Meezan & company private limited
The first tea plant to arrive in the island of Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, was in the year 1824. Brought here from China by the British, it was planted in the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens, located in the country’s hill capital and last kingdom, Kandy.
It was over four decades later, in 1867, that tea was first grown commercially, after Ceylon’s main crop at the time, coffee, was destroyed by the fungal disease, Hemileia Vastatrix. The first tea estate was in Loolecondera, Kandy, and was initiated by James Taylor on his 19 acre plantation. Taylor went on to establish a tea factory on the same estate in 1872, and in 1873 the first shipment of Ceylon tea arrived in London.
The Ceylonese tea industry branched out and flourished in the 1880s, and since then has been an integral aspect of the island nation’s identity.
Today, although Sri Lanka is well known for its exotic beaches, amazing wildlife and hospitable inhabitants, the country’s most popular cash crop holds a place of great importance, not only in the economy, but deep down in our culture too. The smiling tea-plucker on the postcards, the scenic hills resplendent with tea bushes, and the warm cup of tea extended to every guest in a Sri Lankan household, stand testament to this fact.
It may be just a cup of tea to some, but to most Sri Lankans, it is an integral part of day-to-day life itself. It may be three cups of tea among three friends, catching up on old times. Or perhaps it’s the bus driver’s well deserved break, a quick refreshment while discussing current affairs with the street vendor. Or maybe even two complete strangers, two cups of tea, and perhaps, later, a long lasting friendship. Perhaps an argument that’s not going anywhere, or a decision that’s hard to make, a cup of tea helps keep things going steady, from the moment someone suggests “Let’s sort it out over a cup of tea...” From business deals to marriage proposals, discussions across this country are seldom held without a cup of tea nearby...
Chinese green teas
Tea
Herbal tea
Green teas with mint