If you are looking into the tea box you have a home, is possible that is coming from Sri Lanka. The Ceylon tea is renowned worldwide and it’s one of Sri Lanka’s primary exports product. The tea production in Sri Lanka has an old heritage history, that you may know already. The first field appears on the hills around Kandy, by the hand of the British James Taylor in 1867 and since then, the tea industry has been growing a lot and faster. The Taylor’s tea estate, a big plantation became soon a trendy in the valley with many others starting one as well.
Today Sri Lanka is one of the first exporter of tea in the World, not just that. The small country below India, on the side of the homonymous ocean, has one of the finest tea in the world, with 28 different grades of Ceylon tea produced at plantations across the island.
The biggest area where tea is produced is Sabaragamuwa and Uva. But the most known with the best Ceylon tea plantations is, without doubt, Nuwara Eliya in the middle of the island. Thanks to the weather conditions of the area, this last one has grown a lot in the past hundred years, making the living for the locals.
What makes Ceylon tea so special
The tea bushes in Sri Lanka are growing at an altitude between 600 and 1200 metres, but there are many fields above this altitude and a lower one. This may affect the flavours of the tea, due climate changing, temperature, direct sun and soli that make slightly different taste in it.
This is the case when experts talk about the character and style of the tea. Also, this is the case to talk about the special Sri Lankan tea flavour. Thanks to the multiple differences in altitude and climate of Sri Lanka (To be honest, unique for such a small island), it has grown a finest Ceylon tea. The designed best black tea in the world.
This nomination is coming from a long heritage in producing tea and well-preserved technique of handpicking and process, even if helped by modern technologies in some cases. Following the traditional methods, coming from over 150 years of history in the tea industry, Sri Lankan has been taking a big part in making the country the first exporter of the finest tea in the World.
But the process to collect the tea leaves every day is not that easy. Thousands of locals are in this process, and every day, they have to collect from 8 to 20 Kg of Ceylon leaf. Even here there are the most experts and not every leaf is the best, in a matter of a fraction of second they know which is good for the production or not.
Why Ceylon Tea is so popular around the world
Ceylon tea is a popular type of black tea. Sri Lanka was formerly named as Ceylon, thanks to this worldwide known quality of tea. It will be served as iced tea or warm. In Sri Lanka there are more than 50 kinds of Ceylon tea taste, depending on the region where it is growing. Caylon (Spelled as say-lown tea) is a properly iconic tea coming from Sri Lanka. Differently, than you might think, the black tea is not just one genre of it, it might come as green tea and other flavours types.
After failing to produce good quality of coffee beans, Sri Lanka, and formerly Ceylon, has become one of the most popular tea producers in the world. Taking the market to recognize Ceylon as an affordable blend from Sri Lanka, even more than the Chinese which is the birthplace of production of the green gold.
Where are the best Sri Lankan tea plantations
Most of the tea plantations of Sri Lanka are located in the centre of the small island. The weather conditions and the abundance of water and resources have made those places the ideal for the production of the main exporter product of the nation. As we have disclosed already, the high level of hills of Sri Lanka, has made the production of tea vary in flavours and smells. The most noted of the regions are Dimbulla, Nuwara Eliya, and Uva.
The cost of a cup of tea served in the classic teapot in Sri Lanka will be really cheap. In cute Pavillon bar in the Botanical Garden of Kandy, fancy location with green and fresh air we have spent just 30 cents for a cup of tea.