The magic of ceylon tea Ceylon’s Teas and Plantations Nothing can capture the essence of this natural, beautiful tea country more clearly than a cup of Ceylon’s finest high grown tea. Reflecting the art of the tea maker, fine Ceylon Tea also captures the magnificence of nature in a cup of calm and healing. Dilhan C Fernando
The
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tea growing mountains of Sri Lanka have a breathtaking
What is it that makes Ceylon tea so markedly different from teas grown elsewhere in the world? It is the soil, the climate, the cool moist air, the seasonal monsoons that drench the land twice a year, the differing altitudes and various cultivars of the tea bush that are suited to the different local conditions, the particular manufacturing process employed in the factories, the skilful handling of the leaf – all these play a part in creating the magic of Ceylon tea.
Life and Work on the Plantations
beauty that places them among the island’s most
memorable locations. Here in the country’s southern central mountain
Since the days when the British brought Tamil workers from southern
range, the bushes wrap themselves around the contours of the gently
India to Ceylon to harvest the coffee crop, the plantation workers have
curving slopes, clothing the land in a perfectly-tailored coat of green. Here
mostly been Tamil. The families are provided with free housing on the
and there, the rich red soil reveals its role in holding fast the roots and
plantation and while the women work as pickers, the men carry out the
nurturing the essential leaves while waterfalls, rivers and craggy outcrops
heavier work of pruning, weeding, and general plantation maintenance,
add texture to the rolling landscape, holding the gaze of visitors as they
or work as factory operatives to actually manufacture the tea. Families
marvel at such perfection.
are also provided with electricity, water, childcare, medical care and
A Cup of Kindness
The Story of Dilmah Tea
