History of Ceylon Tea

CEYLON TEA HISTORY

The story of Ceylon tea begin in 1824 where British brought the first tea plant to Ceylon from China and it was planted in Royal Botanical Garden in Peradeniya for experimental purposes. However the modern day tea plantation was brought to life by James Taylor in 1867 where he established first Ceylon Tea plantation in “Loolecondera” estate in Kandy with only 19 acres. After two centuries, Sri Lanka is one of the leading tea producers in the world and Ceylon teas have been called as most preferred tea due to its unique taste profiles and the quality. The first tea shipment from Ceylon was only 23 lb (10Kg) and it was shipped to London in 1873. Ceylon Tea production has increased heavily in the 1880s and by 1899 Tea cultivation exceeded nearly 400,000 acres. Alongside with rapid tea cultivation expansion, tea processing technology was improved in the 1880s by manufacturing of the 1st “Sirocco” tea drier in 1877 and in 1880 the 1st tea roller machine was manufactured by John Walker & Co accordingly which made the commercializing of Ceylon tea industry to the next level. By The 1960s, total Sri Lankan tea production & the exports exceeded 200,000 metric tons per and the year 1965 Sri Lanka became the world’s largest tea exporter for the 1st time.