Black Tea
Everybody loves Black Tea, Coffee & Chocolate, the premier beverages. Of all of them Black Tea (oxidized tea) is the most consumed & healthiest beverage. While Green Tea (minimally oxidized tea) from Japan & China has become fashionable, Oolongs tea (semi oxidized tea) from Taiwan too has achieved its rightful place among the beverages. Meanwhile White tea (unoxidized tea) has been reaching out for a fair share in the tea market. All of them are products of a leaf from single specie of plant: Camellia Sinensis, popularly called tea plant.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Sri Lanka and India are the leading producers of high quality Black Tea. Of all the Black Tea produced in the world, the finest Black Tea is from the tropical island of Sri Lanka branded and marketed “Ceylon Tea” with unmistakable logo of a stylized, upright lion bearing a sword depicting justice in a steadfast stand. Go for unadulterated Pure Ceylon Tea.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Black Tea by another name: Red Tea
Black Tea when prepared and served plain without milk is called Red Tea in some of the Middle Eastern countries & Asian countries in view of the reddish tint of the beverage.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Rooibos Tea aka Red Tea is not Black Tea
To mince no words, Rooibos Tea aka Red Tea is no Black Tea. To pull no punches, Rooibos Tea aka Red Tea has nothing to do with Black Tea or White Tea or Green Tea. To hit the last nail on the coffin, so called Red Tea aka Roobios Tea is not manufactured from the tea plant Camellia Sinensis. Rooibos Tea is a bush tea manufactured in the wilderness of South Africa & marketed mainly in U. S. A. As Such, herein we pay last respects to Roobias Tea aka Red Tea. We make a steadfast stand and tolerate no fakes when it comes to Black Tea.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
The finest Black Tea in the world: Ceylon Tea
Ceylon Tea, the finest Black Tea in the world has been a cornerstone of the economy of the island since the beverage from Sri Lanka rose to prominence in the world with the entrepreneurship of Scotsman Thomas Lipton [1848 –1931], who closed ranks with the pioneer tea planter, Scotsman James Taylor [1835 -1892] at Loolecondera estate in Galaha, Sri Lanka Holidays Kandy. The consummate combination of Lipton and Taylor took Ceylon Tea to the Top of the World with a kind of hush. A hush reserved for awe.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Today, Sri Lanka, the 3rd largest producer of Black Tea in the world, has a total extent of 202,347 hectares of Black Tea plantations, with most of it running along the highland motorway and railway line from Sri Lanka Holidays Kandy, the gateway to the Central Highlands and the medieval capital of Sri Lanka Holidays to Badulla of the Central Highlands of resplendent tropical island of Sri Lanka. Badulla is the terminal point of Sri Lanka’s highland railway line laid out to transport tea from the highlands to seaport of Colombo by the British colonialists [1815-1948]. Highland railway line and highland motorway twisting, winding and ascending hill after hill are overwhelmed with immaculately cultivated vast seamless Black Tea plantations that follow the contours of the land with incredibly trim, short and tight bushes of tea plants. So trim, so tight, so neat, so vast so green hill after hill lulls you all into a dreamy world in the salubrious climate of the Central Highlands, the one and only mountain mass of Sri Lanka. Then the bubble, babble and gaggle of streams and waterfalls awake you to the reality. It’s for real.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World
Above rare poster is reproduced herein by kind courtesy of Getty Images. www.gettyimages.com
Fine plucking Ceylon Tea
Sri Lanka’s seemingly seamless shimmering Black Tea plantation, that if left untended shoot up to become tall trees, are immaculately pruned to waist height so that manual fine plucking of two tender leaves and a bud are carried out with great swiftness. Plucking is done throughout the year except for the short period following pruning. No less than 300,000 plantation workers, the descendents of the indentured labor force brought down by the British colonialists in Sri Lanka pluck millions of superior quality Black Tea by hand day after day. The swift hands of the women tea puckers collect the youngest leaves of tea with both hands as if all of those thousands of women are equally ambidextrous. Their busy bee, butterfly swift mode of nipping off the youngest and topmost leaves (to maximize the flavor and aroma of the beverage) by snapping the stem with index and middle fingers, then tossing their pickings into large baskets hanging over the shoulders to the rear takes you by surprise. It takes the plucking from some 150 tea bushes to make one pound of Black Tea. The small and swift feminine hands coupled with the superior temperament in womanly virtue of patience are instrumental to great extent for high yield plucking. What would you do without them? In Sri Lanka, we say we can do without them, and then on the same breath that we say, we cannot do without them. The human condition is same all over the world from west to east, from east to west.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Black Tea processing; as green as you would like
In Black Tea processing leaves and flushes from the tea plant Camelia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea. Processing Black Tea consists of important stages: oxidizing the leaves, stopping the oxidation, forming the tea and drying it. That’s it: not overly complicated; still better, no artificial additives at all. Black Teais as green as you would like. Of these steps, the degree of oxidation plays to a great extent in determining the final flavor of the beverage, with rest of the process being instrumental to a lesser extent.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Black Tea manufacturing process: withering
Each and every major tea plantation of Sri Lanka has its own airy fairy factory by the side of a stream. On wide lofts one above the other with abundant space the Black Tealeaves are spread on long tables to wither in warm waves of dry air for twelve hours.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Black tea manufacturing proceeds: rolling
Then the leaves are subjected to a slow rolling process by means of heavy machinery making the tea leaves roll over and around in a twisting and crushing action till each leaf end up with an attractive twist. After all, everybody love a twist. The rolling process break up the cells of the tea leaf, releasing moisture, enzymes [the flavenoids and alkaloids] & Tea tannin. The distinctive flavor of the beverage comes out in rolling.
Black Tea manufacturing process: roll breaking
Roll breaking process breaks up the twisted balls or lumps of leaves and allows them to cool. The roll-breaker is a long mechanized sieve that vibrates while pushing the leaves over sloping mesh from one end to other.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Black Tea manufacturing process: fermentation
Then the mass of twisted green wisps are sifted according to the size & placed in a very cool room to ferment for a short time. Since there is no growth of yeast in the process, fermentation is a misnomer. The process herein is oxidation. Following the release of chemical enzymes from the ruptured cells, the mass of twisted & crushed ea leaves undergo an oxidation of the tea tannin. Oxidation changes the leaf to a coppery red-brown.
Black tea manufacturing process: firing
It all ends up with fire: following the fermentation is the torment. The leaves are fired and dried for 21 minutes in an enormous dryer on a series of trays exposing them to temperatures as high as 260 degrees Fahrenheit [120 degrees Celsius]. The tea leaf now goes black and brittle, the Black Teaas you know, is ready to brew in your kitchen.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World
Ceylon Tea: Premium Black Tea
The ordinary beverage of tea consumed from Colombo to London, Dubai to Moscow, is not necessarily premium quality Black Tea. Most of the products could well be blends of good quality Black tea with low quality Black Tea. Never be satisfied unless your beverage is brewed from premium quality Black Tea from Sri Lanka, branded Ceylon Tea. Always go for Pure Ceylon Tea. While the affluent society would enjoy premium quality Black Tea from Sri Lanka, Ceylon Tea, some humble folks too find themselves lucky to live in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka where among the tea sold for everyday consumption is also the premium quality Black Tea though with a significant price disparity against the lower quality Black Tea. The well-to-do residents of hill country resorts of Sri Lanka Holidays Nuwara Eliya, Hatton, Haputale and Bandarawela etc. would agree, to the boot.
Ceylon Tea from the Resplendent Sri Lanka is the finest Black Tea in the World.
Ceylon Tea: High grown, medium grown and low grown tea
Sri Lanka’s varieties of Black Tea draw their distinctive essence and flavor thanks to the climatic conditions of the tea growing areas of the tropical island. Sri Lanka’s Black Tea, still branded and marketed as Ceylon Tea since the era of British Colonial period of Sri Lanka [1815-1948], is categorized high grown, medium grown and low grown in line with the altitude of the zone. For a small island with no more than 25620 sq. km in area, Sri Lanka has a pretty good range of altitude in the Central Highlands. High grown teas from Nuwara Eliya [altitude: 1800meters; distance from Colombo: 180km], the prime hill country resort produces the ultimate Ceylon Tea, the finest Black Tea in the world: rich, pure and fragrant.
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