• Latest
Uva Province: Where the Wind Blows

Uva Province: Where the Wind Blows

December 2, 2022
Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

March 3, 2023
Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

March 3, 2023
DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

March 3, 2023
A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

A Walk Down Cobblers’ Street

March 3, 2023
The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

The Colombo Cultural Show: A Soiree into Sri Lanka’s Heart

February 7, 2023
Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

Kandy Central Market: The epitome of local ambiance

February 7, 2023
The Art of Local Writing

The Art of Local Writing

February 7, 2023
Carnival Magic

Carnival Magic

February 7, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Retail
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
        • January 2010
        • February 2010
        • March 2010
        • April 2010
        • May 2010
        • June 2010
        • July 2010
        • August 2010
        • September 2010
        • October 2010
        • November 2010
        • December 2010
      • 2011
        • January 2011
        • February 2011
        • March 2011
        • April 2011
        • May 2011
        • June 2011
        • July 2011
        • August 2011
        • September 2011
        • October 2011
        • November 2011
        • December 2011
      • 2012
        • January 2012
        • February 2012
        • March 2012
        • April 2012
        • May 2012
        • June 2012
        • July 2012
        • August 2012
        • September 2012
        • October 2012
        • November 2012
        • December 2012
      • 2013
        • January 2013
        • February 2013
        • March 2013
        • April 2013
        • May 2013
        • June 2013
        • July 2013
        • August 2013
        • September 2013
        • October 2013
        • November 2013
        • December 2013
      • 2014
        • January 2014
        • February 2014
        • March 2014
        • April 2014
        • May 2014
        • June 2014
        • July 2014
        • August 2014
        • September 2014
        • October 2014
        • November 2014
        • December 2014
      • 2015
        • January 2015
        • February 2015
        • March 2015
        • April 2015
        • May 2015
        • June 2015
        • July 2015
        • August 2015
        • September 2015
        • October 2015
        • November 2015
        • December 2015
      • 2016
        • January 2016
        • February 2016
        • March 2016
        • April 2016
        • May 2016
        • June 2016
        • July 2016
        • August 2016
        • September 2016
        • October 2016
        • November 2016
        • December 2016
      • 2017
        • January 2017
        • February 2017
        • March 2017
        • April 2017
        • May 2017
        • June 2017
        • July 2017
        • August 2017
        • September 2017
        • October 2017
        • November 2017
        • December 2017
      • 2018
        • January 2018
        • February 2018
        • March 2018
        • April 2018
        • May 2018
        • June 2018
        • July 2018
        • August 2018
        • November 2018
        • December 2018
      • 2019
        • January 2019
        • February 2019
        • March 2019
        • April 2019
        • May 2019
        • June 2019
        • July 2019
        • August 2019
        • September 2019
        • October 2019
        • November 2019
        • December 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
        • January 2020
        • February 2020
        • March 2020
        • September 2020
        • October 2020
        • November 2020
        • December 2020
      • 2021
        • January 2021
        • February 2021
        • March 2021
        • April 2021
        • May 2021
        • June 2021
        • July 2021
        • August 2021
        • September 2021
        • October 2021
        • November 2021
        • December 2021
      • 2022
        • January 2022
        • February 2022
        • March 2022
        • April 2022
        • May 2022
        • June 2022
        • July 2022
        • August 2022
        • September 2022
        • October 2022
        • November 2022
        • December 2022
      • 2023
        • January 2023
        • February 2023
        • March 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Uva Province: Where the Wind Blows

in Featured, September 2016
0 0
0
Uva’s evergreen tea fields

Nourished by the great Cachan winds, Uva tea has an unmistakable aromatic flavour that has made it world renowned. Grown in one of the remotest provinces of Sri Lanka, the harvesting and production of Uva tea is a labour of love that truly defines the nearly 150 years of tea making culture in Sri Lanka.

Words Tharika Fuhrer  |  Photographs Menaka Aravinda and Anuradha Perera

Uva province is as beautiful as it is vast. Nestled between Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, this lush green wonderland can only be reached through a rigorous drive taking you into the district of Badulla, Uva’s provincial capital. Due to its high elevation, the climate in Uva is cool. It’s terrain mountainous, covered with rolling hills of grassy patanas and blankets of well manicured tea leaves. Trees not seen in other parts of the island like Eucalyptus and Caribbean pine dot the landscape perfectly complimenting the fresh blooms of flowers that bring colour to the otherwise emerald scenery.

With such natural splendour, it is easy to get distracted from Uva’s most prized commodity, it’s tea leaves. Cultivation began in the mid 1800s after rust disease wiped out the coffee crops that the first European planters had tried to cultivate. Tea production thereafter proved to be a success due to Uva’s ideal weather conditions, producing a flavour and bouquet distinctly unique. This exceptional taste has been credited to the Uva season, a period of time that produces the highest quality tea in the province.

Tea leaves are left to wither in troughs
Tea leaves are left to wither in troughs

This time is characterised by a drought that starts from mid June and goes till September. The lack of rain brings with it the Cachan winds, that travel from the North and North West of the island, moving from Welimada to lower Uda Pussellawa ending at Lunugala where the last estate is. This unpredictable weather phenomenon is what gives Uva tea it’s signature flavour. How this is done is a fascinating process.

The winds have a drying effect on the tea, lowering its fluid levels by interrupting the tea plant’s natural photosynthesis. The process makes the tea leaves dry at a faster rate producing a higher concentration of trace chemicals and aromatic compounds. This physical reaction is what gives Uva tea it’s signature brisk body and fragrant bouquet.

In terms of flavour Uva tea has been described to have a brisk body with a strong taste that is rather ascorbic. Comparable some say, to taking a bite of raw mango. As such Uva tea is often blended, with about one to two kilograms enough to instil flavour into over 50 kilograms of regular tea. For this reason, even though Uva tea can fetch up to four times the price of normal teas, buyers are still able to afford their very competitive prices.

As one might imagine, the coordination of tea manufacture from plucking to tasting is no mean feat. If we try and consider what goes into making a fine cup of Uva tea, then one must start in the field. There was a time that tea was plucked individually by the estate tea plucker whose image has since become an iconic symbol of Sri Lanka. The equipment these tea pluckers use however has changed dramatically in recent years.

Instead of the giant weaving baskets that they used to fashion on their heads, they are now given ergonomically designed holders devised to put less weight on the plucker’s back and shoulders. In addition, they are given selective tea harvesters or plucking shears that have been created to yield the most desired leaf combination, one bud and two leaves (often dubbed mother and sons) at greater frequency than if done by hand.

Harvesting in the Uva province usually happens everyday with about eight to ten plucking rounds. The two most common strains planted are seedlings, which are plants that have grown from seeds and cultivars that grow from the cuttings of seedling plants. Growth during the quality season is very slow. The climate’s inherent dryness makes the tea leaves wither much faster than in any other region. Because of this, manufacturing starts a few hours after the tea is plucked instead of the 15-20 hours as witnessed in other parts of the island.

The famous Lipton’s Seat
The famous Lipton’s Seat

Once moisture is taken out by allowing the leaves to wilt, the withering process is complete and rolling or disruption begins. This is carried out by machinery that crush and lacerate the leaves ensuring the acids and flavours are ground and concentrated, allowing the process of fermentation to commence. Tea producers can then choose when to arrest the process by putting the tea leaves into dryers thereby manipulating the tea leaves to reach its desired flavour levels.

Once the tea goes through all these stages, it will be graded. This is done by sifting the dhool (processed tea leaves) through a machine fitted with the different sized meshes. The meshes separate the tea into different grades. Although each estate has their own grading preferences most will make; BOP (Broken Orange Pekoe), BOP Fannings, Pekoe and Dust 1. Once the manufacture of the product is completed, the tea is tasted and then shipped to tea brokers. They will sell it at the Colombo tea auction where it can be sold anywhere from 600 rupees to 6,000 rupees a kilogram depending on desirability.

One estate known for its quality yields is Dambatenna tea garden located in Haputale. With a harvest of 1.5 million kilograms of black tea each year, it is the largest tea producer in the province with every single sample of tea manufactured there being personally tasted by Dambatenna estate’s general manager, Hemantha Kahatapitiya. The estate came into being in the late 1800s and was the first property to be acquired by Tea Magnate Sir Thomas J. Lipton, who owned the estate for over forty years. In 1997, Lankem Tea and Rubber Plantations acquired the estate and has managed it since.

Dambatenna estate is a lovely place to visit as it provides visitors with spectacular sights of working in the tea industry. It is also very closely situated to “Lipton’s Seat”, a unique perch offering a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. This is where Sir Lipton would trek up, often entertaining his guests with picnics as he discussed his tea empire and prospects for the future.

Another neighbouring estate located in Bandarawella is Nayabedda. Apart from panoramic views of the whole South East Coast and the North East range, one of the estate’s main attractions is the stunning planter’s bungalow. With beautifully kept gardens, interiors infused with “pastoral prettiness” and furnishing from the early 1900’s, the place is certainly worth a visit. Now home to Ken Murray, a third generation tea planter, the bungalow is the ideal example of how the historical heritage of tea estates can remain perfectly preserved.

As night fell and our trip to Uva came to a close, it may have been my imagination but I could hear the faint call of the Uva birds singing in the distance. I say it’s probably my imagination because the Uva bird is supposed to be a myth, only as real as their representations on the Uva tea logo. The story goes however, that two Uva birds meet once a year. The male flies in from the North. The female from the South. And when they meet they call out to each other in the same one-word song; U-va, U-va, U-va.

TweetShareShare

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Investec Cape Town Art Fair

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Investec Cape Town Art Fair
  • Discipline and Precepts are Favorable for Self-Development
  • DY Patil University Centre of Excellence Opens in Navi Mumbai

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 201_
      • 2010
      • 2011
      • 2012
      • 2013
      • 2014
      • 2015
      • 2016
      • 2017
      • 2018
      • 2019
    • 202_
      • 2020
      • 2021
      • 2022
      • 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In