A Visit to a Tea Factory

If you are intent on buying Ceylon Tea it is important to understand the perfection needed in its processing, the specific manner in which it is graded and assessed. The best way to achieve this is through a visit to a tea plantation, specifically a tea factory, which can easily be arranged.

There are several ways in which to purchase Sri Lanka’s most celebrated gift to the world, Ceylon Tea. If your tour of the island takes in a tea plantation, then there is no better place to buy than at source. The packaging and labelling may be minimal, but the fresh taste is guaranteed to be phenomenal. However, it is also possible to buy unblended estate teas in Colombo. And you can always buy tea at the airport just before your departure.

One of the main visual impressions of Sri Lanka’s hill country taken home by travellers is the sight of Tamil women plucking tea clad in brightly clad saris. It is said that only small and agile feminine hands, and the patience of the female temperament, can achieve high yield plucking. However, this is incidental, for the sociological and economic reasons behind the tradition of women pluckers are more significant.

The fact remains that plucking tea requires specific skills, in particular dexterity. The women move between the tea plants, which are spaced roughly one metre apart and regularly pruned to a height of one and a half metres, to aid plucking. With amazing swiftness and precision they gather with both hands only the youngest and topmost leaves by snapping the stem with a sharp movement of the index and middle fingers.