As founder of the West Highland Tea Company, my love of tea is certainly no secret. And so, after a very busy year here in Mallaig, it was impossible to resist combining a much-needed January break, and turning 30, with an adventure into the wider world of tea. After a little research, and a chat with one of our Tea Merchants, I settled on a visit to the Tea Gardens of Sri Lanka.
Our best-selling tea is our loose-leaf Scottish Breakfast Tea, and this black tea is blended specially for us, combining tea from select gardens in India and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), that have a Scottish connection and heritage. So, I was excited at the prospect of travelling to the area in Sri Lanka where the tea is grown, hand plucked and processed. Even better, I was able to see the entire process taking place from start to finish!
Sri Lanka is a large island roughly the size of Ireland, with a verdant interior of precipitous valleys, gullies and cascading waterfalls, home to leopards, and in the lowland jungles, elephants and peacocks. Perfectly manicured tea gardens dominate the inland landscape, with the taste and quality of the tea produced influenced by elevation, temperature and rainfall.
The Sri Lankan tea in our Scottish Breakfast blend originates from the western limits of what is known as the ‘high-grown’ area. Here, tea bushes growing in mountain soils are faced with a degree of adversity – yet this results in great flavour, imbuing the black leaf with zesty, citric aromas. Our tea merchant wonderfully describes these teas as being ‘light bodied but mellow’ with a refreshing briskness of flavour. At their best, teas from this area are prized the world over.
So what is the historical connection with Scotland? Well, in the 1800s Scottish planters were cultivating coffee on the island then known as Ceylon, but by the 1860s coffee rust was spotted on leaves. The failing coffee plants had to be uprooted, and meanwhile, Scotsman James Taylor from Kincardineshire took seedlings from tea plants in Assam, India, and pioneered the planting of tea on a commercial scale in Sri Lanka. After five years the plants began to yield results in what turned out to be ideal conditions for growing tea.
Taylor’s success led to an influx of growers and tea estates springing up to replace the coffee. Gorbals born Sir Thomas Lipton snapped up estates at very attractive prices, and brought affordable tea to the masses back home. Whilst this household name is seen as being largely responsible for the success of Ceylon tea as a quality brand, many other Scottish connections can be seen across the tea districts.
Poring over a map whilst planning my trip, I came across many tea estates with Scottish names. There are big names like Inverness, Portree, Holyrood, Dunkeld, Hatton, Edinburgh, and Strathspey, but I also found ‘Loch Eil’ and, amazingly, ‘Morar’! Indeed, the rugged surroundings of some of these namesake estates chimes with our own dramatic Scottish landscape.
It was great to spend a few days exploring the area - finding out about how the tea is harvested, dried and processed at a working tea factory, and of course drinking lots of tea! After this I embarked on a journey on the slow moving ‘Tea Train’ which runs through the tea district. I decided to catch the train, packed with visitors and locals alike, from Kandy to Ella, where I could then visit the fabled ‘Nine Arch Bridge’. The journey took us through the stunning highland scenery, the tracks passing right beside tea gardens and brightly dressed tea pickers.
If the craggy outcrops weren’t symbiotic enough with home, the nine arch bridge itself was even more reminiscent: of our own Glenfinnan viaduct, and a reminder that the next busy season would soon arrive back home in Mallaig. In Sri Lanka, like back home, the train and the bridge are a draw for visitors, both domestic and international, with tourism being of key importance to the economy. It will be lovely to see our own steam train crew again! The Jacobite steam train and the Glenfinnan Viaduct in particular holds a special place for our company. It signals the start of spring every year and brings with it a buzz of life and the steam train and the viaduct was a big influence in our branding as a symbol of our area.
Of course my visit to Sri Lanka was not all about tea, and I was excited to see elephants, monkeys and turtles, visit cave temples and see local dancing. There is much more to do for the adventurous and for beach lovers. Yet for me, the highlight really was getting to visit the tea district and gardens with Scottish heritage, and the origin of the delicious Sri Lankan black tea in our own Scottish Breakfast blend.
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