Ceylon tea is one of the most famous teas in the world, to many almost an equivalent to the idea of tea itself. Oddly enough, Ceylon tea does not originate from any of the old harvesting grounds for tea, China or India, but rather from a place where tea was only naturalized in the 19th century, Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. The production of tea in Ceylon was initiated after the coffee plantations in the region were devastated by a fungus and the estate owners decided to try alternative crops. Ceylon tea proved to be one of the most well-liked teas of the late 19th century, and as such, its cultivation spread in a matter of years in order to accommodate the amazing demand for the new wonder tea.
Ceylon tea is a strong, aromatic black tea with a strong citric tinge, and can often be seen in combination with other teas because of these characteristics. This doesn't mean, however, that it isn't consumed uncombined, on the contrary, in fact, Ceylon tea is one of the most well loved by tea drinkers on its own. The Ceylon tea infusion is colored a golden light brown, and its aroma is strong and unique.
Tea grows only in the higher regions of Sri Lanka, which reduces the cropping areas to a few regions, such as Kandy, Ratnapura, Uva, Dimulla, Nuwara Elyia and Galla. Each of these regions produce a tea of distinctive flavor from the rest, and as such, the names of all these regions are known and recognized by tea connoisseurs. They also appear on the packaging of the tea in many occasions to signal the origin of the tea.
Like every black tea, Ceylon tea leaves are harvested at maturity and then undergo a process of oxidation or fermentation where the taste of the tea is cemented. This oxidation process is also accountable for the high content of caffeine of black tea. Ceylon tea is roasted after the oxidation. The black tea infusion should be prepared with water a few degrees below the boiling point and left for a few minutes, depending on preference.
Because of the amazing prestige Ceylon tea enjoys, the Sri Lanka Tea Board decided to preserve the good name of the tea from this region by applying a quality stamp to all teas produced in Sri Lanka. If you want to purchase some genuine Ceylon tea and don't know how to make sure of the fact that it's genuine or not, it's sufficient to check the lion emblem on the packaging. If the emblem is present, you are in for a real treat, courtesy of the Ceylon tea growers. Be careful, however, because in case you are buying Ceylon tea that hasn't been packaged in Sri Lanka (and many of the large tea companies purchase the tea in stock directly from the estates and then package it in their own factories), the tea won't bear the lion seal, so don't hurry in refusing perfectly good tea only because it misses that emblem.
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Ceylon tea is one of the most famous teas in the world, to many almost an equivalent to the idea of tea itself. Oddly enough, Ceylon tea does not originate from any of the old harvesting grounds for tea, China or India, but rather from a place where tea was only naturalized in the 19th century, Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. The production of tea in Ceylon was initiated after the coffee plantations in the region were devastated by a fungus and the estate owners decided to try alternative crops. Ceylon tea proved to be one of the most well-liked teas of the late 19th century, and as such, its cultivation spread in a matter of years in order to accommodate the amazing demand for the new wonder tea.
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