Sri Lanka Tea

The Beginning
It was in 1824, at the botanical gardens at Peradeniya in Kandy, that Tea was introdused in Sri Lanka for the first time ever. Earlier it was brought from China, but later, in 1839, more were introduced from Assam. James Taylor, a Scottish planter, planted tea seedlings on eight hectares of forest land which had been actually cleared for coffee plantation. Two years later the whole coffee crop was destroyed by blight and the all planters had to resort to tea as a result of James Taylor’s encouragement.

Commercialisation
The first sale of Looll kandara tea was held at Kandy in 1872. Export was started in 1873 with 23 pounds (approximately 10 kg) being shipped to London.

The first public Tea auction was held in Ceylon in 1880 and The Ceylon Tea Traders Association was formed in 1884.

In 1925 the Tea Research Institute was established at Talawakelle to extend the facility of research work and to improve the industry.

Quality of Tea
Quality tea should meet all the criteria a tea drinker would look for: such as Flavor, an attractive bright coppery or orange color, good liquoring properties, which give body or strength to the tea, and fragrance. All the type of Tea produced in Sri Lanka is flavored by different drinkers of worldwide.

The high grown varieties, grown from 1220m up to about 2500m, with their light taste, weak color and strong aroma are preferred by German and Japan.

Medium grown tea, grown from 550 to 1220m with its good mix of liquor and color is popular in Australia, Europe and North America.

Low grown tea, grown below 550m, with its thick taste and strong color is popular in Middle East.

Present day marketers have introduced variety of flavored teas in to the domestic and export markets.

Tea Producing Areas
There are six main tea-producing areas- Galle, to the south of the island; Ratnapura, about 55 miles east of Colombo; Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, the highest area that produces the finest teas; Dimbula, west of the central mountains; and Uva, located east of Dimbula. Any tourist planning to visit a tea estate may simply visit any of these localities. Accomodation can be availed at the guest houses belonging to the respective tea estates. The finest teas are gathered from late June to the end of August in eastern districts and from the beginning of February to mid-March in the western parts.