Ceylon Tea is famous the world over. It is botanically known as “Camellia sinensis”.It is the most important of our cash crops, the other two being Rubber and Coconut. Tea cultivation was started by Europeans towards the latter part of the nineteenth century when the coffee plantations were ruined by the coffee pest. Ever since these planters changed over to tea, it has grown in importance. Most of our tea is grown at a height of over two thousand feet and the best Ceylon Tae comes from the slopes of our central hills round about Nuwara Eliya, where the cold nights and the strong winds make for the slow growth of the tea bush and the excellent flavor of the leaf. Tea is also cultivated in the Low-country, but such tea has not the same flavor as “high grown” Tea. A cup of tea with good flavor is a delightful drink, but in most of our homes we have not this pleasure for many reasons, and this is indeed a pity.
The finished Tea is finally packed in chests and sent to Colombo for shipment. Ceylon’s chief customer is the United Kingdom.
