Ceylon tea is a protected name for tea that is based on Sri Lanka is grown. It is mostly black tea, less often green or white tea. Often it is flavored in the country of origin and is sold as a mixture.
background
history
As strange as it may sound, the story of Ceylon tea actually begins with coffee. In 1815 the British had conquered Kandy, it was the capital of the last Sinhalese kingdom. This meant that the entire island of Ceylon was under British rule. From 1825, coffee was grown on a large scale in the center of the island, and Hindu Tamils from southern India were recruited to work in the plantations. But after just a few decades, a rust fungus epidemic destroyed a large part of the plantations. As an alternative, the cultivation of cocoa and cinchona bark trees (quinine) was tried, and at the same time the cultivation of tea bushes was also experimented with. In 1867 the Scot James Taylor founded the first tea plantation south of Kandy, and from 1873 he was able to export the first tea from his factory to England. As a result, the British Crown Colony became one of the most important tea exporters in the world.
In 1948 the British colony Ceylon became independent, and the tea plantations also came into the hands of local owners as a result of land reform. But even after Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, Ceylon tea was retained as the designation of origin for the globally valued gold-colored tea from the island and continues to be marketed under this name.
Tea plants
The tea bush Camellia sinensis belongs to the genus of camellias. They are evergreen plants that form shrubs up to several meters high and can reach an age of around 100 years. In the plantations, the plants are regularly pruned so that they branch out strongly near the ground and form as many of the coveted tender green shoots as possible. These are picked by hand and made into tea. Nevertheless, the plants have to be cut back radically every 5 years.
The plants need precipitation over 1000 mm per year and a high level of humidity in order to thrive, but cannot tolerate waterlogging. As a result, only areas in the humid zone are suitable for growing tea, they are located in the central province and in the provinces of Sabaragamuwa and Uva. In addition, the growth of the plant strongly depends on the temperature. Plants in the warmer lowlands grow significantly faster than those in the cool highlands. According to this, the finest varieties of Ceylon tea come from the growing areas in the highlands according to the criteria customary in Central and Western Europe. For the preparation method common in the Middle East including Turkey, the teas from the lowlands are very popular and sometimes achieve higher wholesale prices than the highland teas for German or English tea drinkers.
Growing areas
- Highland teas: They grow at altitudes over 1,200 m, the plantations are mostly located on steep slopes, the planting being adapted to the contours of the terrain and trees whose roots serve to protect against soil erosion. The area around the town, which is 1893 m high, is famous for this Nuwara Eliya. The plantations in the vicinity of the places also belong to the highland teas 1 Dimbula , 2 Hatton , 3 Dickoya and 4 Lindula.
- Middle positions: they are at altitudes between 600 and 1,200 m (2,000-4,000 feet) and are found in the vicinity of 1 Kandy, in the province of Uva are the places 2 Welimada, 3 Namunkula and 4 Ella . The varieties grown here are mainly used for mixtures.
- Tea from the lowlands is grown at heights below 600 m, the plantations are partly between the rice fields. Cultivation areas are in the area around 1 Ratnapura, of 2 bile, 3 Matara and 4 Balangoda . The taste is stronger but less rich in nuances
Production of the tea
Harvesting the tea leaves
The young shoots of the tea plant are particularly suitable for making black tea. They are light green and have silvery shimmering hairs, ideally there are two leaves and a bud. Larger leaves can be picked when they are still pale green. The plants are harvested about once a week, a little less often in cool weather and at high altitudes. Picking is still done manually in Sri Lanka, a poorly paid job that is mostly done by women. After being weighed, the freshly picked tea leaves are brought to the factory with material ropeways or vehicles.
In the highlands, the pickers are supposed to deliver around 12 kg of tea leaves per day, as wages they then receive the equivalent of 3 kg of rice. The families of the pickers are mostly descendants of Hindu Tamils who were brought into the country by the British in the 19th century. The men, too, usually have a job in the tea factory, and so these families live in small villages in even smaller houses on the site of the plantations.
Further processing
In the following work steps it is decided whether black, green or white tea is made from the freshly harvested leaves. Black tea is predominantly produced in Sri Lanka, but the factories also sell the other varieties.
| Drying the leaves | The first step is drying. The freshly harvested leaves are placed on a large kiln and begin to wither in the tropical heat. In order to accelerate the process, warm air is blown through the bulk material from below so that the leaves lose around half their weight in the course of a day. |  Targeted withering and drying of the tea leaves |
| Roll and ferment | Then the tea leaves are put into a machine where they are lightly pressed together and rolled. The fine leaves tear, their cell sap comes into contact with atmospheric oxygen and oxidizes. This oxidation creates the typical color. The tea leaves must then be dried at over 100 ° C. In the case of green tea and white tea, oxidation is prevented by briefly heating the leaves before rolling. |  Machine rolling of the tea leaves |
| sort by according to size and color | After drying, the black tea then moves through a sieve, here the parts are sorted according to size and color. This is followed by mixing with other flavorings or the tea is packaged and delivered to the customer in this form. |  Automatic sorting by color |
Teas
- Orange pekoe: This term for black tea has nothing to do with oranges but maybe with the Dutch ruling house of Orange, attempts to explain it are in the Wikipedia listed. It is often obtained from crops with a high proportion of larger leaves. In trade, the term leaf tea or OP is common.
- BOP means Broken Orange Pekoe, obtained from the young shoots with small leaves and leaf buds.
- BOPF here the F stands for flowery, meaning the flower buds at the ends of the shoots. This variety denomination stands for the highest quality level.
- Fanning or. Dust: The finest tea particles are as small as grains of dust and are accordingly also referred to as "dust". Somewhat larger, up to approx. 1 mm, the particles are called "fanning". These two types are commonly used for tea bags because they draw quite quickly.
Tourist Attractions
- Visit to a tea plantation
In the highlands in particular, there are a number of tea plantations that offer factory tours in their production rooms, there are also rooms for tasting the products and sales rooms. Often you can also take a walk through the plantations. In damp weather, however, it can happen that you catch a leech.
- 1 Glenloch Tea Factory, Katukithula, Central Province. Tel.: 94 (0)52 225 9646, Email: [email protected].
- 2 The Tea museum in Kandy is in the building of an old tea factory, it explains the history of tea cultivation in Sri Lanka.
- 3 Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Center. One of the largest tea factories in the country at an altitude of 1,500 m not far from Nuwara Eliya.
