Atherton Tablelands
A basalt plateau behind Cairns in far north Queensland, cleared from rainforest and planted with tea from the mid-twentieth century after earlier coastal attempts. Rainfall is high and reliable and the plateau is frost-free, but Australian wages rule out hand-plucking entirely, so the whole operation is built around machine harvesting on level ground. The tea is a clean, brisk black leaf sold largely into the domestic market.
History on this page: TeaHQ synthesis
TeaHQ's own reading of well-attested general knowledge, with no single source behind it.
This district’s description dates something — a founding, a first planting, a period of expansion. The label above says on what basis, and it applies to the historical statements rather than to the elevation, climate or soil claims below, which carry their own confidence separately.
Elevation
Recorded at 500–1000 metres.
How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.
Soil
Deep red basaltic krasnozem soils, acidic and free-draining, the same ground that carries the plateau’s dairy and horticulture.
How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.
When it is picked
Year-round growth on a frost-free tropical plateau, harvested entirely by machine on level ground. Australian wages rule out hand-plucking completely, so the calendar is a machine schedule.
How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.
How production is organised
A very small number of large mechanised operations. As in the United States, there is no middle ground between full mechanisation and a hobby plot, and the district sits firmly at the first.
How firm this is: Inferred from general knowledge of the district rather than measured or taken from a source that states it.
How the name is written
Also transliterated as atherton tablelands. Romanisations of a district name vary by system and by vendor, and a packet spelling one way is not describing a different place.
Other teas recorded from here
Sources
- TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ
This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No external document stands behind the elevation band, the climate note or the character described above, which is why each carries its confidence in the open.