Ceylon tea: from the planters to your cup

About Ceylon tea: from the planters to your cup

By the ULTIMATE Sri Lanka Editorial Team

Site Editor: Tara de la Motte

Tea came to Ceylon after a leaf disease destroyed the island’s coffee plantations in the 19th century. James Taylor planted his first commercial tea at Loolecondera estate near Kandy in 1867, and within a few decades the hills were covered with tea.

From coffee to tea

In the mid-19th century Ceylon was one of the world’s great coffee producers, until a leaf disease, coffee rust, swept through the plantations in the 1870s. Planters turned to tea. James Taylor, a Scottish planter, had already planted tea commercially at Loolecondera in 1867, and his success showed the way. The name “Ceylon tea” is still used today, with the lion logo on the packet.

The tea regions

Tea is grown in seven main regions: Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula, Uva, Uda Pussellawa, Kandy, Sabaragamuwa and Ruhuna. High-grown teas such as Nuwara Eliya are light and fragrant; Uva teas, from the eastern slopes around Ella and Haputale, have a brisk, distinctive character; low-grown teas from the south are dark and strong.

High-grown tea is picked by hand, leaf by leaf, on slopes so steep you wonder how anyone stands on them.

The people of the estates

Many of the families who work on the estates are Hill Country Tamils whose ancestors were brought from South India in the 19th century to work the plantations. Plucking is skilled, hard work, done by hand. When you visit, be respectful when taking photographs and ask first.

How tea is made

Plucked leaves (“two leaves and a bud”) are withered to soften them, rolled to break the cells, left to oxidise (ferment), then dried, sorted and graded. In a working factory you can follow each step and smell the tea.

Visiting a factory

Many estates and factories welcome visitors for a short tour and tasting, often at little cost: around Nuwara Eliya, along the road from Kandy, near Hatton and Ella (where Halpe Tea runs tours), and even on the south coast at Handunugoda. In the morning you are more likely to see the factory in action.

Buying tea

Buy at the factories, at tea shops such as the Dilmah t-Lounge in Colombo, or in supermarkets. Look for the region on the packet, and for the Lion logo of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, which marks pure Ceylon tea.

Our advice: stay at least one night on a tea estate, visit a working factory in the morning, and take the train through the tea country from Nanu Oya. Then taste the difference between a Nuwara Eliya and an Uva side by side.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ceylon tea: from the planters to your cup before you go.