Tea Plantation
About 4 per cent of Sri Lanka’s land area is covered with tea
plantations. These are mainly found in the Hill Country, which offers the ideal
terrain and climate for the plants to
flourish. Tea bushes are carefully manicured and kept at waist height for ease
of plucking. Tea cuttings are kept in a nursery
for about a year before being planted in the fields.
The British and Tea
In 1852, a Scottish planter named James Taylor arrived in Sri Lanka to work for a coffee grower. He
was put in charge of the Loolecondera estate near Kandy. In 1867, Taylor grew the
first tea plants for commercial use in a section of the estate. The
plantation’s success eventually led to the expansion of the global tea industry
in the late 19th century, with several large British companies buying the
smaller estates.
Tea Pluckers
Most of the tea pluckers in Sri Lanka are women and the majority
are descendants of the Tamil labourers who were brought from south India to
work in the plantations by the British
in the 1870s. The tea workers are required to pick at least 20 kg (44 lb) of leaves every day. Their wages are low and the
living conditions are poor – they often live in barrackstyle buildings
comprising only one or two rooms.
From Bush to Cup in 24 Hours
Tea production in Sri Lanka is a labourintensive industry. Tea
leaves are still plucked by hand, and it is the youngest two leaves as well as
the bud that are
taken every six to 10 days. After the leaves have been
collected, they are delivered to the factory where they are processed using either
the traditional or the CTC (crush, tear and curl) method. The end product is
then ready to be sent for auction to make its way onto shop shelves. Tea
factories offer tours
to explain the tea-making process and many of them continue to
use machines that have changed little since the 19th century.
Traditional Method
The plucked leaves are dried in huge trays or “withering troughs”
while hot air is blown over them to reduce moisture content. They are
subsequently crushed, which causes enzymes to be released and the fermentation process
to begin. Leaves are left to ferment for a
short period, after which they are fired in an oven. They are then left
to cool before being sorted and graded.
CTC Method
This method is much faster than the traditional method. Fresh leaves
are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers that crush, tear and curl
the tea. The roundup leaves are then rolled
into little pellets and oxidized. Tea manufactured by this process is mostly used
in tea bags.
Tea Distribution
The majority of tea produced from both traditional and CTC methods
is packed into sacks and sent for sale in Colombo, where a variety of grades
are auctioned for export and blending purposes.
Grades of Tea
Sri Lankan tea is divided into various grades. While high-grown thrives
above 1,200 m (3,937 ft) and is said to have the best colour, aroma and fla
vour, low-grown is found below 600 m
(1,968 ft) and is less flavourful. Medium-grown is cultivated between these two
altitudes. Teas are also graded by size and by quality. The finest among leaf
teas is Orange Pekoe (OP), which is made with unbroken leaves, and the slightly
lesser Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP). Fannings as well as dust are graded much
lower and end up in tea bags.
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