1

March 21, 2010

Geography 210

Dr. Klinker

From Teaholic to Teasopher: the Journey of Ceylon Tea to Carytown

The Thing

Although coffee has been a staple drink for many worldwide, I

personally have always preferred Ceylon tea. Tea (Cameillia Sinensis) has

been consumed for centuries throughout the world, but I have always

been curious about the process through which my favorite tea Ceylon

Nuwara Eliya is made. The characteristics of the Nuwara Eliya teas are

remarkable because it is delicately fragrant absorbing the fragrance

2

of cypress trees and the menthol of wild mint and eucalyptus float

through the air and contributes to the teas characteristic flavor

which is one that is smooth, rich bordering consists of lower tannins

(bitterness of tea), not as malty as others. Most famous for its

citrusy flavor and together with a crisp aroma that distinguishes it

from other black teas around the world; it grows at varying altitudes

(adding to the different and distinct flavors available) and can be

blended or unblended. It is recognized by tea connoisseurs that Nuwara

Eliya, at 6,250 feet above sea level for Ceylon tea is what champagne

is to French wine. Brewed light it makes for a very smooth cup of tea

that can also be iced for a refreshing difference. The tea is very

convenient because it has a good year round flush, although most other

teas don’t grow too well during certain times of the year. According

to Mistie (2010), it is possible to tell this by the flavor of the

leaves. Mistie (2010) says the average shelf life for the Nuwara Eliya

varies: if it is a non-airtight location, it has a shelf life of 1-2

months. However, in an airtight container, it can last for up to 2

years. This paper will examine the global chain associated with Nuwara

Eliya Ceylon tea, process of production, its history, health benefits,

social and environmental impacts, and what can be done about the

societal and environmental impacts.

3

Tea is cultivated in Sri Lanka using the "contour planting" method,

where tea bushes are planted in lines, which follow the contours of

the land. Young tea plants are frequently cut back 10-15 cm from the

ground to encourage lateral growth. The plants are pruned regularly to

prevent them from becoming trees, and the resultant bushes are flat

topped and about 1m in height. Pruning methods vary within the

country, but the procedure is always a skilful operation, performed

with a sharp, specially shaped knife as the tea bush should in no way

be damaged during the process (Roundtree 2010). Tea production starts

when the humble tea bud and its two leaves are plucked from a tea bush

in the early hours of the day (Tea Site 2009)1. However, the tea bush

is not harvested until it is about 3-5 years old and its height at

this time should be about 3-4 feet (Tea Site 2009). It is at this

point in the bushes growth that the leaves are ripe for harvesting

(Black Tea Exports 2008). Once the tea pluckers deem the bush ready,

they leave for the fields at dawn (Tea Site 2009). Plucking the tea

leaves with special care, they gather the fresh leaves and ready them

for transport to the farm or factory as it is called (Tea Site 2009).

The tea farm or ‘factory’ is the next stage in the process and it is

at this site where the tea consumers come to enjoy at home is

1 For the internet sources that had no authors I just put the site name and the copyright on the page.

4

produced. The tea leaves are then spread out on shelves called

withering racks where they are left to dry out by having air blown

over them (Black Tea Exports 2008). Midway during this process, the

drying leaves are spread out again and hand fluffed several times to

help accelerate the drying process (Tea Site 2009). After 8-12 hours

of withering, the next step is rolling the tea (see 1). Here, the

dried leaves are placed on huge rolling machines where they are rolled

out to press the juices in the leaves out (Tea Site 2009). This

assists in the process by drawing moisture out of the leaf which

simultaneously draws up the flavor and other enzymes to the surface of

the leaves (Black Tea Exports 2008). The next step is called

fermentation, in which the tea leaves are oxidized (Tea Site 2009).

The leaves are placed in a room that is equipped with a controlled

room temperature and humidity (Tea Site 2009). During tea production,

it is this particular temperature (180 degrees Fahrenheit) and

humidity that changes the color of the tea leaves to their rich

coppery color (Tea Site 2009). The final step calls for the now

fermented leaves to be dried in an oven (Black Tea Exports 2008). The

tea is left to dry for 30 minutes and has become brownish-blackish in

hue (Tea Site 2009). At this point, the tea is ready to be prepared

for shipping and distributing to the various countries, shops, and

online retailers (Tea Site 2009). This process is universal for making

5

all varieties of tea. However, using subtle variations in the

withering and drying processes, tea can be altered to have another

color and taste than that of the usual black tea and the Nuwara Eliya

Ceylon tea (Tea Site 2009). These subtle changes in the processes

provide different strains of tea like oolong tea, green tea, and white

tea. The province of Nuwara Eliya is approximately 9063.1 miles from

the location of Carytown Teas in Richmond, Virginia, where the

shipment arrives via plane from England (Roundtree 2010). Many farms

in the Nuwara Eliya area have direct ties to this small tea shop in

Richmond (Roundtree 2010). After being processed, the tea shipment is

delivered to the Bandaranaike Airport via truck and loaded onto an

airplane for freight shipping. The plane usually travels to England

and then to Richmond, Virginia, where the shipment is received by

Mistie in Carytown Teas (Roundtree 2010) (See Figure 2). During the

flights, the tea must be temperature regulated lest there be any

damage to the tea shipment, for Ceylon tea, especially Nuwara Eliya,

Ceylon tea is temperature sensitive (Roundtree 2010). The shipping

costs for the Nuwara Eliya tea is by the pound and ranges from $2-3

(Roundtree 2010). The amount of energy required per tea plant usually

ranges anywhere from 3-50 workers (Roundtree 2010). An orthodox

practice, in which there are no flavoring additives added at all. The

tea remains purely untouched until it arrives at Carytown Teas by

6

plane where Mistie adds ingredients ranging from flower petals, fruits

and even vegetables.

While Ceylon’s history is indeed rich, it should be noted that its

world famous tea is not native to the soil on which it is grown.

Rather, it originates from China’s tea plants and was brought to

Ceylon by British entrepreneurs. Taeber (1949) portrays present day

Sri Lanka is a small island only 25,000 square miles in all but it is

strategically located off India’s southeastern tip about halfway

between Arabia and China on the historic route from Europe to the Far

East. The tea plants did not figure among the local flora on the

island of Ceylon, a British crown colony, until early 19th century when

several entrepreneurs used their estates as test plots (Daily News

2001). Black tea was selected to be grown in the Nuwara Eliya region

for two reasons. First, the Chinese tea seeds failed to produce

promising results where as the Assam seeds seemed more adapt to the

lush geography of Ceylon. Second, the different regions in Ceylon

allowed for different types of tea to be produced in different regions

at different elevations. However, tea cultivation remained a minor

activity for twenty years because coffee was the island’s main export

crop (Daily News 2001). In the 1870’s, the “Coffee Rust” blight

systematically destroyed coffee plants and subsequently the entire

7

coffee industry (Daily News 2001). Tea entered the stage for the

local economy to shift to the new crop in a few years courtesy of Lord

James Taylor, a Scotsman. Taylor traveled to the Nuwara Eliya region

where the resort provided him with his first seeds around 1860

(Holsinger 2002). He then set up the conventional first tea ‘factory’

which would become famous throughout the island (Daily News 2001).

Taylor’s pioneering work led both to his commendation by the Governor

of Ceylon for his efforts in 1890, and helped bring about rapid

growth that would propel the tea industry to acquire the appurtenances

of a fully fledged business (Holsinger 2002). The tea industry would

continue to expand and withstand adversity via the increasing

immigrant labor forces arriving to compensate for the demand for more

residential labor (Holsinger 2002); it allowed for workers on the

plantations to become permanent residents rather than migrant labor

which would help account for the wonderful commodity that today is

known as Ceylon Tea.

Apart from having appealing characteristics, the Nuwara Eliya is

also extremely healthy. It is rich in anti-oxidants and is beneficial

for the heart, hair, bones, and teeth (Roundtree 2010). Plus, Nuwara

Eliya is a diuretic which is helpful for circulation. Some other

benefits range from its ability to strengthen the immune system which

8

in turn can lower risks of cancer and infection (Black Tea Exports

2008). Further, it benefits the aging process helping to slow aging

and prevent age induced diseases. According to Black Tea Exports

(2008), a spokesperson from the American Health foundation has

purportedly stated that Tea is beating all scientific expectations as

the most potent health beverage seen. Another benefit that arises is

seen to reduce the stress related hormone Cortisol in the body, so

Ceylon tea benefits those seeking a stress free lifestyle (Roundtree

2010). This in today’s world can prove to be an extremely powerful

preventative of other stress-related illnesses. One benefit that

really surprised me was how Ceylon tea was beneficial for those who

had Parkinson’s disease because it minimized the disruption of

movement and balance (Black Tea Exports 2008). Tea stimulates the

central nervous systems thereby increasing the alertness and

decreasing the drowsiness and fatigue (Black Tea Exports 2008).

The cost of production at farms varies in Ceylon and based

on different costs of teas and demand. Likewise, the soil conditions

vary by location. The tea is made at the farms in Nuwara Eliya and

blended by Mistie at the Carytown Teas Shop. The taxes are typical

federal and post office taxes; there are no smuggling of tea in Ceylon

per say. It is sold in Richmond as well as other places. The profile

9

of customers is those who have been typically raised in an English

style: mostly upper middle class with younger people between 25-65.

The sale price per pound is $52.

Information availability is scarce in the Nuwara Eliya tea sales

because it is a global trade and prices vary so this means that there

is a lot of haggling involved. When harvests in one area are more so

than others, the prices will go up. It is definitely not advertised

but rather goes on word of mouth. Packaging is temporary, the

potential visibility of production is that you don’t want people to

learn of recipes or exact shipping trading routes to come on farms.

Production is generally not available to the public.

While the production of tea is time consuming, transnational

corporations involved to ensure that ethical practices are upheld.

Groups like Ethical Trade Practices are dedicated to the support and

advocation of organic food and simultaneously maintaining that the

work conditions are humane (Roundtree 2010). However, there is

evidence that contradicts the claims of officials like Roundtree.

Contrary to enjoying the tea plantation life, tea plantation workers

are demanding for a significant increase in their daily wages (Samath

2009). Unions such as the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC)

are negotiating with the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) which

10

represents the 22 private tea plantation companies that account for

40% of Sri Lanka’s tea production. The 60% comes from more than

22,000 smallholders or private individuals who have small plots of

less than one acre. (Samath 2009) According to data provide by EFC

officials showed that the companies involved have lost more than 13.1

million dollars since September 2nd when workers resorted to non-

cooperation, which ranged from strikes and work slowdowns to

deliberate lessening of work (Samath 2009). Plantation wages in Sri

Lanka are fixed and finalized in a rolling agreement that is re-

visited once in three years (Samath 2009). It is also significant to

note that Sri Lanka's tea plantations consist of over 220,000 workers

and a dependent population - mainly their families - of close to one

million. Approximately 68,000 of the total workforce come from the

majority Sinhalese community while the rest are Tamils of Indian

origin, whose descendants were brought by British colonial rulers many

decades back to work on plantations in Sri Lanka (Samath 2009). It is

impossible to determine what may actually be going on in the remaining

60% of private plantations but it can be safe to say that similar

conditions definitely exist. Families own specific tea plantations

because none of the teas are mass produced at each of the farms; each

family not only has their own carefully guarded secrets aside from

blends, but also routes where their shipments are delivered.

11

Schweinfurth (1982) analyzes that the untouched forests of the

mountainous interior were explored and developed, first for coffee

plantations and later for tea production. Tea proved to be the ideal

crop and labor was required (Schweinfurth 1982). Indentured workers

from Southern India arrived in great numbers for plantation

employment. Two thirds of the export earnings were from tea and this

came to be regarded as successful colonial and economic development

(Schweinfurth 1982). However, with the immigrants came disease—malaria

and hookworm (Schweinfurth 1982). The natural water courses, which

rise in the mountains, were used both for water supplies and sewage

disposal, and were soon contaminated. (Schweinfurth 1982) Economic

development led to geomedical problems that ranged from diseases such

as malaria to more severe cases like Kataragama fever. In addition,

Prabodh, Nadarajah, and Kjosavik (2004) analyze how current production

practices and patterns of resource use in tea agroecosystems display

signs of unsustainability which show that ecological capital of

plantations is in a critical state because of several reasons: private

management companies have been exercising strategy aimed at short-term

profits by extracting higher yields with help from inorganic

fertilizers and other agrochemicals; this in turn neglects activities

such as replanting, infilling, and bush management. These are some of

the negative impacts associated with the production of tea.

12

In conclusion, Sri Lanka must come to accept that although its

tea trade is ever so strong, the environment in which the tea is

produced is being damaged by the extensive production and lack of care

(Roundtree 2010). To remedy these consequences, the introduction of

environmental sanitation would be the basic prerequisite which

primarily requires pure water supply and adequate sewerage disposal

(Schweinfurth 1982). In addition, improvement must begin in the

Central Highlands, the core area of Sri Lanka where Nuwara Eliya is

located (Schweinfurth 1982). It is possible to see more clearly this

burden left to generations to come what originally began as economic

gains and achievement (Schweinfurth 1982). Schweinfurth reasons that

this new awareness applies in particular to the interrelationships

between mountain areas and neighboring lowlands. However, I believe

that given time and investment, Sri Lanka will be able to overcome its

social as well as environmental issues and continue to produce and

export tea without harming its environment and being detrimental to

the welfare of the workers (Schweinfurth 1982).

Figure 1. Process of Tea

13

Tea Leaves lounging in the Nuwara Eliya fields.

14

Some workers working on a privately owned plantation in the Nuwara Eliya region.

Nuwara Eliya, whereit starts

15

Map of Sri Lanka

This is the primary location of the Nuwara Eliya tea plantations bothprivate and state owned.

16

A sample of the finished product: Nuwara Eliya Ceylon Tea

(All images are from Google Images).

17

Sources for Ceylon Tea Project

1. Taeuber, Irene B. 1949. JSTOR: Ceylon as a Demographic Laboratory: Preface to Analysis. Population Index, Vol.15 No. 4(October). 293-304 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2730390 (accessed February 21, 2010).

2. Schweinfurth, Ulrich. 1982. JSTOR: Landscape Change and Geomedical Consequences in the Highlands of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Mountain Research and Development, Vol.2. No.2. (May) 195-199 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3672964 (accessed February21, 2010).

3. Illukpitiya, Prabodh, Shanmugaratnam, Nadarajah, and Kjosavik, Darley Jose. 2004. JSTOR: Tea Agroecosystems in the Uva Highlands of Sri Lanka: An Evaluation of Land Management Activities. Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 24,No. 1(February) 52-59 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3674465 (accessed February 21, 2010).

4. Bersten, Ian. 1994. JSTOR: Complications of the Commonplace:Tea, Sugar, and Imperialism. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 24, No. 4(Spring) 783-784) http://www.jstor.org/stable/205689 (accessed February 21, 2010).

5. Holsinger, Monte, “Thesis on the History of Ceylon Tea” BA. Diss., HOCT, 2002).

6. History of Ceylon Tea. http://www.historyofceylontea.com/index.html (accessed February 21, 2010).

18

7. The Tea Site. “How Tea is Made” http://the-tea-site.com/tea_production.php (accessed February 21, 2010).

8. DN. 2001. Daily News: The Rise of the Ceylon Tea Industry James Taylor and the Loolecondera Estate. Contemporary Tea Time Vol. 10, No.3 (September-November). http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/features/20011016Ceylon_Tea_Industry (accessed February 21, 2010). (e.g. there was no author for this news article, but I cross checked it withother sources and the information appears to be congruent with other journal material I have come across).

9. Black Tea Exports SriLanka.http://www.ceylonblacktea.com/tea_producing_process.html (accessed February 21, 2010).

10. Roundtree, Mistie. 2010. Interview by Kimia Ramezani.20March. Oral interview