Tea plantations

After India and China, Sri Lanka is the third largest exporter of tea in the world. Ceylon tea grown around Nuwara Eliya is considered the highest quality on the island.

Nuwara Eliya literally means City of Light. It lies at an altitude of 1,803 m above sea level and is therefore the highest town on the island. The weather here resembles the English countryside and this place tends to be the coldest on the whole island. Around the town there are tea plantations that are carefully maintained and crisscrossed by paths, as well as several factories for processing tea leaves. Some of them offer tours for tourists with the possibility of tasting and buying tea.

There are many kinds of tea. The highest-quality tea is considered to be high-grown tea from above 1,200 m above sea level, which grows more slowly but is stronger and of better quality than low-grown teas. Picking is still done by hand today. One picker can collect up to 20 kg of tea leaves a day, which after drying becomes about 5 kg of tea. The most important stage in tea production is fermentation, when the tea leaves are rapidly heated and then stored in a cool, humid room. After drying, the tea is filtered and graded by quality.