British colonialism was an abomination. However, one of its less onerous legacies in Sri Lanka was tea. The imperialists first brought tea to Sri Lanka from China in 1824, planting the very first tea bush in what is now Kandy’s Botanical Garden, a beautiful and tranquil place.
Prior to the arrival of tea, various attempts had been made to grow coffee in Sri Lanka, but all met with failure on account of fungi and other nastiness. By contrast, tea production expanded rapidly due to Sri Lanka’s excellent soils, suitable rainfall, and a skilled Tamil labour force. By 2020, Sri Lanka exported USD 1.3 billion worth of tea, making it the second largest exporter of tea in the world. Tea is Sri Lanka’s single most important export product.
Scots James Taylor from Auchenblae and Thomas Lipton of Glasgow are credited with establishing the tea industry in Sri Lanka. However, the daily grind of building and maintaining the tea plantations, picking the tea leaves, and processing the raw product into consumable tea was done by indentured Tamils brought over from India. The Tamils worked under slave-like conditions – heavy quotas, inhumane hours, and extremely poor housing, sanitation, and medical facilities. There was also a total lack of schooling for the Tamils’ children.
One of Sri Lanka’s most prominent tea districts is found in the Hill Country around the town of Nuwara Eliya. Nuwara Eliya means ‘city of lights’. The town used to be called ‘Little England’ in colonial times and it is not hard to see why. Nuwara Eliya is replete with colonial buildings, English-style members-only clubs that only admit people who wear suits and ties (and the clubs were of course off-limits to Sri Lankans during colonialism). There is also a race course and a golf course. The golf course was probably a concession to the many Scots, who had arrived in the footsteps of Taylor and Lipton to become most prominent planters in the area. Indeed, to this day many of the tea estates still bear Scottish names.
Fast forward to 2023. Today, the old colonial houses and clubs around Nuwara Eliya have been turned into lavish hotels, which allow mere mortals to enjoy them too, for a fee. Langdale Boutique Hotel by Amaya is one of them. The hotel, which used to be the home of an important tea estate owner, is beautifully situated on a slope among the tea estates outside Nuwara Eliya. Immaculately maintained and tastefully decorated, the hotel offers its clients the option to play lawn tennis and golf. There is also a bar for G&Ts. The hotel kitchen sources its ingredients from its own vegetable garden in front of the restaurant. Langdale Boutique Hotel is so nice that one is almost deceived into thinking British colonialism was a good thing. It was not.
Anyway, as for the tea itself, the Hill Country produces five grades of Black tea, two grades of Green tea, and one grade of White tea. The Black and Green teas are made with the same leaves, so the main difference between them is that the leaves used for Black tea are crushed and fermented to promote the development of stronger flavour and caffeine, but at the expense of aroma.
The best Black teas are only modestly fermented, so as to preserve more aroma. A cup of good Black tea should be enjoyed without milk or sugar, and can be enjoyed even in the evening before bed, without stirring fears of insomnia. Green tea leaves are generally not fermented, although the oolong varieties do undergo partial fermentation. White tea is a different plant altogether and only the fresh shoots of the plant are used, not the leaves. White tea is not fermented and contains no caffeine. White tea is therefore the most expensive of the three teas. As such, it should never be consumed with milk and sugar and water should only be added after it has cooled to 80 degrees Celsius.
So there!
Now, put the kettle on, bring out that fine Sri Lankan tea and make sure you play the old Doris Day tune as you enjoy your brew!
If you are not sure what tune I am talking about then here is the link: https://youtu.be/D0MtzQDltr0
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