The Waikato is emerging as a rather good place to grow green leaves.
But these leaves are completely legal – they are in fact, tea leaves.
Vincent Chen has been hard at work growing Chinese tea in Gordonton for the past 13 years.
The business started out very small indeed, with just 130 plants – but lush, green conditions and a moderate climate has seen it grow and grow.
Which is handy, because the Chinese love their tea, and there are a lot of people in China.
Today, the plantation spreads over 25 hectares – that is a million plants.
A good picker can harvest up to 50kgs a day of a tea they call Zealong – New Zealand Oolong.
From picking to drying to fermenting – it takes 36 hours before you can sit down and have a cuppa.
Not bad for a tea that fetches $1500 a kilogram.