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"Make Ceylon Tea the Leader in the International Beverage Industry"
Our Mission
"We are committed to the sustainable Development and Promotion of Ceylon Tea, and to satisfy the needs of the Global Consumer while ensuring the interests of Stakeholders"
The Sri Lanka Tea Board was established on the 1st January, 1976, under the purview of Ministry of Plantation Industries of Sri Lanka and is the apex Government body responsible for promotion and development of the Tea Industry in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Tea Board performs the duties as a non commercial service organisation and has the following operational divisions to carryout its tasks.
The tea industry is one of the main foreign exchange gaining industry in Sri Lanka also became the world's leading exporter in 1995 shared 23% of the total export higher than Kenya shared 22%. The central highlands of the country, low temperature climate throughout the year, annual rainfall and the level of humidity are more favorable geographical factors for production in high quality tea. The industry was introduced to the country in 1867 by James Taylor, the British planter who arrived in 1852.
History
James Taylor started the plantation of tea in Loolecondera estate Kandy in 1867. He began the tea plantation an estate of just 19 acres and also in 1872 he started a fully equipped tea factory in the same Loolecondera estate.
In year 1875 first shipment of Ceylon tea arrived in London tea auction. Also one million tea packets were sold in Chicago World Fair in 1893.
In year 1971 the government of Sri Lanka nationalised the tea estates owned by the British companies.
Tea growing areas
Central Province - Kandy, Nuwara-eliya.
The plantations around Kandy, the ancient capital of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) , supply what are known as mid country teas. These are notable for full bodied strong tea, which appeal to everyone who likes a good thick coloury brew. The tea plantations are located from 2,000 to 4,000 feet and is the region where tea was first grown in Sri Lanka.
Main sub districts:
Pussallawa/Hewaheta
A range of hills that extends to Nilambe, Kotmale and Gampola areas. The valley is protected from strong monsoon rains and the teas are darker and stronger in cup. Those plantations in Hewaheta, which experience weather changes associated with the South-West Monsoon winds, acquire a flavoury character during the eastern quality season.
Matale
Located on the edge of Kandy is Matale. a selection of coloury, strong teas could be had from this district throughout the year. The area encompases the Madulkelle, Knuckles and Rangala mountain range.
Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya offers a combination of attractions, such as healing climate, scenic beauty, wooded wilderness, flowery meadows and its highplateau. Nuwara Eliya is an oval shaped mountain valley, the plateau being 6,240 feet above the sea level.
Nuwara Eliya produces tea with an unique flavour. The air is scented with the fragrance of the cypress trees that grow in abundance and mentholated with the wild mint and eucalyptus. It is a combination of all these factors that produces a tea that is recognised by connoisseurs of tea in the world. The tea when brewed is light but has an exquisite flavour and aroma. It has truly been said that Nuwara Eliya is to Ceylon Tea what Champagne is to Frech Wine.
Southern Province - Galle, Matara and Mulkirigala.
The southern part of the country has an exclusive condition in the soilwhich gives blackness to the leaves as well as strength and character in the cup. The unique features of these teas grown from sea level to around 2,000 feet are their appearence and special taste. The stylish range of whole leaf teas are enhanced by attractive golden and silver tips produced from a range of tea bushes that thrive in the furtile soils and warm conditions. Ideal for those who like a thick, sweet brew or without milk.
Main Sub Districts
Deniyaya
Located south of Ratnapura, Deniyaya has the same elevational characteristics as that of Ratnapura and Balangoda. The liquors produced here are lighter than most conventional low grown teas and are much brighter in the cup.
Matara
South of Deniyaya is Matara, which is another region well known for its tea production. Here the platations are situated at almost sea level. The cool springs of the nearby hills and the Nilwala river have brought fertility to these plantations.
Galle
Galle offers teas which are much wanted in the Western and Middle East markets by conoisseurs. Strategically placed on the sea routes, Galle has remained the chief port of call from early 14th century. It has regained its significance with the cultivation of tea.
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Sabaragamuwa Province - Ratnapuraya, Kegalle.
Ratnapura/Balangoda
The Sinharaja Forest Researve, south of Ratnapura offers a congenial atmosphere for plantations in this region. The parochial winds of the South-West Monsoon, which can cause much damage to the tea bushes, are kept at bay by this forest belt. The brighter varieties of tea produced in these areas have found a niche in most European countries.
Ceylon Tea
The tea sector in Sri Lanka has always been a vital component of her economy. It is also the country's largest employer providing employment both directly and indirectly to over one million people. It also contributes a significant amount to Government revenue and to the gross domestic product.
Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka, acclaimed as the best tea in the world has its inherent unique characteristics and reputation running through morethan a century. The influence of climatic conditions of its plantation imparts to the product a variety of flavors and aromas, synonymous with quality.
Sri lanka as the 3rd biggest tea producing country globally, has a production share of 9% in the international sphere, and one of the world's leading exporters with a share of around 19% of the global demand. The total extent of land under tea cultivation has been assessed at approximately 187,309 hectares.
Sri Lanka produces tea throughout the year and the growing areas are mainly concentrated in the central highlands and southern inland areas of the island. They are broadly grouped under these headings according to their elevations, with high growns ranging from 1200 m upwards, medium growns covering between 600 m to 1200 m. and low growns from sea level up to 600 m.
High grown teas from Sri Lanka are reputed for their taste and aroma. The two types of seasonal tea produced in these areas Dimbula and Nuwara Eliya are much sought after by blenders in tea importing countries.
Uva teas from Eastern Highlands contain unique seasonal characters and are widely used in many quality blends particular in west Germany and Japan.
The medium grown teas provide a thick coloury variety which are popular in Australia, Europe, Japan and North America.
The teas produced in low grown areas are mainly popular in Western Asia, middle Eastern countries and CIS countries. Most factories in these areas produced what are known as leafy grade of tea where the tea leaves are well twisted and can grade into long particles.
Sri Lanka mainly produced orthodox teas. In the orthodox process of production, semi dried green shoots are ruptured by rolling achieved from a rotary movement. The rolling process ruptures and twists the leaves. When tea leaves are crushed an oxidation process begins, which is followed by firing and commonly known black tea is produced.
Sri Lanka also produces tea by unorthodox method, namely Cut Tear and Curl(C.T.C). Green tea, Instant tea, Bio tea, and flavored tea are also produced in Sri Lanka.
How it's manufactured
Everyday around 300,000 estate workers pluck several million tea leaves by hand. This is the first step in the manufacture of quality Ceylon tea.
Only the bud and the two youngest leaves are plucked, for it is only these leaves that have the flavour and aroma. In other parts of the world plucking is done by machines. These machines pluck the bud, the young leaf, a lot of coarse leaf and few twigs as well. Coarse leaf and and twigs just add bulk and not flavour to the tea.
The plucked tea leaf is then brought to the muster sheds where they are wheighed in, and first quality inspection is made. The leaf is then moved to the factory where they are withered using large blowers.
The next step in the manufacturing process involves, cutting the leaves. This brings out the juices and begins the fermentation process. Fermentation is the critical step. The humidity, temperature and fermentation time has to be well controled or the flavour is lost.
After fermentation is completed, the leaf is fired, to lock in the flavour, to dry it and to improve the keeping qualities. Absoloutely no preservative or artificial flavouring are added in the manufacture of pure Ceylon tea.
The final step is the separation of the product according the color and the particle size. Here strignent quality control is done and anything that does not measure upto the standards is rejected.
The finished product is shipped in bulk to mainly to europe, the middle-east, Australia, and North America. Only the best tea is exported. Unfortunately once it leaves Sri Lanka it is mixed with lower quality and cheaper produce from the African countries and India.
The Grading of Ceylon Tea
The grade names which follow are an indication of size and/or appearance of Ceylon Teas (Sri Lanka, but the name Ceylon still applies to the tea of that island nation) and NOT of its quality. The Tea Research Institute of Ceylon points out that “there is a lack of uniformity in the market grades today which makes it difficult to describe them with any accuracy.” Briefly, however, Ceylon teas are divided into two groups: (1) the Leaf grades such as were originally made by the Ceylon pioneers, and (2) the smaller Broken grades which are in style today.
Leaf grades are usually divided into:
Orange Pekoe (O.P)
Pekoe (Pek.)
Souchong (Sou.)
Broken grades are divided into:
Broken Orange Pekoe (B.O.P.)
Broken Pekoe (B.P.)
Broken Pekoe Souchong (B.P.S.)
Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (B.O.P.F.)
Dust (D.)
The grades may be described as follows:
O.P. -- Long, thin, wiry leaves which sometimes contain tip. The liquors are light or pale in color.
Pek. -- The leaves of this grade are shorter and not so wiry as O.P., but the liquors generally have more color.
Sou. -- A bold and round leaf, with pale liquors.
B.O.P. -- This grade is one of the most sought after. It is much smaller than any of the leaf grades and contains tip. The liquors have good color and strength.
B.P. -- Slightly larger than B.O.P., with rather less color in the cup; useful primarily as a filler in a blend.
B.P.S -- A little larger that B.P. and in consequence lighter in the cup, but also used as filler in a blend.
B.O.P.F. -- This grade also is much sought after, especially in the U.K., and fetches high prices. It is much smaller than B.O.P. and its main virtues are quick brewing, with good color in the cup.
In addition, there are various “Flowery” variants of the main grades (e.g., F.O.P and F.B.O.P.) the nature of which I will describe slightly farther down.
Only a small quantity of the Leaf and Flowery grades is produced in Ceylon. They find their chief market in North America and a few European countries. Few of the Up-country Ceylons make these grades at all, their stable lines being B.O.P. and B.O.P.F. such as are so dominant in the U.K., Australia and (less so) in South Africa. The demand appears to be for ever smaller and smaller leaf, and a great deal of cutting or milling is resorted to today both in countries of origin and by the packers.
“Tippy” or “Flowery” teas (such grades as Flowery Orange Pekoe) are still made in Ceylon and fetch high prices in most Western tea markets. They are extremely more expensive to produce than the run-of-the-mill grades, since they involve sorting out the tip by hand. The below article regarding “Flowery” Ceylon tea appeared in a London newspaper, THE PALL MALL GAZETTE dated 13 March, 1891:
“Unusual excitement prevailed on Tuesday in Mincing Lane (the London Tea Auction Houses were/are located there), on the offering by Messrs. Gow Wilson and Stanton, tea-brokers, in public auction, of a small lot of Ceylon tea from the Gartmore estate in Maskeliya (Mr. T.C. Anderson). This tea possesses extraordinary quality in liquor, and is composed almost entirely of small “golden tips,” which are the extreme ends of the small succulent shoots of the plant, and the preparation of such tea is, of course, most costly. Competition was of a very keen description.
“The bidding, which was pretty general to start with, commenced with an offer of 1 pound, 1 shilling per pound of tea; as the price advanced to 8 pounds per pound of tea many buyers dropped out, and at this price about five wholesale dealers were willing to purchase. Offers where then made up to about 9 pounds, 9 shillings per pound of tea by three of the leading houses, the tea being ultimately knocked down to the “Mazawattee Ceylon Tea Company” at the most extraordinary and unprecedented price of 10 pounds 12 shillings 6 pence per pound of tea.”
THIS WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY PRICE IN 1891. It still fetches an extraordinary price on the market and to the consumer BUT what a magnificent tea it is indeed.
The Correct Way to Make Tea
Pre-heat the pot by pouring boiling water into it. This will raise the temperature of the pot to 180 degrees Farenheit. Discard the water and add tea to the pot. This water has served its purpose: now use fresh boiling water. Pour boiling water over the Tea. This saturates the tea making for perfect extraction of flavor. Taking hot water to the table and then pouring it over tea will lower the water temperature too much and result in poor tea. For black teas steep a full five minutes, three for green teas. Good tea needs at least this much time to develop its full flavor. Decant the tea.
Medicinal Effects Of Tea
The extracts of tea contains polyphenols called catechins which are synergestic with vitamins E and C. Protective against digestive and respiratory infections and can reduce the cancer-promoting actions of carcinogens and ultraviolet light. The extracts can reduce cholesterol levels, and can also reduce high blood pressure . They are also helpful with the following with the following conditions:
· Aging
· Cancer
· Colds and Infections
· Heart Disease
· Hypertension
· Immunodepression
Enquiries & Contact Information
Postal address:
574, Galle Road, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka.
P.O.Box 1750, Colombo. Sri Lanka.
Cables: Tea Board, Colombo.
Telephone: + 94 -11 - 2587814 ( hunting ),
+ 94 -11 -2582236, + 94 -11 -2583687, +94-11-2587386
Fax : +94-11-2589132
E-Mail: teaboard@pureceylontea.com
Chairman :
Telephone : + 94 -11 -2585701
Fax : + 94 -11 -2590968
E-Mail : chairman@pureceylontea.com
Director General :
Telephone : + 94 -11 -2508991
Fax : + 94 -11 -2589132
E-Mail : dgsltb@pureceylontea.com
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