A cuppa for everyone

IN Sri Lanka, Ceylon tea is categorised into high-grown, mid-grown and low grown teas based on elevation and geography of the land and divided into six main types named after the regions they're from: Nuwara Eliya, Uva, Dimbula, Uda Pussellawa, Kandy, Ruhuna and Sabaragamuwa.

In 2012, the industry celebrated 145 years of commercial plantations. The tea industry creates employment for almost two million people, or 10 per cent of the population, directly and indirectly. Export earnings in 2012 contributed 17.5 per cent to government coffers and at US$1.5 billion, it's the highest among all tea-producing countries of the world.

In terms of global production, Sri Lanka is the fourth largest manufacturer of tea after China, India and Kenya, but it's the second largest tea exporter after Kenya since China and India have a large domestic consumption.