you can try plenty of tea before you quite likely buy a bunch of it. Personally, I like a Charleston breakfast tea, but I was surprised by some of their fruity flavors which are aromatic and do fine without a ton of sugar. The factory tour isn't much, particularly in the off season when nothing is happening. The trolley tour of the farm is pricey, and probably falls under the category of "well I drove all this way already", but it is a good tour and offers plenty of detail. They emphasize their lack of chemicals and how the tea plants are resistant to pests and pathogens and weeds (but not immune, by the looks of things); you certainly get a sense of the thought that goes into running the place. I wish they'd put some of that tour money into making the entrance road and parking a bit smoother. I've been to Charleston a few times and not done it, and I don't particularly wish I'd done it first, but I'm also glad I finally got around to it. Given how ubiquitous tea (or at least, tea-flavored sugar water) is in the South, it's surprising that it's basically all imported. Maybe more people should grow it.

There was no AC on the trolley, they should've had fans or at least warned customers. The recorded audio was basically the same thing that the driver shared. The 45 minute tour could have been completed in 15 minutes, easily. The customer service representative we spoke to when we called ahead had very little customer service skills. Absolutely not worth the cost. Disappointing.

A must for anyone in the area and an absolute must for tea lovers. Check the hours since Sundays they open at Noon. TIP-if you arrive early and the gates are open go ahead and drive in and park. You will be able to use the restrooms and walk around some of the grounds or sit on the porch in the rocking chairs. Greeted by friendly staff members ( it this is the South so what would you expect.) There is a free self guided video tour which was very informative. The trolley tour is $15 and last approximately 45 minutes. Unfortunately I was unable to go on this due to being limited on time. The gift shop is the best I have ever been too. There is something unique and cute for anyone on your list. If I lived in the area I would go here all of the time. They also sell several "locally made" food items. Do not pass up the lemon cookies. Beyond amazing!!! You will be able to sample all of the cold and hot teas that they sell. There are several "bundle" specials. I drank so many glasses of tea that o actually could drink no more. You are able to walk around some of the grounds outside. Make sure to walk to the picnic gazebo to the right and maybe you will get a glance at See-you-later the resident alligator. Great area for photos. I feel so educated on the tea growing and process after leaving and could wait to share my wealth of information to my friends. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and will share that with you. I did learn from them that originally this was a potato farm until the Lipton company purchased and it is now owned by the Bigelow tea company. Prior to this trip I did not even know that the United States grew tea plants. TIP-if you continue down the main road there will be a sign to turn left and you can go to an area to see the low country and walk out on the dock area. Huge boat ramp area but it was very peaceful on my visit. Plenty of gulls and pelicans. Prior to the parking area there is a field with some of the most amazing photo perfect tress too. Definitely worth an extra 5-7 minutes. Turn left after the "Pink Panther" house.

No trolley rides at this time... :( But the tea samples were great, both hot and cold. Visiting the garden, gift shop, and doing the miniature tour are free. The guided video tour of the factory was educational. I definitely gained some knowledge about the tea process and its tea variations. You aren't able to actually step foot into the factory floor, but the large glass windows do allow you to peer at their large machinery. The garden outside was so beautiful. By beautiful, I don't mean the tea bushes themselves, because let's face it, they look like large shrubbery. The willow-looking trees with their wispy foliage swaying in the breeze was calming. With the nice breeze and sun peaking thru the branches, it was a miniature heaven. Though this is not the US's only tea garden. I think the distinguishing factor is how it's also manufactured here. It was my first time at such a place, and I would recommend visiting. Oh. And restrooms are located outside for those of you helping yourself to too much tea.

If you are a tea fan this is a great experience. I learned so much about how tea is grown on the trolly tour. It was nice to be able to sample all the different varieties of their locally grown pesticide-free tea before making any purchases. Be sure to stop by and view the Angel Oak tree on your way to the tea garden. It's only about 15 minutes away.

Fun morning! Try all their teas, an incredibly informative old school video & fun trolly ride. Love supporting American brands. Highly recommend!

Such a nice and peaceful garden of beautiful rows of tea. It is (I believe) the only tea garden in the US and also exports to other countries as well. Walked along the path and stopped a few times to take photos of tea leaves. They also have a nice outdoor gazebo where you could rest for a moment and enjoy the fresh air and breeze. There is a gift shop and inside tour of the tea process. The staff was very nice and enjoyed the samples of tea in both hot and cold. I tried the Peach Tea (cold) and the Cinnamon Spice Tea (Hot) and were very delicious. Enjoyed walking through the tour of how the tea leaves are processed. It was maybe about 15-20 minutes (?). The restrooms are located outside of the building. Overall, really enjoyed the garden and hope to visit again at its peak.

Visiting the tea garden was honestly one of the main highlights of my trip to Charleston. I'm a big tea drinker, considering I don't do coffee or soda, and the experience was great! You can try all their teas in the gift shop, FOR FREE, and drink as much as you want while you shop. I probably wouldn't have splurged on tins of tea to bring home had they not encouraged tastings. I bought myself three tins- peach, mint, and first flush- and one tin of peach for my best friend. All were great, flavorful teas, and the first flush is so intense! A super unique black tea. The tour is really interesting and the grounds are beautiful, I just recommend getting their early to beat the midday heat, as the trolley is quite warm. Without repeating most of the tour, all I'll say is if you want a chill morning and love tea, it's absolutely worth a stop.

As a lover of tea this was a must do for me. The staff were very welcoming and the trolley tour around the property was very informative and fun. In the gift shop there was free samples of hot and cold teas. Ended up buying a lot of boxes of teas. We enjoyed ourselves on the porch on the rocking chairs while sipping on teas. Highly recommended

This is an eye-opening wonderful experience for anybody who loves hot or iced tea. We learned so much about Tea and appreciate it even more now. It is fascinating to see how they actually make the tea and what it entails. They had an amazing delicious sampling of teas and their gift shop is incredible. This is a must stop for anyone that enjoys tea even a little bit. People loved my souvenirs lol.

If you're on the fence about going here (and you like tea) - just GO! This was one of my favorite things we did in Charleston. But I LOVE tea, so I'm not exactly impartial. I'm guessing it used to be called plantation but since that word comes with negative connotations, it was changed to garden. It was never worked by slaves or anything like that though, thankfully. The tea plants came from another farm in the 60s when they built this. The tea garden is outside of town, and the outside grounds are just gorgeous. Lots of trees and shade. The outside of the gift shop is super cute, with rocking chairs and Waddy the frog to sit with. The gift shop is extensive. My family and I were kind of in a hurry so I didn't get a chance to see it all, but there are lots of tea-related items to peruse. They also have all of the free tea to sample you could want. And they don't provide the tiny cups either, the cups are decently sized. There were 6 iced teas and 6 hot teas, I believe. Most were sweet (this is the south, after all), so I would make a cup of mostly unsweetened with about a quarter of the sweetened. (16 year old sugar fiend me would be rolling her eyes at that - I used to love full sweet tea, smh). I got myself the cinnamon spice tea and I really liked it. I also got my hubby some key lime cookies and a praline from there and he loved both. There are free factory tours that last about 15 minutes I believe. There is also a trolley tour that is $14 that is about 45 min & takes you around to the grounds so you can see the tea plants and the baby tea plants! It was really informative and I learned a lot. If you have little kids this may not be their dream spot, but my 9 year old nephew seemed to like it ok. It's just not exciting, it's more serene for us old folks. I would definitely return.

Fun fact: there is only one tea plantation in the entire United States. Can you guess where it is? If you guessed South Carolina, you'd be correct! One of my newer self-care techniques that I've adopted is drinking tea. I've gotten really into all the different types of tea and I've found tea from across the world that I have gotten to enjoy. When I found out that there was a tea plantation in Charleston I was thrilled to consider it for one of our day trips. When we arrived we immediately drove past beautiful rows of tea. As much research as I had done about tea especially the tea that I had been drinking, I still didn't know differentiating factors about what makes certain teas the way they were. Coming to this tea plantation, they answered all my questions and more. The first thing we did is do a cursory tour of their main building which includes their very extensive gift shop and their processing plant. Because of the time that we arrived, there was a plantation tour just about to leave, so we bought tickets (and they had a military discount!) and jumped on the trolley. Our tour chaperone was super friendly and informative, making the tour extremely enjoyable. One of the things that I knew about tea was that herbal teas are not really teas, they're more infusions. Real tea is only green tea, which is processed the least amount, oolong tea which is a medium process, and black tea which is the most processed. Additionally, white tea is also part of the same plant, but it is very expensive because it has to be picked by hand. All these teas come from the same bush, just depending on their processing time and how they are picked. I loved learning about the fact that this tea plantation is almost organic. The only thing that keeps them from being organic is that they use a small amount of fertilizer that is due to them being in sand soil. Other than that they're basically organic. I love it! After the tour of the property, we took a tour of the processing plant. The organization is now owned by Bigelow, which makes many of the teas that I drink. When they were purchased by Bigelow, it allowed them to put more attention in detail into their teas because of their financial backing. Good thinking. Following the processing plant tour, we did a tasting of all of their teas. I really loved their peach black tea and hubby and I both agreed that our favorite tea was their green mint tea. We purchased a box of both to take back home with us as a reminder of our trip, and our time at the tea plantation. Overall, this was a great experience, and an informative set of tours to educate people about tea. The price for the tours was competitive, especially with the military discount, and every part of their tour was clean, well organized, and run by friendly people. Although we did not get to meet the owner of the plantation, or his beagle, who we were warned we might run into, we had a thoroughly enjoyable time at the Charleston tea plantation.

This was a very unique experience. I had never been to a tea plantation and this is the only one in the country. They have a short self-guided tour that you can do with TV screens explaining the tea making process. They also have a trolly tour that you can do. I did the trolly tour which I found interesting. It's not too long, and they explain how the tea plantation came to be and talked about the owners as well. They also have a pretty stellar gift shop. It has gift collections of their tea, as well as some things like tea oil lip balm. In the shop there is also a bunch of tea that you can taste. This is great for while you wait for your tour! Overall I will say this is a nice place to visit.

Nice, small but thorough tour of the only tea plantation in North America. Great gift shop with samples of all of their tea varieties.

We had an enjoyable visit! The short video was very informative. The staff at the gift shop were extremely friendly and patient! Steve did a wonderful job on the trolley explaining the property. We even found some gems reasonably priced in the gift shop! Free samples of hot and cold tea topped off the tour! Don't forget to sit on the front porch in the rocking chairs! The breeze feels wonderful!

The Charleston tea garden is a nice spot. It's 30-40 minutes outside of Charleston and has nice grounds. They offer free tea (hot and cold) and they also give free tours of the factory. There is a nice little path to explore the garden. Side note: the bathrooms are clean

Vacation time in Charleston was made because of a visit here. I am a tea lover. I love everything tea related. When I found out that there was a tea plantation right in the town that I was visiting I knew I had to go. It was a little bit of a drive but so awesome. The tour of the factory is free and is every 15 minutes. It goes through all of the steps in the tea making process and was very informative. We paid extra to go on the grounds tour and that was great. The driver knew such good tidbits and his presentation was superb. I learned a lot and got to take some beautiful pictures. These plants are old and still going strong! It was so neat to see that all of the tea plants are made from cuttings of the original bushes and plants. The greenhouse showed how they are rooted for planting. It was neat to see for sure. Even the tea picker was interesting. It looks like something out of Star Wars. And the rows of tea were planted so close that only this huge weird looking machines could go between the rows. Honestly, I learned so much and had a great time. Come here if tea is your thing.

Let me start by pointing out that I am a HUGE tea lover so my opinion may be a little off. I do think that anyone would enjoy Charleston Tea Garden but if you love tea you will absolutely love it. It starts with a pretty drive up to the parking lot. You then enter into the store. You can shop and taste tea here as well as buy tour tickets. We walked through the building and watched the videos, viewed the equipment, and learned all about the growing, harvesting, and tea making process. We then went back into the store and tried all the different versions of the hot and cold teas. Then we went on the tour. The ground were beautiful and we learned way more than I expected to. The tour drops you back off at the store/entrance. Of course we purchased some tea and souvenirs before leaving.

Well worth the drive to this remote location! Trolley tour and factory tour gave me a whole new appreciation for tea production. Steve, our trolley tour guide, had a great sense of humor. The free samples of iced and hot tea provided a refreshing bonus to our whole experience.

My girlfriends visited Memorial weekend so we decided to visit. I was super excited about this visit because I had heard so much about it but I was somewhat disappointed. While the selection of tea was wonderful and the tea pots and selection of tea for sale was amazing, I can't help but feel there should be more. We took the tour, the information was good but again still lacking.. if you're a tea drinker you may want to visit to try out the different teas they serve but it's not worth it if you're looking for more to do at a plantation.

This had been on my list for a while if you are a tea lover or a lover of learning how things are made. DO IT! What a fantastic location and set up. All the staff were super friendly! Love the fact they have samples galore! Hot and cold! Do the trolley tour! So informative and Jim was hilarious. I love that they mention Bigelow Tea as their parent company but they are pretty self sufficient- but give credit where credits due. Love that you can take your time do the walking tour have some tea... do the trolley with your tea... and have some tea while you shop! Cheers

Awesome place! It's not an all day excursion but make sure you set aside at least 2 hours. The gift shop and the bus tour are fantastic. The actual factory tour was boring. It might be when we went also. No machines were running. Just old videos were shown with lack luster narration. The tour guide for the bus tour was awesome. He totally made up for what those videos lacked! I didn't know there was so much I didn't know! So don't miss this place! Buy your souvenirs here! Unfortunately Randall did not make an appearance.

It was fun and educational to visit America's only tea plantation. Shady parking and entrance are free. Also, free visit through the tea processing plant. Don't miss the informative trolly tour for $10. Gift shop is large with diverse tea, kitchen and home decor items.

We really enjoyed touring the Charleston Tea Garden. It was one of our favorite tours. I'm a big tea drinker so I especially loved being able to sample all of the flavored tea for free in the Gift Shop. We paid for the Trolley Tour and it was very educational. All in all, a delightful time spent there.

Cute place if you like tea. There is plenty of parking and they have a couple of tour options, including a trolly tour of the garden as well as a tour of the factory. Adorable little gift shop as well with lots of complimentary tea (both hot and cold) to try.

**First thing: Do NOT take an Uber or a Lyft here. You likely won't get a return ride back to wherever you're going. DRIVE HERE.** OK, and now the review: We took a Lyft here from Drayton Hall. Arrived about 2:25. All trolley tours but the 3:30 were sold out, so we waited around an hour. During that time, we did the factory tour (free, and only about 15 minutes long), sampled all the teas, shopped, and went outside to look at the tea fields. I bought a sample pack of tea and 3 tins of loose leaf tea. The prices are good. The tea itself was pretty good too. My favorite was the the original tea. Our trolley ride was fun and informative, but it sure was hot. We got out at one point to look at the tea plants growing in the greenhouse. The few employees were closing up shop when our trolley returned. Soon we were the only ones remaining. No Lyft or Uber drivers around to pick us up. The employees were nice and helpful as could be. We called a cab company (Green Taxi) and they were able to send someone about an hour later. We were so grateful they helped us. $85 plus tip later, I learned my lesson: Drive.

We stopped here while staying in Charleston. We arrived mid-day and secured tickets for the trolley tour just in time. The tour was $12 each and lasted about 40 minutes. I was skeptical to do this at first, but I really enjoyed it. Our guide was an older fellow, he gave us a lot of very interesting information about tea as we toured the grounds. He passed around a tea lotion for us to try and I really liked that. This activity is listed on Bring Fido, I did see one other dog. We snuck our 5 pound dog on the trolley tour in his airplane bag, nobody noticed him or said anything to us. I wandered through the gift shop at the end, they do sell a lot of items. You can sample the teas for free, which is pretty neat. Of course, they have all of them to buy. I'm not a a HUGE tea drinker, but they have some nice flavors. The gift shop had items like kitchen towels, kids tea sets, jams, jewelry, handmade soaps, lotions, cookies, books and much more. Definitely an enjoyable visit!

The tea is amazing. I loved that they offered tea tasting inside the giftshop. The only unfortunate thing was that they are not currently offering any tours due to COVID. Though I didn't get to explore the tea plantation as much as I wanted to, it was still a great unique experience being at the only tea plantation in the United States.

I really liked the tea garden. The gift shop has a lot of nice items and they give out samples of tea. The video was good but I was hoping the plant would be in operation. I did not spend any time walking around but I did see people out walking in the tea fields.