Before the development of the tea age in Ceylon, they rather successfully cultivated cinnamon. Later when it became unprofitable to process and export the cinnamon crops, the planters switched to coffee.
By the 1870s, the coffee industry flourished in Ceylon, but having reached its peak, it went into a sharp decline due to the massive destruction of coffee.
This situation has contributed to the beginning of the development of tea production in Ceylon.
The seeds of the tea bush were imported from China and the first commercial production of tea was established by James Taylor, in 1867, who called his estate “Lulekonder”, located in Kandy.
The bulk of tea produced in Sri Lanka is black and green tea.
Black Ceylon tea is considered one of the best varieties of this type worldwide, due to the quality of its collection and processing. It is characterized by a contoured aroma, with a light heritage of a citrus bouquet and a tart, rich taste.
Ceylon green tea has a richer flavor, unlike its Chinese and Japanese counterparts, as well as the malt, nutty flavor characteristic of the seed stock of Assam. In general, Ceylon green tea has a sufficient set of features – the finished drink, as a rule, is always darker, and its taste is richer.
Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where tea raw materials, regardless of their quality, are assembled only by hand, without using mechanized means for these purposes, thus ensuring the highest quality of tea raw materials.
