When someone says Sri Lanka, what are the first things that come to your mind? Elephants, beaches… and tea! What started as a coincidence with lucky timing has eventually gone on to become the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy as well as its cultural identity. We cannot imagine the lush, green hills without tea anymore, and like with every great discovery, there is also a great story behind the journey of Ceylon tea – one that has lasted for 150 years.
Surprisingly back in the day, Sri Lanka used to be a coffee growing country. It used to be the coffee industry that earned money and gave people jobs in the hills. One day, a lucky idea and a very unlucky event opened the doors to the tea trade. The man with “an idea” was James Taylor, a young agriculturalist from Scotland who came to Sri Lanka as a planter, a supervisor of the coffee plantations. Although tea had arrived in Sri Lanka before him, a few plants from China and later India were planted in the botanical gardens, it was Taylor who decided to grow tea commercially. In 1867, he bought the first plantation and in 1872, he opened the first fully equipped tea factory. However, his success wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for the coffee leaf disease detected at the same time, which left tea planters in need of an alternative; their solution – tea!
James Taylor introduced the tea industry to Sri Lanka. He learnt from Indian planters, he took chances and he perfected the tea plucking method of the top two leaves. The tea pluckers of Ceylon only pick the finest ‘top two leaves and a bud’ by hand which makes Ceylon Tea some of the purest in the world!
J. Taylor was also in touch with Thomas Lipton who started exporting massive amounts of Ceylon tea. Large companies subsequently took over the industry and small planters like Taylor were forced to leave. Despite his forced exit, Taylor remains the pioneer and father of Ceylon tea.
Now that we know more about its history, we must ask ourselves: “How does Ceylon tea remain a worldwide favourite after 150 years? What makes it special?” Ceylon tea is like fine wine! It has four categories of typical taste and colour, widely different from each other but, unlike wine, all growing in Sri Lankan plantations. There are four categories of Ceylon tea according to the elevation of plantations. ‘Low-grown’ tea, found up to 2000 ft. above sea level, produces a strong, robust brew with rejuvenating qualities. ‘Mid-grown’ tea, from 2000 to 4000 ft., offers a milder hue and invigorating taste. ‘High-grown’ tea, from 4000 to 6000 ft., gives you a mellow, flavourful cup. Tea from the Nuwara Eliya region, from 6000 ft. above, is known for its light, bright colour and aroma.
The wildly diverse landscape makes it possible to produce a variety of tea with different tastes on a considerably small area, which makes Sri Lanka unique in the tea industry. At the same time, it is famous for producing very clean tea of high quality, mostly thanks to the diligent work of the tea pluckers who carefully pick the right tea leaves with their hands, without using any technology.
If you get a chance to visit a tea plantation or two, especially early in the morning as the sun comes up, you will understand that there is also a dash of magic at play. That is the only explanation of how such natural beauty and industrial success came together to create a national symbol, a source of pride. Once you understand the story behind, your cup of tea will never be the same again.
