Shaping the Nation
Tea came to Sri Lanka when extensive coffee plantations were decimated
by disease in the 19th century. The first Sri Lankan tea was grown in 1867
at the Loolecondera Estate southeast of Kandy. Plantation owners discov-
ered that the Hill Country combines a warm climate, altitude and sloping
terrain: a winning trifecta that’s perfect for growing tea.
Shipments of Ceylon tea began filling London warehouses in the 1870s.
The public’s thirst for a cuppa proved nearly unquenchable. Fortunes
were made by the early growers, which included a name still famous
worldwide today: Thomas Lipton. By the 1890s, Lipton’s tea plantations
were exporting around 30,000 tons of tea back to London.
Tea production continued to spiral upwards in the 20th century. For-
ests were cleared and plantations greatly expanded. A running war was
fought with various pests and diseases that afflicted the crops, and all
manner of chemicals were created to keep the tea plants healthy.
Today Sri Lanka is the world’s fourth-biggest tea-producing nation,
with an annual figure of 340 million kilos in 2013. Sri Lankan tea (brand-
ed internationally as ‘Ceylon’ tea) enjoys a premium positioning and its
sale prices are well above those of rival nations. The annual value of the
Sri Lankan tea crop is over US$1.5 billion.
Despite the British roots of the industry, most Ceylon tea today is ex-
ported to the Middle East and North Africa (53% of all exports in 2012),
followed by Eastern Europe and Russia (24%).
Besides the various forms of ubiquitous black tea, in 2013 Sri Lanka
produced 3.69 million kilos of green tea, which is known for its more
pungent flavour, and white tea, which is among the most premium of teas
and is often called ‘silver tips’.Quality
The many varieties of tea are graded by size (from cheap ‘dust’ through
fannings and broken grades to ‘leaf ’ tea) and by quality (with names
such as flowery, pekoe or souchong). Obviously, tea sized as dust is rather
inferior. Anything graded in the leaf category is considered the minimum
designation for respectable tea. In terms of quality designations, whole
leaves are best and the tips (the youngest and most delicate tea leaves)
are the very top tier.
The familiar name pekoe is a superior grade of black tea. Interestingly,
there is no definitive record of where the ‘orange’ in the popular orange
pekoe moniker comes from. It definitely has nothing to do with flavour
but rather is either an artefact of a designation used by early Dutch tea
traders or a reference to the colour of the leaves when dried. Either way,
orange pekoe is a very superior grade of Ceylon black tea.Sri Lankan Tea
Sri Lanka is the world’s fourth-largest tea-producing nation. The Dutch may have come
to the island for spices, but the country is now more associated with an imported plant –
tea. Today, even the national cricket team’s shirts bear sponsorship by Ceylon Tea.Tea plantations
cover about
1900 sq km. This
is primarily in the
hill country and
adjoining regions,
especially in the
south.PLANTATIONS
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