Page 83 - Forbes - India (January 2020)

It takes about two to three years for the East. “Ceylon white tea is known as Silver
tea plant to be ready for plucking, which Tips and is the country’s most expensive
continue for four to seven days. If the shoot tea. It is manually harvested and rolled,
is left unplucked for more than a week, its and dried in the sun,” adds Gamini.
healthy chemical components are reduced. Although climate, soil and elevation
Almost all the tea—two leaves and a bud—is are crucial to the flavour of tea and
plucked by hand, by women, while summer decide its variations, the leaves are
remains the preferred season for plucking. graded on the basis of their size. For
The plucked leaves are first withered instance, Orange Pekoe, which is the
by spreading them on troughs fitted with highest grade of tea, has large leaves.
fans that blow air over them. They are “When the leaves are bigger, the tea is
then passed through rolling machines light. It also has low caffeine content and
that squeeze the juice out of the leaves, is exported to countries with a warm
giving the tea its flavour. “The leaves climate, like in the Middle East,” says
are then fermented—for between half Gamini Weerasooriya, general manager 83
an hour to three hours—in a cool and of the Halpewatte Tea Factory, in Ella.
humid area to enable oxidation, which Other grades of tea include Broken
changes their colour from green to Orange Pekoe, Pekoe, Orange Pekoe A,
copper. They are then dried by passing hot air over Orange Pekoe 1, Broken Orange Pekoe Fanning
them to stop the fermentation,” explains Sarath (Clockwise (the country’s most popular tea grade), Broken
from top
Gamini, general manager of Oak Ray Tea Bush Tea left) Silver Orange Pekoe 1 and Flower Broken Orange Pekoe.
Factory & Museum. The leaves are then sorted Tips, the The job of a taster involves tasting tea and
white tea
according to their size, and packed and transported that is the inspecting the infusion, which is checked for
to buyers. Blended teas are more popular in Sri country’s colour, body and aroma. “When the taster makes
most
Lanka—most brands take tea from several estates expensive; a sucking sound while sipping the infusion, it
and mix it according to their own formulae. withering enables the sample to be mixed with oxygen
of leaves in
Tea is grown at elevations of 2,000 feet to progress; and reach the tongue. This helps determine the
8,000 feet above sea level, and is mainly classified hot air is freshness and fullness,” explains A Katapitiya,
passed to
as high-grown, mid-grown and low-grown, stop fermen- general manager of the Dambatenna Tea factory
depending on the elevation at which it grows. tation of in Haputale, which was started in 1890 by Sir
the leaves
High-grown Ceylon black is light, low-grown Thomas Johnstone Lipton, who is well known
is stronger in taste, while mid-grown tea is full- for founding the eponymous brand of tea.
bodied. Tea in Sri Lanka grows mainly in Nuwera What started as the enterprise of a 17-year-old
Eliya, Kandy, Uva Province, Galle, Ratnapura and today contributes 11 percent of the country’s total
Matara, and some of the popular tea factories exports and nearly 2 percent of its GDP. There
include Neluwa, Nandana, Lumbini Tea Valley, are, however, challenges ahead. According to
Nayapana, Craighead, Dartry and Dabathanna. the Tea Exporters Association of Sri Lanka, for
While black tea is the most popular variety, long-term sustainability, the industry needs some
green and white tea are also grown in Sri Lanka. re-engineering to achieve global competitiveness.
Green tea is made by rolling and drying—it is not The cost of tea production in Sri Lanka is among the
withered or fermented—and is mostly harvested in highest in the world. Rising input costs, declining
the Uva Province. It is darker compared to other productivity, uneconomic age profile of tea bushes
green teas, and is highly coveted in the Middle and high social costs have led to declining profits.

january 31, 2020 • forbes india