Ceylon tea (green)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type: | Green |
| Other names: | Orange Pekoe 1 Special |
| Origin: | Iddalgashinna, Uva, Sri Lanka |
| Quick description: | Aromatic, light fresh and peaty flavour. |
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Green tea is produced using various methods of manufacture. Green tea manufacture methods were first developed in China using Chinese clonal stock, which seed stock was in later centuries exported to Indonesia, Japan and Brasil. These manufacture methods were later developed in India using Assamese clonal stock. It is the Assamese variety that is mainly used in Ceylon today. This is the reason most of the Ceylon green teas have the characteristic darker colour in the cup of Assamese clonal stock teas. This is reflected in the flavour of the Ceylon green tea, which flavour is different than Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Brazilian green teas. Ceylon green teas, based on the Assamese variety of original seed stock, generally have the fuller body and the more pungent, rather malty, nutty flavour characteristic of the teas originating from Assamese seed stock. The grade (leaf size and style) names of most Ceylon green teas reflect traditional Chinese green tea nomenclature, such as tightly rolled gunpowder tea or more open leaf tea grades with Chinese names like Chun Mee. Overall, the green teas from Sri Lanka have their own characteristics at this time - they tend to be darker in both the dry and infused leaf, and their flavour is richer; this could change in the future as market demand preferences change, if the Ceylon green tea producers start using more of the original Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Brazilian seed base, which produces the very light and sparkling bright yellow colour and more delicate, sweet flavour with which most of the world market associates green teas. At this time, Ceylon remains a very minor producer of green teas and its green teas, like those of India and Kenya, remain an acquired taste; truly, a specialty type of rare tea.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Robert Wilson Teas, [1], has some information on Ceylon teas which it is in the business of marketing. Mr. Wilson had been a Ceylon tea maker of some note, before moving to the United Kingdom and founding Robert Wilson Teas, which is a privately owned firm.
- Dilmah Tea [2] has extensive information on Sri Lankan teas. Dilmah is a major world tea brand famed for the introduction of "Single Origin Teas." Dilmah Tea is in the league of Unilever (brands include Lipton) and Tata (brands include Tetley) in global tea brand market share. Dilmah Tea is owned and operated by the MJF Group of Companies, which is an indigenous Sri Lankan vertically integrated tea producer, charitable organisation, tea auction broker and tea packager. The firms' shares are publicly traded under the symbol CTEA, standing for Ceylon Tea Services Ltd., on the Colombo Shares Exchange (CSE). While Dilmah Tea is primarily in the business of marketing its tea brand, Dilmah Tea also markets select foreign, specialty teas, including rare, specialty China Green Teas.
- Forbes & Walker (Pvt) Ltd [3] Forbes & Walker (Pvt) Ltd is the division of the MJF Group of Companies which is the largest and oldest auctioneer broker in Sri Lanka. It is engaged in the weekly Colombo tea auction. Along with J. Thomas Ltd (India) and Africa Tea Brokers Ltd (Kenya), Forbes & Walker (Pvt) Ltd is one of the world's three largest tea auctioneer companies that services the global tea industry with weekly supplies of bulk teas.
- Stephen Thuring, Director, Venture Tea Pvt) Ltd
- Merrill J. Fernando
- Encyclopedia Britannica
